Justin Gibbs

Jul 1

Tumblr and Lady Gaga the next threat to Facebook?

Tumblr Everyone is debating if Google+ can compete with Facebook, even going as far as to outline how Google can beat Facebook. But all the focus on Google+ has overshadowed a possibly more important event in the battle against Facebook - Lady Gaga joins Tumblr. Is this similar to when Telia Toquila was requited to MySpace?

DeWolfe and Anderson went out and strategically recruited up-and-coming bands such as the Billionaire Boys Club and pinup girls such as Tila Tequila to join the site. Initially, you had to be a Myspace member to see the resulting profile pages, listen to the music, or check out the bikini pics.

Jun 22

“Ah, but today’s Internet companies have real revenue! and profits! Sure, that makes them better companies than those of 12 years ago. But that doesn’t mean that people are paying rational prices as investors based on intrinsic value.” On Bubbles … And Why it Will All be Fine

Mar 3

Old Media Is Being Unbundled, Just Like Telecom Was

According to Om Malik, Disney looks to be heading in exactly the right direction with its purchase of Playdom, Tapulous and Rocket Pack.

Disney Buys HTML5 Gamers Rocketpack, Enhances Web Future for Casual Games

Bring on the HTML5 games!

Feb 23

Are game books the future of interactive drama?

I’m sure hoping “Nancy Drew Mobile Mysteries: Shadow Ranch” is a sign of the future. It certainly is hitting the sweetspot with the iPad and mobile devices.

If this combination of gaming and storytelling takes off, you can expect to see the genre of game books open up in a big way on smartphones and tablets.

I just installed the app. More to come.

Feb 15

Social ads not the silver bullet

Levchin quickly stressed that Facebook’s business shouldn’t be confused with demand generation or demand discovery — a.k.a. search, Google’s specialty. The PayPal co-founder says that he’s read that social graph signals have not been particularly effective in optimizing search-related advertising. Benchmark Capital’s Gurley agreed, arguing that social signals might deliver untargeted ads at inappropriate times.

Jan 7

The visuals are key to interactive drama

Playing “Catch a Killer” I quickly saw how important visuals, namely character visuals will be to interactive drama. The game devotes most of the interface to searching for clues and other mini games rather than to the characters. I’m introduced to one character with little more than a 150 x 150 head shot. I kept thinking, if they’re going to be that small why not just strip them out of the game entirely.

“Simplicity, communication, and hard decisions get get projects done. Improving your project management often just adds confusion.” Justin Gibbs aka Me

Dec 14

Empty apartment towers in China. Now what were you saying about a bubble in China?

Dec 12

“I think the assumption that tech platforms can stop growing but remain great businesses is flawed in most cases.” Fred Wilson