It’s funny how a career can turn on a dime. Mine certainly did back in the late 90s when Hollywood flirted with me for a moment. My book Accidental Empires, which was the basis of my PBS series Triumph of the Nerds, was optioned for a feature film by Lionsgate Films, a script was written and casting was about to begin. Then along came Pirates of Silicon Valley (ironically you can find both rental and pirated versions of the film at the same time on Youtube). The TV movie for TNT was considered such an overlap of my work that the Lionsgate project died overnight.
I have to give credit to the writer and director of the film, Canadian Martyn Burke, for telling the right story at exactly the right time. Most of us remember his film, for one thing, and that’s a testament to any made-for-TV movie 20 years on. Noah Wylie, was especially well cast as Steve Jobs — so well that he later appeared with the real Steve at an Apple corporate event. Real Steve loved the whole thing.
Alas the movie wasn’t based on my book but on A Fire in the Valley, by Paul Freiberger and Michael Swaine, even though many of the memorable scenes post-dated publication of that very fine book (Swaine is a friend).
Do I sound bitter? Well maybe a little. But that was a long time ago.
Still, I’ve never met Martyn Burke, this guy who so affected my life, truncating my Hollywood lunch experience to a single Cobb salad at The Ivy.
Now I’ve just heard that Martyn Burke has published a new novel, Music For Love or War and will be appearing to promote the book tomorrow night (Tuesday, February 21st) at Books Inc., 74 Town & Country Village in Palo Alto. The fun starts at 7PM and unless the road to my hilltop lair washes out tonight (alas, a real possibility) I’ll be there to shake Martyn’s hand.
Or punch him.
Mark – will you explain what’s going on with mine server while you’re there?
Oh the irony. Coming from a guy who ripped off a bunch of kids who coughed up for Minecraft servers.
Just shut up, loser.
Came across this gem while searching for information on the MineServer and its whereabouts. What a strange promotion they are running…Anyone know when I can order one?
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Cringely MineServer Promo Video
Bob – I watched both Pirates of the Silicon Valley and Triumph of the Nerds, and the latter is by far the best one, with some great interviews from Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Steve Ballmer, as well as a great storytelling of the creation of the IBM PC and the rise of a future giant.
It’s a shame people mostly remember Pirates.
I agree….I never really was a fan of the “Pirates” movie….it just seemed like another show-biz dramatization (the five most dishonest words in Hollywood are “BASED on a true story” as it always enables writers to make crap up that never did or ever could’ve happened while presenting it as if it did) that wasn’t nearly as exciting or representative of the real story. The real story which, with the right writer (that’d be you Cringe) could be told just as compelling-ly in a documentary style as any dramatic movie.
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I think in general the story of the rise of personal computing and the rise to top-of-the-word prominence of Silicon Valley….from the 1970’s on…..is a story that doesn’t need nor want yet another dramatization film with big-time actors and cinematic treatment. The real story is too good. Hence the great success of Cringe’s wonderful Triumph of the Nerds and Steve Jobs interviews (as well as many may other documentaries of those wonderful times and those various wonderful personalities) are by far the best. That’s why the two recent Jobs movies flopped….who the heck needs to see an actor and made-up (out of thin air) events when the real story is soooo compelling.
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Cringely, we are still waiting an updated “Triumph of the Nerds part 2” and/or “Accidental Empires Part 2.” You did a great job of taking us up to the 1990’s….at which point a whole new revolution (with adoption of the internet, and new innovation, and new devices and most of all new personalities) occurred. There’s 20+ years of history you can document….surely PBS, book publishers, and eventually Hollywood would show some interest in that?
Ken Dee when u wrote:”not fan of the “Pirates” movie….it just seemed like another show-biz dramatization (the five most dishonest words in Hollywood are “BASED on a true story” as it always enables writers to make crap up that never did or ever could’ve happened while presenting it as if it did)” I understand why you said that. However I hosted a luncheon for Woz in 2004 and someone asked him how accurate the movie was. He said that while there was artistic license taken in writing it, the overall story was presented accurately. He said that certain people in the movie or credit was saying certain things did not however the history of what happened was maintained.
Re: “certain people in the movie or credit was saying certain things did not however the history of what happened was maintained” Makes no sense.
You should get a photo with him shaking hands but make sure you stare into the camera with some cheeky disdain!
Hope you’ve got a documentary or two in the pipeline! I really do like how you frame the industry and there’s always a new story to tell.
So we can meet you tomorrow night to get our money back on the Mineserver as well? Maybe we can affect the same aforementioned greetings?
Sure, make your way to Palo Alto on Cringely’s word that he’ll be there. When he inevitably disappoints, at least you’ll have the satisfaction of congratulating Martyn Burke on establishing the long-standing trend of beating him to market with an actual product while Cringely wastes effort on relentless hype and self-promotion.
