Situation: You’re sitting at your computer downloading stuff. You paid for it, and you received digital copies instantly. There were no humans, except you, involved, and there was virtually no labor involved in distribution.

Background

Supply and Demand is an economic concept that states that the best price for an item is found where a supply curve and a demand curve meet. It’s a very accurate way to determine how much to charge for an item–it’s the economic concept that drives the United States.

However, with globalization and the popularization of digital assets, such as a media file, the typical supply and demand curves are difficult–if not impossible–to chart.

The two parts of the S&D concept are, of course, supply and demand.

Law of Demand

When a price for an item is higher, demand for that item is typically lower. the relationship is inversely proportional. Basically–If people want something, they’re willing to pay for it.

Law of Supply

When a price increases, production must also increase to maintain profits.

Elasticity

Where changes in factors cause change in supply and demand relations an availability of a substitute is a great influence of Elasticity–if a competing product is stealing your business, you’ll change some factors (price, probably) to get them back.

You can see how a delicate balance of these laws would be good for the economy. This balance is referred to as equilibrium.

A recent example: The Nintendo Wii game console’s impossible-to-find status during the 2007-2008 Holiday season. Even at an estimated production of 1.8 million consoles per month, sales of over 400,000 kept the shelves wiped out.

An un-example: Fuel prices. They’re high because the oil companies want the money. Demand hasn’t risen, but it has fell due to high prices. But, if a dramatic decrease in fuel prices occurred, demand would raise–and then the price would have to skyrocket, yet again.

That’s great, but consider a digital economy:

Supply

Infinite. Rather than distributing goods, copies of the goods are automatically made and then distributed.

Demand

Variable, depending on the price set, and how the items are desired.

So does digital supply and demand exist?

Some say “No.” When using the traditional model of supply and demand, an infinite supply makes it impossible to calculate equilibrium–any calculator would return an ERROR.

But in a way “Yes.” You cannot sell a product without demand. Without demand, there would not be a buyer. Without a buyer, supply is not necessary. Therefore, without demand, supply is not necessary. You must have demand if you expect to sell your supply.

Therefore, an unlimited supply should not be factored into digital economics. Rather than a supply, a goal has to be set. How much did this production cost? And how many people do I expect to buy it? When those questions are answered, profit can be calculated.

Production cost:     $25,000.00  # I don't know how much money it takes

Desired cost         $      .99

Units Sold:              25,253
Actual Cost Per Unit	  $0.99  # Production Cost / Units Sold

Profit Per Unit	          $0.00  # Desired Cost - Actual Cost

Profit	                  $0.47  # (Desired Cost * Units Sold)-Production Cost

I built a digital economics toy that requires Microsoft Excel to play with. If you don’t have Excel, download this and upload it to Google Documents–the equations will work.

Digital Supply and Demand Spreadsheet

If you use Microsoft Excel, you can use the “Goal Seek” function to help you solve for values. In Office 2007, click “Data > What-if Analysis > Goal Seek” and set the values. You’ll find the calculator rather interesting.

The cost of producing these goods is the same for one item sold as it is for 2 million. The profit is what softens the blow. Interestingly, with these numbers, after 33,310,474.71 copies of this item, the Actual Cost Per Unit reaches $0.00.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

One parallel that cannot be drawn between online items and real, tangible items is the ability to sell and redistribute.

For example, if I purchased a CD from… say… Wal*Mart, I could use that CD a few times, and then I could take that CD and sell it or give it away. Online-purchased media, however, comes in sealed-to-your-identity packages.

You have NO means of giving that digital media to a friend. You have NO means of selling that digital media back to the market in ANY way. If you decide for any reason that the product is defective, you can’t take it back, you can’t get a refund–because it’s impossible with the current state of online markets.

In Conclusion

I think that supply and demand exists in a digital economy–but not in the same way as it does in the analog world. Items must be sold to meet a quota, not to meet market demand. After the quota is reached, all earnings are PURE PROFIT. Products aren’t being sold to us in a fair way, either. Rather than having the right to distribute a digital product.

Dear Mr. KOVACH,

Our records identify you as a man who may be required to register with Selective Service, but has not done so. You may register online via the Internet at www.sss.gov, by telephone, or indicate you are registered by completing Section A of the enclosed Registration Status Form. If you believe you are not required to register, complete Section B of the form and provide supporting evidence (copies only). Please verify and, if necessary, correct all information on the form. Sign and date the form and return it to us in the enclosed envelope within 10 days.

