Wow, that is bad. Almost as bad as Scoble offering expertise on the economy. (And that’s a pretty big pile of nonsense, mind you.)

By Art Lindsey III on Mar 19, 2008

that’s obvious.

but what’s up with Hugh Macleod?? a man barely alive..and boring!

(http://www.fastcompany.tv/video/social-objects-beget-social-gestures)

By zxspectrum on Mar 19, 2008

horrible quality, bummer for a once great brand. did they raise money for that?
most conversational buzz i’ve heard around the launch of the .tv site was that it’s built on drupal - no one ever mentioned the content. hm…

By Thomas on Mar 19, 2008

Wow, that is boring. I think fastcompany is going to end up wasting a whole lot of money on their little .tv venture

By Jacob on Mar 19, 2008

Isn’t like new media and social media supposed to be represented by people under the age of 90?

By kevin on Mar 19, 2008

Loren, this review is way way too kind.

By Sarah on Mar 19, 2008

The owl at the end was a nice touch. Maybe he should change his Twitter avatar to an owl and make that his thing.

By Mike on Mar 19, 2008

You missed out, dont cut into what the other person says every 5secs to explain. When he cuts away to himself on the social media hugh video its as if he’s somewhere else and he cuts on words and well its just confusing its not a conversation he’s having there so whats the point? Hugh can explain himself fine, why does he need an interpreter?

By bennycrime on Mar 19, 2008

The managing director Robert Scoble the brainchild behind this piece of shit. He sucks so bad with his I know better attitude now he is sinking like a stone.

Scoble’s big move hiring Shel. Whew. Great move for the executive in Robert Scoble. He can barely tie his shoes never mind try to run a venture for fastcompany. I give fastcompany management 3 months then there will be management changes.

This guy Shel’s show sucks bad. I guess he’s some sort of influencer? To who? Not me? You’re right it’s a train wreck

By iknowscoble on Mar 19, 2008

Loren, I went to watch the video you are talking about and I started having cramps after 40 seconds.

This stuff is unhealthy and should be forbidden just like cocaine.

These people don’t even know how to hold a mike. I wonder how they can use their cellphones.

By Livia on Mar 19, 2008

Loren you totally read my mind here - this was the biggest piece of shit I have ever laid eyes on. But totally and utterly compelling viewing - who needs mockumentary when you have video this bad.

Between the stubby ambient mic being man-handled in the interview and the fucking horse-scholong shotgun at the end, oh man this guy is a pro. Not to mention the hard slugs of whiskey from the starbucks container in that classy “what the fuck am i doing here, and where exactly is here” hobo style. To the accompaniment of twitch-boy.

Then I went onto Scoble to see if it could get any worse. And behold, an opening sequence that mixes Charlie Chaplin with MTV circa 1983 via some retard wedding video, with this narcissistic lunatic sitting like the Mermaid of Copenhagen/a playboy centerfold on a rock, or filming himself on a soft porn beach. With sumptuous title credits care of WordArt. Holy shit, web tv has hit a new low. Still at least scoble splashed out on a lapel mic (even if he did feel the need to tell us that).

This is nothing short of art.

By Michael on Mar 19, 2008

Hi Loren…

I’m so glad I decided to join the fun on Twitter recently and had the presence of mind to follow your feed almost from day 1. The entire thing just paid for itself.

Wait, it cost 0 dollars…(nevermind)

This is my early candidate for web video of the year. It simply has something for everybody. The heaving, the odd “head in the way + Starbucks from the first moment” framing, the microphone face attacks, Shel holding a giant cattail next to an owl at the end, etc.

This is truly the day that Web 2.0 reached critical mass. A $350 million company doing sub-Radio Shack level videos to me signals the day that the semantic web was born.

I’m in for $500K in an angel round.

Many thanks to you for making my day at the last minute. At least 3 full body laughs during the last 15 minutes.