You sir, are brilliant. A small light of humor in these dark days.
If I hadn’t killed my back this weekend, I’d wander down there in case he shows up — y’know, to shake Cringely’s hand.
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Or punch him.
Don’t punch him. Just grab him by the scruff of the neck and take back your money. That’s how a crook should be treated.
This does not surprise me. You seem to enjoy complaining more than actually working for a change. What are we, in month three of this little Look At Meee festival? How’s that working for you?
If Kickstarter has an avenue to sue or recover funds then go over there and start some action. If there is no legal recourse for you then mark it down to a lesson learned. Bob is turning out to be poor business partner. Too bad.
Waahhh, somebody is complaining about Miner-Servers again! Why won’t they just give up?
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Too bad.
“You seem to enjoy complaining more than actually working for a change.”
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One might argue that that is not uncommon amongst humans, but that’s a whole ‘nother discussion. As to your implication, that my norm is to *not* work, good job inferring that from what I wrote. Too bad it’s completely wrong.
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“How’s that working for you?”
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To be honest, better than try to get Bob’s attention via Kickstarter or eliciting Kickstarter’s assistance. So, while it’s not great, it does seem to be the best option we’ve got at this point, short of showing up on his doorstep.
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“If Kickstarter has an avenue to sue or recover funds then go over there and start some action.”
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Oh, gee. Silly me. Why didn’t I think of that? Wow, what a ninny I’ve been.
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“If there is no legal recourse for you then mark it down to a lesson learned.”
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Ah, but there is legal recourse (although perhaps not the way you meant it) — Here is an open forum where I can offer opinion and insight and perhaps achieve some measure of recompense. Thus far, it is legal for me to do so.
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I am uncertain if Bob has the legal option of banning me from this forum; I imagine he could if he wanted given that it is his site. But, as yet, he has not done that. (And note that I have not tried to hide behind an alias or anything.)
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“Bob is turning out to be poor business partner.”
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And here is something we agree upon!
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“Too bad.”
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Yes, for those that come here not wanting to hear about Bob’s dishonesty and poor character (and Mineservers) and, hopefully, for Bob himself as people stop coming here and he begins to lose revenue as his reputation tanks.
Ive not seen Pirates of the Silicon Valley but i saw Triumph of the Nerds when it was first broadcast here in the UK. All of us studying Computer Science that year were recommended to watch it by various lecturers. still remember it fondly as it provided more history and insight into the bigger industry that i was getting into than i probably realised at the time. Must try to watch Triumph again soon!
It’s a trap!
Perhaps it’s time for a new documentary, Failure of the Herd or something like that. It could be about crowd-funded projects that failed, leaving backers out in the cold, wondering what the project creators were doing with their money, up there in their hilltop lair.
I can think of at least one project you could cover.
Although, since you’ve paid no attention to it for the last year and a half, I don’t know why you’d start now.
I remember watching both of these and enjoyed them even though some of the scenes were a bit over the top compared to what really happened.
As for the MineServer issues, I am sorry to see it die like it has but Kickstarter projects fail all the time. It is part of the game. Having been a part of many a failed project (not just Kickstarter ones), I understood the risks. Seems like a lot of people didn’t and now they are bitter. Note: If you are buying product on Kickstarter like it is Amazon then you need to check the FAQ section.
If a MineServer shows up at my door, I will enjoy that moment. If not, that’s life.
Keep up the reporting Bob. It is what I am here to read about.
Wow, the need to keep explaining this over and over and over never ends!
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Nobody thought they were buying from Amazon.
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Everybody knows how Kickstarter works. Read the TOS and the Miner-Server project page and see the non-compliance for yourself.
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If the project has died, nobody bothered to tell the backers yet. THAT’s the problem. The last Update on the project page (November 10, 2016) concludes with:
“Toward this end of shipping the week after next we’ll shortly send out a new survey to verify delivery addresses and — most importantly — T-shirt sizes.
Thanks for your patience and support.”
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Over and over and over again, backers have asked for ANY kind of update — if the project is dead, they want to know! Is that unreasonable? Cringely steadfastly refuses to even talk about it. THAT’s unreasonable. So tell us again how misguided their bitterness is.
I did understand how Kickstarter works. That is why the Mineserver project was the first, only and last crowd funding project I will ever support. I only supported it because my kids did play Minecraft and I wanted to support Bob/Mark after following him for 20 years.
This is why people are so emotionally invested on this project. This was not just another interesting project, most were doing it to support Bob… And he has let us down
Freeman,
I’ve always felt that the problem was that Kickstarter was a product that would inevitably lead to the problems we see with Bob’s Mindserver project. No – everyone does not know how Kickstarter works – and, that is the problem.