Failure to register with Selective Service is a Federal crime punishable by a fine and imprisonment. Men who fail to register may be unable to obtain U.S. citizenship, and are not eligible for certain Federal benefits, such as job training, student financial aid and government employment. Registration protects that eligibility. Our objective is to register you, not to have you prosecuted.

If you need help in completing the form, or have questions about registering, phone us at: 1-888-655-1825.

I’m 18 now–and I have the Gillette Fusion razor to prove it. (For the uninitiated, Gillette gives every man a free razor for his 18th birthday. I don’t know how they know that you’re turning 18, but they JUST DO.)

I received this cheery letter today. For those too impatient to read it, it kindly tried to state that I have to register for Selective Service, or I will go to jail. I muttered to myself “WHAT A PAIN!” And then, amidst the threats of prosecution, there it was: a website. A place on the Internet–where 90% of my time seems to go–where I can just fill out the form and get on with my life. Awesome, right?!

Wrong.

WHO IS IN CHARGE AT THE IT DEPARTMENT THERE? This website is a disaster. I tried to register, but I got a timeout error screen, which means a server wasn’t responding to my requests.

This poorly configured server, which has inevitably confronted 75% of all US men who’ve tried to register online, is turning away tons of traffic. And why? Because somebody forgot to check a box when the set the site up. I finally got to the website. The problem? I forgot to put “www.” in front of the address. Oops.

I finally get in and am greeted by their army of animated GIFs.

Look, US Government, if you’re going to force your country’s men to do a tedious task that SHOULD be taken care of for us, at least make the process work. By “SHOULD be taken care of for us,” I mean that they have the means to just pull our names out of a hat. Why don’t they? If they knew I’m 18, why didn’t they just REGISTER ME?

Neil Hokanson, who is more enlightened on matters patriotic, what is the answer?

Just remember–if it’s your turn to go through this rigamarole, don’t forget the www.

Being in college means I’ve got to be even more of a penny-pincher than I already am. I’d love to go out for coffee with my friends everyday, and there’s a whole lot of movies I’d like to buy–but I’ve got to restrain myself. But when one of my friends brought over his copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and three Wiimotes to play with, I was sold. Heck yes, I dropped a paycheck on the game (and an extra set of controllers so my roommate could play).

I’ve barely scratched the surface of the game, and it’s already been so worth it. The Smash Bros. franchise is ripe with replay value, and its unique combat system–increasing damage in order to knock an opponent off a stage, rather than emptying their health meter–makes it a little more unpredictable and fun. It’s a Grade-A party game, but just as fun to play on your own. The Wii version of the game (the third in the series) enhances the experience with beautifully-rendered visuals, a wide selection of new characters and items, and many more different ways to play.

Characters’ attacks have been upgraded as well. Instead of being cumbersome and annoying to handle (N64 version), Donkey Kong is now actually pretty fun to play. Yoshi now packs a bit more punch, and most other characters now have improved mid-air recovery moves to help them get back on the stage when they’re knocked off–very nice!

Another fun little addition: characters now have three different “taunts” (i.e., expressing your pride in kicking someone’s butt) instead of just one. Some of them are pretty funny. My personal favorite is Snake’s (Metal Gear Solid) taunt. While most of the other characters brag and celebrate, Snake just pulls out a cardboard box and hides under it for a few seconds … and then stands up. The end. … That’s just awesome.

Anyway, if you still find yourself enjoying the N64 of Gamecube versions of the game, you’ll probably want to pick this up. It’s one of those “if you own a Wii, you should own this game” kind of games.

29 agents made their way to Thriftway on April 1st, 2008 to stun the town by freezing for 5 short minutes. Agent Mel made the video.

Watch on YouTube! (for when you’re at home)

Those present:

• Agent Kovach (me)
• Agent Pride Fighter
• Agent Silverwoman
• Agen Braina
• Agent Kenny
• Agent Bacon
• Agent PO
• Agent Big Al
• Agent D-unit.
• Agent Cooler
• Agent Bindel
• Agent Brain
• Agent Smart
• Agent KAJ
• Agent Kay-shizzle
• Agent Wonder Woman
• Agents Mr. and Mrs. Incredible
• Agent Surprise!
• Agent Wells (who wouldn’t STFU)
• Agent Stephens (who wouldn’t STFU)
• Agent Mentz
• Agent Tonka
• Agent Shinny
• Agent Robinson
• Agent Beth
• Agent MJ

 

 Freeze! Thriftway Highlight Film: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Update! RSVP on Facebook!

