176. The Epic Fail of Digg V.4 With Will Larson

176. The Epic Fail of Digg V.4 With Will Larson

Author: Brian McCullough August 6, 2018 Duration: 49:56
This story has gone down in Silicon Valley lore as the ultimate cautionary tale. Digg was the earliest high flying startup in early social media. But then, other startups like Facebook and Twitter started to steal the limelight. So Digg tried to keep up by launching the infamous Digg version 4. And… it’s a disaster. Users hate it. So much so, that many people feel that the reason Reddit is Reddit today is because the Digg community fled their en-masse. Digg Version 4 has become a much cited horror story for when a redesign can be so disruptive it can kill a company. So, what’s the real story behind this urban legend? Today, we talk to Will Larson, who today is at Stripe, was a young engineer working on the launch of Digg version 4. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Brian McCullough's Internet History Podcast digs into the foundational stories of our digital world, exploring the pivotal moments and forgotten detours between the rise of the first mainstream web browser and the dawn of the modern mobile era. This isn't just a dry recounting of dates and corporate maneuvers. Instead, the podcast weaves together the intersecting threads of technology, business, and the profound societal shifts they triggered. You'll hear about the personalities, the breakthrough products, the spectacular failures, and the cultural phenomena that collectively built the internet as we know it. Each episode serves as a chapter in a larger, ongoing narrative about how connectivity reshaped everything from commerce and communication to creativity and community. For anyone curious about how we got here, this series provides essential context, revealing the human drama behind the code and the hardware. Tune in for a deeply researched, engagingly told chronicle of the forces that defined a generation and continue to shape our future.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Internet History Podcast
Podcast Episodes
114. Douglas Colbeth, CEO of Spyglass [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:03
We've spoken a lot on this show about Netscape and the "Browser Wars," but there's a key angle to this story that we haven't had the chance to delve into yet. While Netscape was out in California creating Navigator, ther…
113. Joel Johnson on Gawker and the Rise of Professional Blogging [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:45:21
SummaryJoel Johnson has spent nearly his entire professional career, working in digital media. He went from being an anonymous online commenter to being an early editor of Gizmodo, to eventually becoming editorial direct…
112. Inventor of the First Digital Camera, Steven Sasson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:03
SummarySteve Sasson was the inventor of the world's first digital camera. Because it's hard to imagine modern life without digital photography, it's maybe easy to forget what a marvel it really is. And Sasson has been fr…
Announcing the Podcast Book! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:01
Quick, special announcement of a book, based on the podcast, coming from Liveright (W.W. Norton) in 2018. Regular episode to come next monday... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. See Privacy Po…
111. CompuServe Founder Jeff Wilkins [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:24
SummaryJeff Wilkins was the co-founder and first CEO of CompuServe, perhaps the original consumer online service. Jeff recounts for us CompuServe's founding in 1970, the launch of it's consumer-facing service in 1980, an…
110. Hunter Walk Talks Second Life, Google Adsense and YouTube [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:56
Special Note: We’re testing something new this week. You can read a full transcription of this episode here.Everyone’s favorite, friendly neighborhood Venture Capitalist, Hunter Walk, discusses four amazing segments of h…
109. The History of Sierra Online with Laine Nooney [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:12:55
SummaryKen and Roberta Williams were the founders of the legendary PC gaming company Sierra Online. Assistant Professor of Digital Media in the School of Literature, Media and Communication at Georgia Tech, Laine Nooney,…
108. BabyCenter.com Founders Mark Selcow and Matt Glickman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:40
Mark Selcow and Matt Glickman were the founders of BabyCenter.com. The story of BabyCenter is a combination of several themes we've discussed on this show: creating community as a strategy for building a sustainable audi…
107. Founder of Marketwatch, Larry Kramer @lkramer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:25:16
SummaryLarry Kramer was the founder of MarketWatch.com. He’s also been the President and Publisher of USA Today and he’s currently interim CEO of TheStreet.com. We talk to him about creating a brand like MarketWatch in a…

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