Previously, before Kickstarter – my high-risk investments required that I be an “accredited investor”. The problem with that was that being an “accredited investor” in no way makes an individual qualified to make decisions regarding investing.
IMO, we need a new federal law that requires potential investors to pass an on-line test that shows if they understand how to make investment decisions – before they are allowed to invest in Kickstarter projects.
The test would NOT be acknowledging a long, dense amount of verbiage warning about the level of risk.
What I meant by that was practically everyone who backed the Miner-Server project was tech-savvy enough to understand the difference between Kickstarter and Amazon (though it is closer to Amazon than it is to Fidelity). Many of the backers have said that they have backed other Kickstarter projects in the past, some of which have failed. This isn’t about people misunderstanding the nature of high-risk investment (nevermind that it was advertised as “unlike many Kickstarter hardware projects, for the $99 Mineserver™ virtually all development work is already done so risks are minimized” – we’ve all been reading Cringely long enough to know better). This is about posting an update concluding “Toward this end of shipping the week after next we’ll shortly send out a new survey to verify delivery addresses and — most importantly — T-shirt sizes.” LAST NOVEMBER and ever since then REFUSING TO TALK ABOUT IT AT ALL. Check out the project page and you’ll see a history of that sort of behavior culminating in the egregious and ongoing example I just mentioned. Are you telling me that is what woke people should know to expect from a Kickstarter project? How many of your “high risk investments” have pulled that crap on you?
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Now let’s talk about what Kickstarter is and isn’t. For one thing, it isn’t an investment vehicle. Go look at the rewards offered on Kickstarter campaign pages. You’re not going to find much in the way of shares in the profits offered in return for your “investment”. What’s typically offered is a PRODUCT. That’s called a PURCHASE, which is not an investment unless there is reason to believe the value of the product will appreciate faster than the inflation rate. Most, if not all of the projects on Kickstarter do not fall into that category, certainly not computer tech projects like Miner-Server. To say that “we need a new federal law that requires potential investors to pass an on-line test that shows if they understand how to make investment decisions – before they are allowed to invest in Kickstarter projects” in reference to the Miner-Server project demonstrates a lack of understanding of the general concept of investment, not to mention ethics, good business practices, how Kickstarter works, and the expectations spelled out in their TOS.
Thanks for all the numerous, perfect, and complete explanations of the Mineserver situation. You’re probably the most patient person I’ve ever known.
Freeman,
Thanks for the feedback. I’m not trying to be argumentative about the Mind Server project. It just has always seemed to me that Kickstarter was inevitably going to lead to problems and a lot of upset people.
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I apologize for my lack of empathy – but, I'm just not seeing anything that strikes me as significantly different from an investment in a oil well joint-venture. Yes,some operators are excellent in their communications – certified letters with project updates, JV member conference calls to discuss project progress… right up until they plug the well and call it a bust. Other operators… almost nothing… right up until I get the first check from a successful venture. If there is a pattern – it seems the worst communicators are the most successful operators.
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And the above aligns with my experience in IT. The very best IT talent almost inevitably has very poor communication and social skills.
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Regardless, there are obviously participants in the Mind Server Kickstarter who are very upset. I get that. What could be changed so that this doesn't happen in the future. What rules and/or processes need to be put in place?
Freeman,
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First of all, please forgive my inadvertent use of Mind Server instead of Mineserver. I used Mind Server for years to develop IT strategy plans and I just can’t stop accidentally miss-typing that.
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So I looked at Mark’s Mineserver Project and Kickstarter closer than I have ever done in the past. I feel reasonably comfortable stating an opinion on this because I’ve managed hundreds of IT projects.
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Thinking about Kickstarter (having read a few dozen articles on Kickstarter fraud) I feel strongly that Kickstarter needs to put more controls around expenditures by projects of funding capital. Also, that information should be automatically posted on the internet for public access as each expenditure is made. I have a very extensive background in financial systems and I think the Kickstarter processes are completely unacceptable.
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In regard to the Mineserver project specifically… in my opinion, your angst over the management of the project is overblown. Obviously individuals can debate endlessly regarding what is and is not acceptable in this particular situation – but, I find the Mineserver project to be within acceptable boundaries for projects of this type. I find the project reports to be interesting and in as much detail as I would normally expect. I can’t sympathize in regard to your impatience with missed deadlines because it is so common that it is rare that a project like this would be expected to finish anywhere near schedule. Looking at the project at the beginning, I would have guessed that the deadline would be missed by approximately 100%-200%.
