So Google's finally gonna kill dodgeball, eh?
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post here: google-code-updates.blogspot.com/2009/01/changes-for-jaik...
Alex called me late last night with the news (which then spread like nerd-wildfire thru Lock's bday party).
Is anyone really surprised? Google clearly didn't care about dodgball while we were there and there hasn't been a full-time engineer working on dodgeball since we left (back in May 2007!). It's been great to have Harry keeping an eye on it since we left, so you can so you can thank him / buy him a whiskey for bringing it back to life all those times. :)
You know, Alex and I kind of selfishly built dodgeball for our friends in NYC (classic Shirky Situated Software). We tried build something that would make our Thursday nights more interesting and it just so happened that it worked pretty well and that a whole bunch of other people in other cities wanted to play too. So thanks for that... and I'll always be thankful for all the good times and new friends that came out of the glory days of dodgeball (SXSW 06, anyone?)
So what's next? Well I don't know how many days dball has left (30 days? 90 days?), but I've always said that if Google ever kills dodgeball, I'd build you guys a new one, so stayed tuned. (some of you know that me + Naveen have been cooking up some new stuff which is looking kind of hot). We'll hustle to get something for everyone to play with at SXSW. (And really Google? You couldn't wait till the end of ski season to kill it??)
And just on a sidenote, the whole mobile + social space is still pretty open. Even, what?, 5 years after Alex and I launched dball in April 2004, no one is really doing anything new. Sure, Brightkite showed us "Place Snap" and Loopt's rocking "Mixx" (ha!), but no one is really thinking about this space beyond just "Twitter with whereabouts"... so maybe Naveen and I can take a stab at fixing that. :)
ps: Hey Google, can I have the domain back please? Even just for my personal email? Pleeeaaasseeee?
Comments and faves
dpstyles™ (41 months ago | reply)
Hahahah Janelle
... I'll throw mine on too. dball 4eva!
Panther Drizzle Boots (41 months ago | reply)
Dirty rat bastards. Sorry to hear that Dennis. I'll wear my Dball T with more pride. In the day time, too.
jefkem (41 months ago | reply)
so can i start using my "chief wireless strategist" fake position now?
Chelsa Skees (41 months ago | reply)
:(
buhny (41 months ago | reply)
its a boo-hanky, but good to know you've got bigger & better plans in the works!
cdfio (41 months ago | reply)
looking forward to what's next, but in the meantime--thank you for making all of our thursday nights more interesting along the way. :)
Buster Benson added this photo to his favorites. (41 months ago)
Aaron Landry (41 months ago | reply)
Sign me up.
the real janelle (41 months ago | reply)
end of an era. can't wait for the next one! (pls. fix my iPhone issue!)
moleitau added this photo to his favorites. (41 months ago)
Xtian. (41 months ago | reply)
moleitau (41 months ago | reply)
Boo! but you are totally right about no-one doing more than "twitter+whereabouts". Where you are right now is just not that interesting - where you are going to be though... (but i would say that)
girl_onthe_les (41 months ago | reply)
it can't be all bad though- i mean, you did get a shit ton of money out of the deal and a decent paying job for a bit, right?
sorry it hear its dying, I really loved it.
doryexmachina (41 months ago | reply)
Farewell, Dball, you always ensured I didn't drink alone.
WilloToons (41 months ago | reply)
Sign me up for beta testing!
And he'll yes, SXSW '06 fucking ruled - possibly my fav year thus far, a big thanks to that badass Dball party.
dpstyles™ (41 months ago | reply)
rocking mine too (and new snowpants!)
others here
numberless (41 months ago | reply)
Oooh, where do I get one? I'd wear that fucker with PRIDE.
joshc (41 months ago | reply)
is there a vault with those t-shirts? i want one.
Schumata (41 months ago | reply)
rat bastards
dpstyles™ (41 months ago | reply)
i have like 4 tshirts left... if i have any leftover by SXSW i'll bring em.
terrajen (41 months ago | reply)
t shirt love
cdfio (41 months ago | reply)
i want one!
Otherscott (41 months ago | reply)
Success is the best revenge.
Kathryn Yu (41 months ago | reply)
Shit, now I gotta find my Dodgeball tee.
lhl and adammathes added this photo to their favorites.
mikepop (41 months ago | reply)
Can't wait to see what's next
no tee, so:
the ryan king, K. Mikey M., and anildash added this photo to their favorites.
marisaolson (41 months ago | reply)
twentysomething:
gawker.com/5132294/dodgeball-overhyped-and-un derused-dese...
dpstyles™ (41 months ago | reply)
@marisa, ssssshhhh!
lia (41 months ago | reply)
my shirt's actually still in regular rotation! r.i.p. dodgeball.
Kingfox added this photo to his favorites. (41 months ago)
sita puddin pie (41 months ago | reply)
:(
@harryh (41 months ago | reply)
more t-shirt love
sita puddin pie added this photo to her favorites. (41 months ago)
ddaarryynn (41 months ago | reply)
r.i.p. dodgeball. it was awesome meeting you guys at web2.0 in nyc this year - good luck with the new thing, looking forward to it!
editorlisa and itspaulp added this photo to their favorites.
dgkris7 (41 months ago | reply)
wow, if u actually have any dball shirts left, I'll FOR SURE take one. I'll even pay u for it! (how do I not have one, btw?)
Satya W added this photo to his favorites. (41 months ago)