Google Buys Dodgeball - Some background
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New York-based Dodgeball is the brainchild of Dennis Crowley and Alex Rainert. It formally launched only a year ago. Crowley’s big interest for the last five years has been playing with the ways people use mobile devices to help coordinate social interactions. His credits include developing and managing mobile applications for Vindigo, MTV Networks, and ABC; he has also presented examples of his work at O’Reilly’s Emerging Technology conference.
Rainert, for his part, has been working for the past six years on creating intuitive interfaces for various platforms. These platforms have included software, Web, kiosk, wireless, iTV and broadband for clients such as Verizon, IBM, HBO, and 3COM. Working on both the technology and the user interface for a project puts him in a unique position to understand both the user’s needs and what is technologically possible.
Dodgeball grew out of a grad school project started by Crowley and Rainert at New York University’s Interactive Telecommunications Program. It began receiving press coverage back in 2000, when all it did was allow people to exchange information about what they thought of various night spots around New York City. By the end of 2003, Dodgeball had upgraded its offerings, going from simply a restaurant review service to something that could “speed up serendipity,” in its owners’ words.
The service, by the way, is free, and is not currently ad-supported. Sign up is very simple. It involves filling out a one-page form, in which you tell Dodgeball your name, email address, home city, and gender. You also need to tell the company about your cell phone (phone number, service provider, where you want to receive messages, and whether Dodgeball can send photos to your phone). As is typical, you then read and agree to the privacy policy and terms of service (which have changed since Google’s purchase of the company), submit the form, and you’re done.
Next: What is gained from the deal? >>
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