DJ

By Dave Johnston on Mar 19, 2008

@Loren - bang on, this is just too sloppy. And looks like Fast Company has no quality control mechanism at all - I mean, I know this thing was delayed, but finally somebody let this steaming pile of shit onto the web. And even if it was a cup of latte/bourbon somebody got paid to make this happen, that was too high a price. I kept waiting for Israel to fall flat on his face or just whip his cock out or something. Anything.

I keep telling myself this is a set up, that this is an elaborate way to generate traffic (unbearably lame videos as the new SEO), but let’s face it, there isn’t any excuse. It’s just a testament to an outright contempt for their audience and belief that whatever turd these bloated “a-listers” deem to lay on our faces is just fine with us, because they’re *special people*.

I blame you for making raw look easy when it’s anything but.

@Dave Johnston - priceless comment. Thought I’d laughed enough already about this

By Michael on Mar 19, 2008

Lame, yes- but would I be shallow to say it was deadly boring and self-important? The owl was the star.

By MsInformation on Mar 19, 2008

I don’t care what you say about me. I walk in Fastcompany in NY and tell those guys how it’s done. You have to give credit to them they listen to me. Everyone there is clueless and until I start cleaning house and taking over it will be bad for a while.

Loren, please get off my case you twit. I have more influence than you. Can you get the CEO of Intel- No. Without me Fastcompany would be dead. So I’m doing them a favor and they pay my salary in return.

Go f&ck yourself

By Robert Scoble on Mar 20, 2008

Is that a troll masquerading as Robert Scoble, or is that the real deal?

In any case I agree that the shot was dire, the interview was awkward, the interviewee’s twitching was probably exacerbated by the amateur set up…get the basics sorted out and you’ve done 50% of the work already.

By AndrewE on Mar 20, 2008

Truly bizarre.

@Dave Johnston, “A $350 million company doing sub-Radio Shack level videos to me signals the day that the semantic web was born.”

Great line.

By Vince Williams on Mar 20, 2008

Thanks guys…

I’m on Day 2 of this video and I’m still enjoying it.

Loren’s response today was apt, and no matter how many people will decide to label him as “being mean,” this is a legit moment of real clarity on this Web 2.0 business. Too many people are still fascinated by the internet in general, without giving it a real honest look at what is actually being accomplished.

Good content is good content. Period. Web 0.72 to Web 9.0, whatever. We need to move beyond the fascination with the medium itself.

DJ

By Dave Johnston on Mar 20, 2008

This first group of videos was done very poorly. They used the wrong equipment. Whoever was working the camera (was it Shel?) kept shaking it and didn’t realize the mic was in most of the shots. And sucking down a coffee while Jeremiah was talking was ridiculous. Can’t he just have a conversation with the guy for five minutes?

The clips of Shel holding a shotgun mic sitting in a chair and seemingly looking everywhere but the camera are painful to watch. I felt bad for the guy.

They need a producer for both Shel and Scoble’s shows. They also need a technical person who knows video production better than the team they have here. Fast Company is putting their brand at risk by being associated with this content.

By Rob Safuto on Mar 20, 2008

I like the way he’s trying to push that gun, er I mean mike up Jeremiah’s nose. And the owl… oh the owl. Classic.

By Stephan Tual on Mar 22, 2008

As for the content, it’s a parody right? “A rising star in a rising category”… oh dear. Why stop there? He’s GOD! GOD I tell you! The owl told me!

By Stephan Tual on Mar 22, 2008

I hate to say it, but you’re hilarious. I assume a lot of people are thinking it, but won’t admit it. First timer watching and you’re like Valleywag. People don’t want to admit that they read it or enjoy reading it, but they do. Seriously, this clip was hilarious and spot on.

By Jeff Rogers on Apr 7, 2008

it’s about damn time SOMEONE OUT THERE stops accepting the status quo from clowns like this and treating everything they say as effing gospel. I’m tired of it - this was dead on… your puppet videos at shelisrael.com our effing outstanding…. keep up the effing oustanding work…

By so on Apr 11, 2008