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Obviously you can sue the Mineserver project if you feel strongly about this – but, I’m positive that there is absolutely no way you would be prevail in your claim(s). There are many Kickstarter projects that have come under legal scrutiny. Mineserver is absolutely not a project that will have that problem
@ True Rock, It’s not about Kickstarter or Mineserver. It’s about the credibility of this column.
@Ronc: Thanks for the kind words! I’ve found your participation helpful as well. As I recall you were on this issue before I was, might have been the one to call my attention to it.
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@True Rock: Thanks for the thoughtful replies, and apologies for coming off argumentative, but I think we’ll end up agreeing to disagree on this one.
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Your oil well analogy might be a better fit if one of the example operators were to tell you the well is producing and checks will be commencing shortly, then cut off all communication with you and refuse to answer when you ask about status. How well do you think that would go over with oil investors? Win some lose some, sure, but nobody likes to be treated like a sucker.
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“And the above aligns with my experience in IT. The very best IT talent almost inevitably has very poor communication and social skills.”. You seem to be excusing a man who has spent multiple decades as a highly regarded tech journalist for “very poor communication [] skills”. That’s not working for me either.
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“What could be changed so that this doesn’t happen in the future. What rules and/or processes need to be put in place?” Now these are great questions deserving robust discussion. Scamming is a little too easy on these “we only match people up and take no responsibility for fraudulent use of our service” sites like this in my opinion. I quit using ebay over a decade ago after one too many junk-dumpers scammed me with a worn-out broken device advertised as “new in box”. Backers complaining to Kickstarter are getting boilerplate responses that they’re on their own while the campaign page reads like a successfully completed project. The least Kickstarter could do would be to flag the campaign page with a prominent disclaimer that no product has been delivered and the project hasn’t been updated in months despite multiple attempts to contact the project creator. I also like your idea about more transparency around expenditures. This project originally solicited $15k for cases and collected over $35k. The people who provided that support deserve to know how it got spent.
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I’ll certainly forgive your use of MindServer or anything else you want to call it. I personally prefer Miner-Server in reference the rumor that the big holdup has been over the technical challenge of how to get these little servers to secretly mine bit-coins in the background for the Cringely clan ever since they discovered it costs more in electricity to mine bit-coins with a dedicated machine than they are worth.
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My angst probably is overblown, especially considering I’m not a backer. But damn, Cringely, you took on a pet project with your kids, advertised it on your blog and these guys supported you for the asking and all they want is a status update — throw them a bone for Chrissake! I’d no sooner stand silently by while a neighbor neglected his dog like this.
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And once again, this isn’t about missed deadlines delivering the product, it’s about promised and undelivered status updates. Last November they were two weeks away from shipping and that’s the last anyone’s heard of it. There must be a story there but Cringely isn’t telling it. The people who paid for these broken promises deserve another lame bs excuse if you ask me. ;>)
Freeman,
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I appreciate your patience. One last question. At the bottom of the Mineserver Kickstarter campaign page is a “Report this project to Kickstarter” button. Has anyone filed a complaint to Kickstarter? I didn’t see anything – perhaps I overlooked it.
@True Rock:
I found about a dozen references to reporting the project to Kickstarter in the comments at the project page, mostly saying everyone should report it. I found two specific instances where backers say they did report the project:
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“Johnathan Stein on February 3
Well, everybody COULD use the “REPORT THIS PROJECT” button…
I did that, and heard nothing — not even an auto-reply acknowledgement.”
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“Chris Hahn on February 17
@Roger – Sorry, it’s my first experience with a crummy Creator. I was able to contact Support and they did tell me this:
“When you back a project on Kickstarter you enter into an agreement with the project creator, as described in our Terms of Use: https://www.kickstarter.com/terms-of-use
These terms outline the responsibilities of backers and creators. This information can serve as a basis for legal recourse if a creator doesn’t fulfill their obligations under the agreement. We hope that backers will consider using this provision only in cases where they feel that a creator has not made a good faith effort to complete the project and fulfill.”
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Pretty much what one would expect from the typical “we only match people up and take no responsibility for fraudulent use of our service” site.
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Side note to backers: Chris Hahn’s February 17 comment erroneously continues:
“That being said, if we wanted to pursue legal action, that this specifically applies : ” You agree that any action at law or in equity arising out of or relating to these Terms, or your use or non-use of Kickstarter, shall be filed only in the state or federal courts located in New York County in the State of New York, and you hereby consent and submit to the personal jurisdiction of these courts for the purposes of litigating any such action.”
Chris is mistaken. These terms apply only to suing Kickstarter, not to suing a project creator. It comes from Kickstarter’s Terms of Use. The relevent section begins thusly:
“17. Dispute Resolution and Governing Law
We’re located in New York, and any disputes with us have to be handled in New York under New York State law.”
