Highlights

Web Lab

Listening to the City

Web Lab Sites

The Web Development Fund

Press Releases
 

Legend:
	Online
	Print
	TV
	Radio

Web Lab

MSNBC The Next Big Thing The New York Times Silicon Alley Reporter At New York TechWeb Internet

MSNBC, January 21, 2002
A place to speak your virtual mind, by Lisa Napoli

      Since Sept 11, my need to talk and to share has been acute, not just for me, but for so many. Always, I lament: If only we had that giant town square, where each night after dinner everyone could gather. Instead of reverting to the TV set, revert to each other to check in and express ourselves, try to make sense of it all
The truth is, we do have a town square...

[back to top]

The Next Big Thing, May 14, 2001
Community Action, by Jerry Weinstein

      Community has always been recognized as the vertebrae of the Internet. It was a place very much like a favorite bar or, more often than not, a revolving door. Some believe it was also underappreciated by its custodians. Firefly Network, which pioneered the use of intelligent agent software, had built up a user base of several million registered members. When it sold its technology to Microsoft back in 1998, Weiss says, "they turned their back on their community, not realizing how valuable it was...

[back to top]

The New York Times, July 5, 1999
Improving Dialogue on the Internet, by Denise Caruso

      Thanks to the Internet, as some very wise person has noted, we have at least disproved the old saw about a thousand monkeys at a thousand keyboards eventually producing a Shakespeare play.
      And all the millions of nodes in all the broadband, packet-switched, fully synchronous networks in the world apparently cannot prevent people from exchanges that are the digital equivalent of "Your mother wears Army boots."
      Internet snobs may be inclined to dismiss the inanity of most public conversations on the Web as irrelevant in their larger, more commercial vision of the Internet.
      But others, noting a seemingly insatiable appetite for public messaging, argue that the future of even the commercial Internet depends on making this crucial component more satisfying for everyone...

[back to top]

 
Silicon Alley Reporter, January 1999
Silicon Alley 100 #73: Web Development Fund

      Excerpt: A few years back, whimsy and innovation were cornerstones of the evolving Web. Then people started losing money. Webshops closed. A new sort of pragmatism crept into the Alley. Ever since, people have focused on more down-to-earth pursuits: advertising technology, e-commerce, and business-to-business solutions. But if making money (and simply staying afloat) are the concerns of the day, how will we continue to break new ground? Which is just what Marc Weiss wanted to know...
(full article available upon request)

[back to top]

At New York, July 17, 1998
Idealism and the Internet: A New Business Model, by Marc Weiss

      I believe that companies doing business online not only benefit from, but should vigorously support the visionaries who are working to realize the potential of the Web as a medium which can build relationships and understanding between people. We're in an interesting industry. While it's true that there are lots of people who've begun working in digital media to make big bucks, there are many more who got involved at least in part for more idealistic reasons. They want to play with this exciting new medium, push it forward and see what it can do...

[back to top]

TechWeb Internet, July 9, 1998
PBS: One Old-Media Dinosaur That Gets The Net, by Brooke Shelby Biggs

      Excerpt: New-media critics, myself included, tend to focus too much on the myriad traditional-media outlets and practitioners who misunderstand, misuse, or misinterpret the Net. I think it's fair to say we've established by those examples how not to approach the Net as a medium. But there is a fairly reputable school of thought that dictates people are more motivated by the carrot than the stick. So I thought I'd offer an example of an "old-media" organization that is revolutionizing the Web in more productive and impressive ways than the old standbys, such as Time-Warner (with its Pathfinder), or even the hipster digital originals, such as CNET. Surprise: pays not to be in it for the money...   (full article available upon request)

[back to top]