Who: Anyone who wants to come.
What: An improv comedy event. Everyone freezes in place for a specified period of time, thaws, then leaves.
When: April fools day… Briefing starts at 6:30PM
Where: Thriftway in Afton
Why: For fun.

For anyone who cares, I stole this hilarious idea from the genii in charge at improveverywhere.com.

How

Execution of this shenanigan will be crucial. Everyone must be in the Thriftway parking lot on time at 6:30 for briefing. The briefing will let you know of any important changes to the plan.

Since documentation will be so crucial, we’ll have a few people filming the whole event. Melanie Robinson will be there with her purse/video camera. We need more hidden camera videographers. If you have a small digital camera or something, please bring it and hide it! Hide it on a shopping cart and drive around. Place it between some Macaroni and Cheese on a shelf and leave it. Just make sure its in a good spot.

1. 6:30pm: Briefing.  This won’t take too long, but it’s super important!  I’ll go over final details and changes.  Be there or don’t participate!
2. 6:45pm: Everyone will enter the store inconspicuously (in a way that isn’t obvious). You might enter with a group of friends, but we won’t herd in together. Everybody should be in the store ready at 6:50
3. Shop… browse… do whatever—just act natural.
4. When 7:00 hits, listen to the intercom system.
5. When you hear the first intercom after 7:00 (if it’s not happening, Mel will get a bag boy paged), FREEZE!
6. Wait for five more intercom announcements, and then unfreeze after the last announcement finishes.  (Emergency plan: if it’s been about 5 minutes without an announcement, Mel will have a bag boy paged to help her.  At that point, leave.)
7. Act like nothing happened. Leave. It’s as simple as cake.

If you’re still confused, watch this video (it opens in a new window): Frozen Grand Central.

In summary

We’re freezing in Thriftway on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 for the duration of 5 intercom announcements (subject to change).

Be at the briefing in the Thriftway parking lot for final details.
Briefing: 6:30 PM
Everybody in the store by 6:50 PM
Freeze: the first announcement after 7:00PM

If you can, bring a camera or something so we can document this feat.

WordPress has been a primary source of income for me. It has been the driving force behind my success in my local communities. A major WordPress upgrade is coming: WordPress 2.5. Because of it’s impending release, I will be postponing the completion of several projects in order to be able to support the newer, better WP 2.5. Please enjoy looking at some screenshots of 2.5! Click any shot to make it bigger.

New Administration Interface

A total revamp has taken place. A light-blue and orange color scheme looks progressive, some say it’s too artsy. As you can see, the new color scheme is fresh, and definitely unique. Use of the color orange shows important HUD-style information. You can see it used in the comments menu, where a count of unapproved comments is shown.

The administration panels have been “divided” into the left tabs and the right tabs. The left tabs reflect pages that will effect your site’s content. The right tabs reflect settings for the site, such as plugins.

From the Dashboard, you can see several tasks, including links to write posts (blog entries) and pages. The shortcut to the page writing screen is a welcome addition.

New Post Writing Features

Developers have also revamped the post writing experience, including MUCH better media management, and plugin-free media embedding capabilities. You can easily embed images, audio, and video with WordPress 2.5. Also, rather than uploading, you can hotlink media from another website with ease. When you upload media, you can upload MULTIPLE files at the same time.

When adding photos, you have a new size available: medium. It’s an intermediate between thumbnails and full-sized. The photo add screen will let you apply css classes to images using a pleasant wizard-style GUI. Theme developers should note that adding css classes align-left, align-right, and align-center to your css will allow users to utilize these new layout features.

Uploaded media also appears in the Manage > Media Library tab, where you can easily flip through sort and filter uploads by file type and search by name. The media listing shows where certain assets have been used, and offers a permalink to the asset.

Improved search

WordPress search will examine posts and pages for content in WP 2.5 without additional plugins or hacks. The WordPress community’s cries have been answered. Previously, I preferred using the Search Everything plugin.