Nice comment and great picture. But I do understand how the backers and buyers feel.
At this point, I have to wonder if those persistent “Where’s my minecraft server?!” whineboys are actually IBM agents trying to discredit Cringely in retaliation for all the articles he’s written about the company’s fall.
Taking $35,000 from people who paid in good faith, then repeatedly lying, misleading them, and treating them with utter contempt – is not a trivial matter.
@Miguel Farah – IBM doesn’t need to pay me to hurt what is left of Mark’s credibility. He is doing an excellent job of destroying his credibility all by himself.
Thanks for the heads up / I was in the area so thought I would drop by … sitting here now / hope you make it down !!
Me too – was hoping for a Cringely sighting.
Alastair – was that you who asked the question as to what he was seeing today that he would be writing about next ?
Bob never even showed up. /sigh Why am I not surprised. Disappointment after disappointment…
I’m reading Accidental Empires again for the 3rd time in many years. It’s still such an entertaining read.
I just through my Accidental Empires copy away. It’s no good to anybody at this point. Resolve the Mindserver issue and I will stay out of Bob/Marks small liberal minded bubble.
I’m writing this comment primarily because I’m getting somewhat annoyed by the off-topic comments targeting the Minecraft server project. Here is a thought that I hope will stem that flow.
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Some off you would like to read that it failed, just to get out of the agony. So why is Robert refusing to address the issue? Maybe because it is not dead yet. I have no special insight into this project, but I can speculate just as well as any of you: Some crucial part has been ordered but does not show up and there is no second source / alternate part that fits. Or there is a legal snag – those tend to take a lot of time and may even prevent him from communicating about the problem. Maybe the nature of the problem is such that reporting it would open him to you potentially suing him; maybe a vital clause was missing in the brochure or contract. And so on.
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The least likely seems that he has trouble finding the right words to report to you. Piling on more reminders is not going to help.
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Take your loss, and if it spoils your apetite for this blog, just click on to greener fields.
You know, as much as I hold onto hope for this product seeing the light of day and/or Cringely addressing us/apologizing, this is the most sensible cease and desist message I’ve read on this blog yet.
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I feel heard, empathized, and respected, and at this point that’s all most of us want (sure the product would be nice too but I’ll take what I can get). I’ll likely continue to check the KS website and blog daily because the OCD and desire for the product is real, but you’ve at least calmed my temper a bit. Thank you for being a considerate human being; I wish more walked the same path as you.
“Maybe because it is not dead yet.” It’s pining for the fjords!
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Sorry for the annoyances, Ernst, but I for one intend to continue supporting the backers. We’ve covered the speculation you mention and more.’
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“Some crucial part has been ordered but does not show up and there is no second source / alternate part that fits.”
The hardware is complete. The cases have been reportedly glued shut many months ago. Last update Nov 10, 2016: “Toward this end of shipping the week after next we’ll shortly send out a new survey to verify delivery addresses and — most importantly — T-shirt sizes. Thanks for your patience and support.” It’s not too cool to thank people for patience and support a year after the “ESTIMATED DELIVERY” date of promised rewards you say are finally on the way and then just drop the mic and walk out. Why is that so hard to understand?
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“Or there is a legal snag – those tend to take a lot of time and may even prevent him from communicating about the problem.”
Bob has been asked to blink twice if there is some coercive force preventing him from speaking about it. He can’t even be bothered to leave the single comment “blink blink”, but he can write article after article about something else after promising in comments (“off-topic” btw) “more on that in a few days”.
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“Maybe the nature of the problem is such that reporting it would open him to you potentially suing him”
Like the conspiracy theory made in half-jest about designing the Miner-Server to mine bit-coins on someone else’s dime? I don’t find this a persuasive argument for letting him off the hook he’s hung himself on if something like that is the case.
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“Take your loss, and if it spoils your apetite for this blog, just click on to greener fields.”
And if “off-topic” Miner-Server comments spoil your appetite for this blog, you are free to do the same.
First off, let me say that I’m not a backer, so I don’t have a dog in this fight. However I been following it — mostly because my kids are always wanting to “start a business”, and as such I’m interested to see how others make out.
Unfortunately Ernst, none of the reasons you give seem to be true from what I can tell, as they are seemingly being actively sold on a web site that has been set up (http://mineserver.com/). So I think in that regard, the Kickstarter backers do have a pretty legitimate gripe with Bob.
Anyhow, like I said I’m not a backer, just an interested reader…..
This is sick. Does Bob (Mark) know that his product idea is stolen and sold on the internet, and that even the picture of his kids is being used for that? If I were him I would sue them. Fortunately there is a contact page where he can email them:
Contact
Email: cringely@mineserver.com
Those bastards even stole his name.
