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IMterviews - Monday, October 18, 2004

John Battelle - The a:c IMterview

The a:c is pleased to unveil its first IMterview: an interview conducted over Instant Messenger. The idea is to engage in a quick dialogue using the desktop app which - for better or for worse - now serves as one of the most common platforms for the exchange of information.

Our first IMterview is with John Battelle, media entrepreneur and commentator. His credentials include: Original Managing Editor of Wired Magazine and Founder & CEO of The Industry Standard. Props to John for a solid and varied recovery from the turmoil at Wired and the Standard. He is currently: a visiting professor at UC Berkeley’s School of Journalism (on leave), a columnist for Business 2.0, a conference organizer for Web 2.0, a daily blogger on Searchblog, a consultant for Boing-Boing & O’Reilly, and a soon-to-be published author of a book chronicling search and, in particular, the rise and IPO of Google. He's also working on a media project to be announced.

Battelle Comfy-chairs with Jerry Yang

The a:c: What was the most provocative
session or debate at last week's event?
JBat: Most provocative - Larry Lessig
and Cory Doctorow. Both were calls to
arms. Best debate: probably the Marc
Andreessen/Dan Rosensweig talk. It was
at least the most entertaining for me!
JBat: Of course, Andrew
Conru of Adult Friend Finder was
provocative - but in an unexpected way:
We can learn a lot from the adult industry....
The a:c: And what were Andreessen and
Rosensweig discussing?
JBat: Data lock in. Lessons of the past.
The browser wars. A slew of things.
The a:c: Did you have the feeling that
people were turning their noses up at
the Friendfinder guy?
JBat: wait....phone call
The a:c: Sure.
JBat: OK sorry.
JBat No, I think the audience
really liked Andrew's presentation. I
worked really hard with each presenter on
what they might say, and who the audience
was, and what they might value.
The a:c: OK, turning to your book: who
gave you the best interview for the book?