Better Security Practices

A new class has been in the WordPress codebase, called $wp->prepare. It basically takes user input and sanitizes it for safe database storage. WordPress 2.5 expects developers to begin using $wp-prepare to ramp up security.

Work on the XML-RPC interface has been completed as well. As for performance? I don’t know what the status is. I imagine that all fortifications will need to remain in place for high-traffic sites.

WordPress 2.5 is expected to be completed by March 10, 2008.

For more on WordPress 2.5

• See the codex article here: http://codex.wordpress.org/Version_2.5
• WordPress interface guidelines
• Download a nightly build.

Making it to Digg/Popular is the dream of many. Traffic spikes, thousands of visitors, and poor planning can cause catastrophic failure if you don’t plan carefully. Here are 10 tips to make sure failure isn’t an option.

Disclaimer: This is what I’ve heard. I’ve never been Dugg.

Infrastructure

1. Have responsive servers

A responsive web server is crucial to serving visitors. Lethargic websites repel visitors, and ultimately you lose the Digg. If a request hasn’t been cached, it needs to be generated quickly, and the only way to do that is with a powerful server. My web host, hostrocket.com, guarantees that my web server has 4.4 ghz of processor and at least 2 gigabytes of RAM. That should do it. If you can, Gzip content.

2. Have bandwidth

A responsive web server is nothing if your “tubes” are plugged or are small. If your host is capping your bandwidth, you’re screwed. If you have lots of media, you’re definitely screwed. My host claims redundant OC-3/OC-12 lines.

3. Cache, cache, cache!

WordPress users especially! Database driven websites will grind to a halt when they make Digg/Popular. If you cache your site, your database servers won’t take a significant hit. Most content management systems include or have caching systems available. Drupal has caching built in. WordPress users should get the wp-cache plugin and LEAVE IT ON.

4. Mirroring

If you have a video, and you’re pretentious enough to host it yourself, do the world a favor and upload it to a video sharing site, like YouTube or break.com, and then link to it from your page. They have bandwidth to supply streaming video to thousands… you don’t.

It also doesn’t hurt to visit your site on caching systems like Coral before you make Digg/Popular. Simply add .nyud.net after your domain. My website, for example, would be http://www.bradkovach.com.nyud.net on the Coral network.

Design

5. Reveal your feeds

If you have an RSS enabled site, show it off! Use the ubiquitous feed icon… Make sure your HTML declares that you have an RSS feed to light up feed finders in all modern browsers.

Put this between the <head> </head> on all pages.
<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="[website
title here]" href="[link to RSS feed here]" />


6. Make your site easy to navigate

All the basics should be on your site. Make sure clicking the logo takes you to your home page. If there are dropdowns, make sure the user knows before he or she mouses-over. Add chronological context so that by “going left” users know that they are visiting older context and “going right” is newer content (or vice-versa).

Search is a must. If your CMS doesn’t do this, use Google SiteSearch. It’s free.

Make sure your website works in all major browsers. At least cover the big four: IE6, IE7, Firefox, and Safari.

7. Make Digg buttons available

If your users are coming from Digg, make it easy for them to support your content. Use Digg Tools to make sure your content has a Digg button that works.

Writing

8. Be cheeky

Digg users appreciate sarcasm. If you have opinions, let it show. Make sure diggers know that you are addressing THEM. Diggers also have tendencies that they go crazy over. Ron Paul and Apple gossip are categories that make people salivate/soak undies. The video game phenom Portal is another excellent topic.

9. Use lists

Lists obey the f-shaped pattern and help your visitors get through your content quickly. Diggers are busy people. Make sure you help them speed through the internet. Don’t consume their time. Unless you have games.

10. Think it out

A well constructed article will be organized. A little pre-writing goes a long way. I have this list scratched out in a Moleskine cahier that never leaves my desk. It isn’t much, but it helped me organized the flow of my article. Diggers are know-it-alls. They appreciate good grammar and a spell-checked document. Proofread and find mistakes.

In Parts One and Two of my series on The Demise of Facebook, I looked at Facebook’s background in general, Facebook’s infrastructure choices up to this point, and how its users have paid the price.

Security and Privacy

Facebook touts its security and privacy as a big feature. Part of Facebook’s appeal comes from the fact that you can “use privacy settings to control who sees your info.” (Quoted from Facebook’s homepage).