If only someone would ever respond to that email address, Cringely or not. Spoiler: They won’t!
It shouldn’t be necessary for the backers, and non-backers, like myself and many others, to guess the situation. Bob actually repeatedly gave incorrect information about the project since his first sales pitch in this column. There is no excuse for non-responsiveness, in this case.
The legal explanation may make the most sense until you realize he has addressed people (the last promise of an update in the comments). Unfortunately they disappeared like this once before, and have never really been very prompt to backers (last summer they promised an update every Thursday. I think it lasted like 2 weeks.) Bob later said they’d made no updates because they had nothing to report — everything was in limbo and they were just waiting.
I come here to read Bob’s articles and it is irritating to see the constant jabs at him about it. But I am also annoyed that he lets this go on and on. Ruining this site, IMO. Pull the plug on it and refund all investors. It is not that much money — take out a small unsecured loan if lacking the cash on hand to do so, such if it was already spent on the hardware and software expenses.
Bob, can you write an article about the late great show called “Computer Chronicles?” That show literally did chronicle about two decades of computer advances in intricate detail. If you want to watch any of the episodes, just go to their youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerChroniclesYT
Nothing can come close to capturing the history of computing than this resource. It’s to bad it wasn’t continued to this day… 🙁
The show wasn’t quite the same without Gary Kildall anyway.
I spotted Stewart Cheifet at the airport a few years ago, but didn’t bother him.
They had byte magazine too, which was very good
Today computing is lame with Intel windows
No amigas no zx spectrums no Atari
Just boring lame windows and Intel, apple is only slightly better
And Linux is non existant on the mobile laptops or desktops, and android does not count, with what makes Linux unix missing and a different kernel
Byte was amazing in the day, much better than anything today
That’s what makes watching those old computer chronicles videos so great, it brings back the incredible excitement that was going on at the time. You are right about computers being boring today. Software today is amazing, but that excitement that surrounded the 80’s and 90’s computing isn’t there like it was. I think there are pockets of it, like say when Android was first being developed. A new OS for a new platform was probably pretty darn exciting, as it changed the world. It could just be that I am older, but I really think that the 80’s and 90’s were still the funnest time to me.
I forgot to mention the beloved computer shopper magazine. That was the defacto computer porn magazine of the 90’s! Check the computer shopper archives: https://archive.org/details/computer_shopper
I don’t understand why anyone wants this server. If you are having a Craft party you usually have buy supplies – glue sticks, colored paper, etc. Just stop off on way, buy some chips and pop, put out some bowls, and let everyone serve themselves. It is really not hard.
In any event, I have investigating the cause of the problem. There was an unreported Resource Action, in which one of the founding partners was forced out. Unfortunately that partner had the encryption key for the Kickstarter subscriber list. This prevents Your Corporation from communicating with these subscribers.
There was a backup copy, stored on a prototype tinfoil disk. Unfortunately when it was turned on, the power supply burst into flames. Cause is being investigated – probably poor battery design.
The fire also destroyed Your Corporation’s keyboard. The Senior Advisor has another keyboard, but is withholding access in an effort to force out the other founders and take control. The founders have thus far refused to accede to this blackmail.
The founders have attempts to start a GoFundMe campaign to finance a new keyboard, but have been unsuccessful to date due to lack of a keyboard.
I LOL’d!
Bob,I downloaded Amazon’s sample of Music for Love or War. Churchill’s mother pretty much ignored him as a youth until one day,as she put it,she realized he was interesting-coming from her that was major kudos. Music for Love or War looks interesting. I don’t always agree with your conclusions but I find your raw material interesting. Do keep up the good work.
I remember it purely because I stumbled onto it somewhere and loved it. In the UK we didnt have much in the way of this kind of thing since the early 80s. I then did some researching and found Triumph of the Nerds (brilliant), bought Fire in the Valley and also Accidental Empires which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
I will now have to watch Triumph of the Nerds.
I just finished watching the “Steve Jobs: One Last Thing” documentary. Bob appeared in this movie and provided a lot of of background information. It was quite interesting and insightful.
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Why doesn’t everyone quit grousing about the mineserver deal and let the chips fall where they may? I know what. Let me tell you about some of my own problems. First there was the 10 months in Vietnam when my reserve unit was activated. Then someone close to me stole some of my stuff worth about $22,000, Next …
@Charles Moorehead – if Mark had been the one that took your stuff, you might have a point. But since I doubt that was the case, your comment displays a lack of knowledge of what is going on.
Re: “Why doesn’t everyone quit grousing about the mineserver deal” Because, prior to this fiasco, Cringely had more credibility than Walter Cronkite.
@Ronc- More credibility than Cronkite? That’s a stretch, unless Cronkite also claimed to have a phony PHD.
