Culture

In Silicon Valley, The Line Between Humor And Reality Is Thin

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That App Was a Joke . . .  now it’s not.

I work in Silicon Valley, and trust me there’s a lot of weird stuff here.  That’s part of the charm.  We get fish curry tacos, monuments to water towers, and people who make apps that were originally jokes – like those mentioned in this article.  Yeah, you laugh at iPoo . . .

There’s many ways to look at this phenomena, but I’d actually like to add a different point of view – the insane stuff that becomes all to real is a good thing:

It reminds us that there is a market for almost anything.

It’s a demonstration of how fast something can be developed.

It’s a reminder that you CAN make it with a seemingly crazy idea.

It’s a reminder there’s still a lot of VC sloshing around.

It’s a celebration of the pure crazy that we can produce – and that means even if some of this crazy is, well, stupid, we can make the good kind too.

So let’s not decry iPoo, or the infamous Wesley Crusher sex novel, or any of this other stuff too easily.  Let’s remember right now that we have the tools, technology, and often cash to go completely bugnutz in our technology, media, and more.

Now that you remember that, let’s go make it happen, because if someone can seriously discuss Tacocopter . . . .

– Steven Savage
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

 

Tween Girls Double Gaming Time?

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Who’s doubled their game playing time per month this year? Tween girls, according to a study.

This intrigues me as this is a market NOT typically associated with gaming, and oft associated with shovelware and secondary works. There are some standouts for tweens, as noted in the article, so I’m wondering if this will affect development for the demographic.

In fact, if it does, who knows what surprises may come up. “My Little Pony” was intended for a younger female core audience, and we know what happened.  Wizardry 101 was intended for a younger audience and it was a hit in an older demographic.  Those working to appeal to this growing demographic may find a lot of surprises.

– Steven Savage