Facebook, although diligent in keeping information from the public eye, has lax policies regarding usage of private data within the company. A recent scoop by tech-gossip aggregator Valleywag exposed that “Facebook employees can (and do) check out anyone’s profile.”

Facebook employees can also cross-reference profile views, by perusing a list of profiles a user has viewed. Surprisingly, the privacy policy, which every user agrees to, doesn’t forbid this practice. Hypocritically, if you send a user a copy of a profile, it’s a privacy policy violation, which have previously been punished with cease and desist letters! When Facebook says you can “use privacy settings to control who sees your info,” they mean that you can use privacy settings to control who (of people that don’t work at Facebook) can see your info.

Facebook openly admits to objectionable data aggregation practices. Facebook’s privacy policy states that “we may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile” (Facebook’s Privacy Policy). Translation: “we might stalk you using newspapers, blogs, instant messenging services, and other users of Facebook to help people stalk you faster.” They harvest data? This stalking process needs a cool name. Like Beacon.

Facebook Beacon

To clear up misconceptions, I need to explain some terminology. Opt-in and Opt-out are words used to describe security practices. When a service is said to be opt-in, it means the user chose to partake in the service. Users can OPTion IN. When a security practice is opt-out, it means the user is automatically enrolled/subjected/interacting with a service, sometimes without knowledge that they were. Users can OPTion OUT from their enrollment.

Facebook Beacon, akin to Platform in that it allows 3rd party integration with Facebook, was originally opt-in without a chance to opt-out. When a user would make an action on non-Facebook websites, such as a purchase, information would be sent back to Facebook, without the user’s consent.

Facebook Beacon has raised significant problems. During the 2007 holiday season, Overstock.com customers noticed that their purchases were being aggregated to Facebook… which is bad if you’re buying for a Facebook friend, or spouse…

Sean Lane’s purchase was supposed to be a surprise for his wife. Then it appeared as a news headline – “Sean Lane bought 14k White Gold 1/5 ct Diamond Eternity Flower Ring from overstock.com” – last week on the social networking Web site Facebook.

Without Lane’s knowledge, the headline was visible to everyone in his online network, including 500 classmates from Columbia University and 220 other friends, co-workers and acquaintances.

And his wife.

Facebook backs down in privacy case

It’s not all bad, though. After exposing the online habits of millions of users without permission, Facebook apologized to users, and will now allow them to opt-out. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized for Beacon’s intrusiveness in a press release on Facebook.com. Curiously, after the apology, Beacon has remained opt-in by default. Millions of naive users are having information aggregated about them. I suggest you turn it off.

Turning off Beacon

1. Go to the privacy page
2. Select “edit settings“
3. Check “Don’t allow any websites to send stories to my profile” and click “Save.”

Update: Respect

I had this in my notes, I just forgot to add it.

Facebook may be the most fun you’ve had online. I’ve had a blast using it. Facebook is hoarding your data. People upload photos, events, their lives, etc. to Facebook. Good luck getting it back. Facebook makes it difficult, if not impossible, to cancel your account. You can “Deactivate” your account, but it’s there… waiting… for you to come back and rejoin Facebook. You can deactivate, but Facebook has all of your photos, comments, demographic information, and your online life archived… for whatever reason.

According to Facebook’s Privacy Policy, “Individuals who wish to deactivate their Facebook account may do so on the My Account page. Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of Facebook.”

Even continued requests to Facebook support yield endless hoops to jump through. In the hilarious article 2504 Steps to closing your Facebook account, Stephen Mansour proves that it is nearly impossible to close a Facebook account. His email banter with a customer “service” representative proved it:

If you do want your information completely wiped from our servers, we can do this for you.

So he deleted everything. However…

[Facebook] apologize[s], but you have not completely deleted all of your information. You still have incoming and outgoing messages, wall posts, mini-feed stories, friends, and contact information remaining on your profile. Once you have completely removed all information from your account, I will permanently delete it for you.

Facebook doesn’t respect your data. They hoard it. They profit from it. Without it, they wouldn’t be worth a recent $10 billion investment from Microsoft.

Citations

• Facebook employees know what profiles you look at
• Facebook | Privacy Policy
• Facebook backs down in privacy case
• Announcement: Facebook Users Can Now Opt-Out of Beacon Feature
• 2504 steps to closing your Facebook account

In Part 1 of The Demise of Facebook, I looked at several facets of Facebook that have helped it become popular. People have always been pleased with Facebook’s simple interface layout and easy navigation, but there are some flaws in Facebook that will haunt its future.