Bob didn’t make that claim in his I, Cringely column during the past 20 years, when I was reading it. He made predictions that never came true, but no promises or guarantees, until the Mineserver.
@RONC – https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/16/business/compressed-data-stanford-gave-writer-a-start-but-not-a-phd.html
As I said, Bob didn’t make that PhD claim in this column for the past 20 years, that I’ve been reading it.
@Ronc – how about this column https://www.cringely.com/2016/09/12/15364/
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In this column he spoke about the death of “his student Danny Perl”. When Mark was at Stanford, he was only a TA and he couldn’t even spell Daniel Pearl’s name correctly.
If I were a TA, I’d refer to the students I taught as my students. I agree, and have said before, that the mineserver issue makes us question Bob’s credibility. The earlier stuff wasn’t part of this column.
Mineserver,
What is going on is that some people have suffered a problem that they are unable or unwilling to deal with. Instead they want to annoy Bob and the readers of this blog to no avail. Should I keep reporting on my problems to no avail?
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Lets see, when I was a crawling toddler my left hand was badly burned when I pulled a hot iron down on myself. Then there was the car door accident that crushed one of the fingers on my right hand. Oh yes, next …
Fascinating. How about some “more on that in a few days”?
Hi Charles,
The thing I find most fascinating about all this, and people such as yourself complaining about us Mineserver supporters, is that I get an overwhelming sense you fail to realize you’re condoning Bob’s behavior. Dare I say you’re actively supporting his behavior through your complacency. This is YOUR Bob. Not some generic Bob, not a generic person or issue or thing to talk offhandedly about. This is very specifically the gentleman YOU follow on THIS blog. You’re admitting you don’t care that his word is now worthless, that he doesn’t hold to his word or promises. You don’t care that he effectively stole $35k from people (I use “stole” because he has provided zero explanation of what’s been done with this money, or acknowledgement of a failed project thus allowing supports to let it go). This is the person you enjoy reading about, to see what else he has to say? Is this behavior you allow in your friends or those you respect?
What’s worse I suppose is you know full well you’re condoning and supporting his behavior and just don’t care.
Now, if someone simply admitted “Yes, Bob is the worst and sucks, and is deserving of these questions, but this back and forth is doing nothing for you,” THAT might have a leg to stand on. (emphasis on might) But simply saying “get over it” while defending Bob (oh no, how dare we annoy this person who took $35k from us), doesn’t really make any sense.
Where’s the like button, well said Ian!
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This is not just a complaint of the system that is KickStarter and how sometimes people get hosed; Bob did it and people are flocking to/defending Bob for this behavior. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Dear Ian,
Am I CONDONING Bob’s behavior with respect to the MINESERVER problem? Of course not. What a silly thing to claim.
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What I am saying is that it is obvious to anyone with common sense that all the caterwauling you mineserver people are doing is NOT SOLVING your problem. It is only annoying Bob and the people who come here to read his blog.
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Now some people may be put off by this mineserver deal and no longer wish to respect Bob or read his blog any more. That certainly is their right and none of my business. What is my business is having to put up with all the USELESS chattering of the disgruntled mineserver crowd.
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Hey, mineserver people, you got screwed! Big deal! Other people have had their own problems, as I have pointed out. Sue Bob or do whatever else that might help solve your problem. But for gosh sakes quit ruining this blog for other people. As to why Bob chooses or is forced to not reply to your complaints, I have no idea. That is just part of your problem, which you obviously have not been able to resolve by what you have been doing.
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End of story (I hope).
@Charles Moorehead – Wow! What made you so grumpy. You left out the part about “getting off your lawn” in your otherwise condescending post.
Hi Charles,
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I certainly appreciate your thoughts, even if I still disagree with a couple points. In particular, this blog does appear to be something Bob cares about. So if we’re annoying readers, it impacts something that’s theoretically important to Bob, thus ideally increasing pressure for HIM to deal with us (not his loyal readers). And there’s the impact we’ve yet to see, but may still happen.
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So while my direct aim isn’t to annoy you/others, nor degrade his blog, it is my goal to try to get my voice heard, since he refuses to acknowledge me or anyone else directly.
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So while it’s unfortunate you and others are annoyed, and this blog has become a bit of a battlefield, that’s on Bob’s hands. He could easily stop it all if he actually addressed the backers in the forum they originated from, Kickstarter. So as futile as you say our actions are, I’d say the actions of you and others to quiet us are so far equally as futile. So it sounds like to me we’d all benefit from Bob stepping in and taking some responsibility.
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Cheers.
