Comments on: Teens in Tech – Good Team, Bad Product

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 01:55:20 +0000

Press and promise are two entirely different things. Here's my basic opinion: Teens in Tech is not a good product and it has no conceivable way of turning a profit or becoming a successful business. But Daniel shows a lot of promise. I doubt this will be his last business. When he finds something really good on which to use his efforts, it will be very successful.

CF

By: Ali

Ali — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:54:26 +0000

And what have you innovated recently? Teens in Tech, while lacking in innovation, DOES provide a good place for teens who clearly have no idea what they're doing. No one used twitter for it's first year, and already TiT (yes that was clearly a bad choice) already has had lots of press. It shows promise!

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 23:55:11 +0000

Daniel will do an excellent job with the resources he has. He's extraordinarily talented and his execution, in any case, would be as good as possible. In this case, however, I think he's trying to brilliantly execute a flawed concept and it's just not working. It's like trying to run a super-advanced 3D game on a Commodore 64.

By: Clay

Clay — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:13:03 +0000

There is so many sites like this out on the web I don't think this will get big at all it could have been so much better then what its going to be

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:55:25 +0000

I have no doubt that Daniel will be successful. Indeed, by any
objective standard, he is already wildly successful. But I question
the idea that he is pursuing. With so much potential and so many
worth pursuits, why choose this one which is so fatally flawed?

My goal in writing this post was to convince Daniel to go after
something else. Failing that, I truly do wish Daniel success. I
don't see us in competition in any way. We can achieve much more when
all parties are successful than when that isn't the case.

CF

By: Neal Campbell

Neal Campbell — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:56:17 +0000

Chris, you know I love you man, but this is post (I think) you'll regret when you're older. If you don't like what Daniel is doing … ignore it! Teens in Tech probably won't be a Facebook, but Daniel will absolutely be successful. You will too. It's awesome that Daniel is trying new projects. It's awesome when you do to. Out of all the teens who try and connect with us, there are three that have massively impressed us: you, Max and Daniel. In my never humble opinion, you're brilliant and Danial is too, in a different way. There's plenty of room for everyone to succeed. This isn't a zero sum game.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:24:36 +0000

Wow, Riley, that comment was epic!

Teens in Tech can be successful, maybe, maybe, maybe. Teens do have problems committing, but if there could be a few popular flagship shows, Teens in Tech could make money off of advertising. But it's my understanding that Teens in Tech isn't trying to be a Mevio-type service. They're pursuing this from theback-end, producer side which will never work. There's just nothingoriginal.

I hope Daniel's team moves on to something worthy of their skills.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:10:32 +0000

I don't agree that it's purely a gimmick. I think this just hasn't been thought through. Daniel is pursuing this with conviction and I just hope he directs his very effective efforts towards a better idea.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 03:08:32 +0000

Good idea. Their new slogan could be, “So New, We're Explosive!”

By: Riley W. Kaminer

Riley W. Kaminer — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 02:17:06 +0000

Let me start by saying that this was a great post, well written and extremely true. I think a few things about Teens in Tech and just teens in general. First, we all know that teens generally get a bad wrap for most everything. Sometimes, this is OK because it is true, but sometimes it is clearly unfair. Being a teen, I can say this: some teens are just LAME. Some have short attention spans and can do something for ten minutes and get bored with it. I give a lot of credit to teens who CAN stick with something for a while, rather than just getting bored or discouraged with the current project. I think Daniel is fairly well equipped to run a company–his podcast (which I honestly don't love, but some really do) has been going on forever, for something like 150 episodes, something I give him LOADS of credit for. The problem I see is with the actual company concept of Teens in Tech (if there is one, that is). Unless it is totally amazing, it could never really work. Teens just don't want to commit. For example, Teen Media Productions. I think it's a great idea, it has a fairly solid market, mowing down any possible competition, but it is going… nowhere. Could it go somewhere, definitely. No doubt. Just like when TMP put their site in Maintenance mode, I got really excited. They can really go somewhere from nowhere. Now, however, I am slightly disappointed in them because the site has been down for at least a month, probably more. They still can redeem themselves, but they must act quickly. There is one way that Teens in Tech can work and that is to not open up to the full public (be relatively selective) and innovate. I think that if they had say five core shows that really worked, got viewership, and were professional, it would not just help Daniel and Teens in Tech, but the image of teenagers as a whole. I think that there are a few teens that are doing that now, you, Chris, but also Max Murphy of Mac News Weekly. He has a great show, is sticking to it, is professional, and enjoys it. There are obviously some things that I think could make MNW better, but for now and what it is, it's great. I also bring up Max because I feel that he is making teens look good. He is saying with his show that "yes, teens CAN produce good media consistently–it is possible, just give them some faith." Basically what I am saying is this: we need more 'Max Murphys' in teen podcasting and blogging and less kids who do one episode of an OK podcast and call it quits. I feel that Max has really innovated our market with Mac News Weekly and maybe even "stuck it too the man" a little. I also feel that adults SHOULD be more… open minded to kids, something that Daniel has pioneered in. Here is my final thought (I promise!). Both Teens in Tech or Teen Media Productions can be great, they just need service, consistency, and innovation. All my power to them!