Applications are ruining Facebook. Photo: I Started Something

Platform

In the beginning, when Facebook was limited, it provided simple features: messaging, friend lists, event management, etc. As Facebook grew, so did it’s vision. Facebook has grown from simple networking/messaging to an online social operating system. CEO Mark Zuckerberg even voiced in his F8 (ironically spells fate) Keynote that the new vision of Facebook is to become an operating system.

Facebook Platform, a mesh of extensive APIs and programming malarkey, allows developers to build on to Facebook. Developers can create applications that hook their applications into Facebook, and vice-versa.

These applications are getting a mixed reception. Some people hate them. Many like them. But all are plagued by the spam-like social nature of the applications. Some applications, such as the Picasa application, provide useful conduit to another service on the Internet. The Picasa application, for example, allows you to upload photos, using the Picasa desktop program, straight to Facebook. Other applications have missed the mark entirely.

Applications are getting out of hand. People loved the mature Facebook. It was messaging/friend-making/event-planning bliss. Facebook is locked in a gradual, deadly decline.

When I log on to Facebook, dozens of “application invites” plug up my notification area. People want to know if I want to play “Pirates vs. Ninjas”… Hell no. “Grow a plant on my profile?”… Like weed? Punch someone?… Yeah, in real life.

Application developers are loving the gigantic social graph they tap into with their applications. For example, a Stanford course on Facebook Applications was collectively able to obtain 10 million users in 10 weeks. People are raking it in, too. A do-what-you-want policy lets application developers maintain applications for no fees, and serve advertisements without penalty. This win-win model allows some application developers earn upwards of $4,000 a day.

Facebook, has been deemed the number 1 persuasive technology¹. This clout, coupled with the power of the social graph, greedy developers and a juicy API have rocketed Facebook into the online operating system world. Although capable, Facebook will never be taken seriously as an online operating system due to the fact that “Pirates vs. Ninjas” has nothing to do with productivity or networking. At all.

Citations

1. Learning to Create Engaging Apps for Facebook: What Works and What Does Not – http://www.baychi.org/calendar/20071211/#1
2. Facebook Developers | Videos – http://developers.facebook.com/videos.php

Everyone has seen the Facebook train-wreck a-coming. I’ve been doing a lot of research on Facebook and will now throw my hat into the ring: Facebook needs to shape up, or they’ll lose users with dumb mistakes, just like MySpace.

Facebook started as a social networking website with a clean interface that helped its users navigate efficiently³. Headed by college-dropout² Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook blossomed into the monstrosity that it is today. Facebook is the host of nearly 58 million profiles, with an expected beyond-60-million-member milestone set for the end of 2007¹.

Mark Zuckerberg
Photo: Facebook.com

Facebook’s beginning started in February 2004³ when Zuckerberg created it to host profiles for Harvard University, where he was then attending. Soon, Zuckerberg opened Facebook to allow any college student with a collegiate email address.

Facebook slowly opened membership to younger audiences. On September 2, 2005, high schools, also subject to exclusivity restrictions, began appearing on Facebook². No big deal. By February 27, 2007, high-school members were allowed to network with college members¹.

Facebook has slowly been opening to more demographics. Now, if you’re alive, older than 13, in school ⁴ and able to read, you can join Facebook. This greatly enriches the so-called “social graph” a term used by Zuckerberg and Facebook to illustrate the vast amount of connections people make with each other using Facebook³.

Facebook’s success shadowed that of networking behemoth MySpace. Watching MySpace’s failures, especially the “pedophile era” that everyone remembers, was beneficial for Facebook. They quickly learned that privacy, most of all, was the priority, in fact, Facebook’s homepage still touts privacy as a “top 6″ feature.

The Facebook Signup Spiel – Screen captured from Facebook.com

Facebook has had a blessed history. They had a successful beginning, a great run so far, but it’s coming to an end. Part 2 of my three-part series will focus on the social graph’s potential, and how the greed associated with a gigantic community drove Facebook to create Facebook Platform, a way for developers to connect their own application development into Facebook’s gigantic “social graph.”

And so the fun begins.

Citations

1. Facebook – From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
2. Mark Zuckerberg – From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
3. Facebook | Factsheet – From Facebook Press Page
4. Terms of Use – From Facebook