Suck

for 13 August 1996. Updated every TUESDAY.



	A new kind of media company meets the
	tailgating scene at a Grateful Dead
	*concert... on the web! (And eventually*
	everywhere else.)

	Create a place on the net where
	never-say-die Deadheads can go and fuel
	economic growth without boring
	non-tape-trading normals.

	The dubious notion of community in
	cyberspace sometimes seems to revolve
	around Deadheads - those lovable
	counterculture ragamuffins who have all
	the time in the world to discuss almost
	any topic even slightly related to their
	favorite band. Unfortunately, they tend
	to assume that everybody else actually
	cares about such mullet-heavy minutiae,
	leaving other discussion areas on the net
	awash in messages with subject lines
	like, "How Jerry would vote," and "Save a
	tree for Bobby." Even more unfortunately,
	nobody (except perhaps The Well) is
	making any money from all of this
	blather. Deadair Ventures would resolve
	both of these problems with Deadair.com,
	a community-based website that would give
	these soiled masses a place where they
	could hang out and shop for a wide
	assortment of branded lifestyle
	accessories.



	Just like the parking lot at a Dead show,
	the site would be a marketplace where
	heads can shop for souvenirs while
	talking with like-minded layabouts - far
	from the stern glare of more
	aesthetically adventurous onlookers.
	Revenue comes from selling marketplace
	"booths" to those with psychedelic
	T-shirts or cool-looking hash pipes to
	unload. Despite its lack of content,
	Deadair isn't just a dumping ground for
	conversation - it's the flagship project
	of a new kind of company that creates
	"Dead Media for Dead People." Especially
	sentimental musings would be compiled
	into a series of books published by
	Deadtrees Press. The Deadair community
	would extend into the real world as the
	amusement park Deadspace (Deadair
	Ventures would negotiate with San
	Francisco to simply fence off a portion
	of the Haight-Ashbury area). If all goes
	as planned, the site's server would even
	be sent out on a summer tour.

	It would be damn dificult to find a
	less-expensive way of separating people
	from their money. Deadair.com can easily
	become a reality on any server, and only
	basic administrative skills are required to
	keep it running. No content is needed,
	since Deadheads are perfectly happy to
	discuss that mind-blowing 1977 show for
	hours, dude. Publicity is taken care of
	by posting messages on Dead-oriented
	bulletin boards - a task most board
	administrators would be happy to help
	with (if only to speed the siphoning off
	of space-hogging lyric archives). Within
	a year or so, the site will have enough
	visibility to attract an audience to
	Deadair Ventures projects like Deadtrees
	and Deadspace.

courtesy of Dr. Dreidel