Not going to be the end of the story. All he has to do is stop ignoring them. This is human behavior 101: the shafted Mineserver funders (the Mineshafted?) are going where they get ANYTHING in response. Bob has actually replied to them in the comments here, if only to give promises of a fuller response later. I can’t figure out why he simply doesn’t do this. They have no other recourse, maybe they just get mad and yell at him there but none of these complaints began surfacing HERE until he started repeatedly ignoring them on Kickstarter itself.
Mineservers,
Looks like I have been out voted.
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Grumpy? Apparently so, from your viewpoint. From my viewpoint, I was just being realistic. But some people choose not to deal with the hardships of reality.
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Guess this has NOT been the end of the story. OK, mineservers, go ahead and give Bob and his readers hell, for all the good it is going to do for you.
@Charles I think we can all agree that Cringely could/should speak up and put an end to this. I get the impression that you just simply don’t think that’s going to happen and therefore our efforts are in vain.
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From my perspective, it feels as though we’ve backed Cringely into a corner where he’s not going to speak to his loyal followers any longer because us ravage wolves are waiting, ready to strike, so he’s simply boarded himself in his house while we all wait outside arguing with each other.
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If that’s the case then I believe that we ARE having an impact, be it petty or not, because prior to our insurgence, he WAS communicating with his loyal followers and now he is not. We seem to be stuck in a stale mate where he is the only one poised to lose, so his only move is to no longer play. Unfortunately for everyone involved, there is no clock and we’re all getting tired of how long this match is taking to play out…
Ravage Wolf,
Wow! What a great handle.
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All I can say is that I would not merely want to make an impact. I would want to solve my problem.
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And I probably would not want to involve other people in my problems. But that’s just me.
@Charles Moorehead:
“I would want to solve my problem.
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And I probably would not want to involve other people in my problems.”
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From my point of view these people are trying to solve their problem using the best available means and involving the most appropriate people. There seems to be a lot of confusion over what the problem is, but again the way I see it and the way it has been expressed many times, the problem is that Bob enthusiastically invited his readers right here on this very blog to contribute financially to a tech project his kids started and eagerly provided details about the progress of the project. Until he didn’t any more. Those contributors have every right to know what happened to the project, and many of his other regular readers are naturally interested as well, as Bob’s public avoidance of the issue have us questioning his credibility.
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I’m trying to imagine a more effective way that these people might solve their problem without involving other people in it, and all I’m coming up with is a torches-and-pitchforks mob gathering at his house scenario. What did you have in mind?
Freeman,
I don’t have anything in mind to solve your problem with Bob. See, I don’t have a problem with Bob. I have a problem with the unending and useless ranting of the mineserver crowd.
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At first, I was sympathetic with the mineserver crowd because they got screwed in this deal. However, it has become obvious that all their complaining has served no purpose other than to annoy Bob and his faithful readers.
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Okay, let’s attempt to describe the issues. Bob had an idea for a project that he thought would be profitable enough to help pay for college for his three kids. Guess what? He ran into one or more insoluble problems which he has never seen fit to describe to his backers. (Incidentally, I don’t think it is unusual for software or technology projects to encounter insoluble problems or never provide a satisfactory product.)
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Why hasn’t Bob described the nature of this mess? Here are some possibilities. Choice #1: Bob is the devil incarnate. Choice #2: Bob is embarrassed at his failure to complete the project and just wants this mess to go away somehow. Choice #3: Bob is sorry about the losses sustained by his backers, but money is all gone, and there is nothing more he can do. Choice #4: There is some legal reason why Bob cannot comment.
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It looks to me like the mineserver crowd is never going to receive any explanation or other satisfaction. Tough luck guys.
@ Charles Moorhead
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Choice #1: Bob is the devil incarnate
– Highly likely, but let’s say for argument’s sake that this isn’t the case…
Choice #2: Bob is embarrassed at his failure to complete the project and just wants this mess to go away somehow.
– It would never have escalated to this level had he been upfront about it during/right after he reached the insurmountable wall.
Choice #3: Bob is sorry about the losses sustained by his backers, but money is all gone, and there is nothing more he can do.
– He could start with an apology, but honestly it is likely too little too late at this point. Though it would be a start…
Choice #4: There is some legal reason why Bob cannot comment.
– The most likely scenario. If I were a betting man, this is where I’d put all of my money. *motions to the dealer* “$35,452 on black please, to match the color of Bob’s no longer beating heart…” </3
Jesus Incarnate,
Another great handle, and insightful comments that I cannot top.
“It is only annoying Bob and the people who come here to read his blog.”
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Ah, and there you have it. I don’t know for sure that the mineserver comments are annoying him; I suspect he thinks too highly of himself to really care, but perhaps not. In any case, yes, the polite requests on Kickstarter for more and regular info didn’t work, so we’ve stepped it up.
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And are we annoying the other readers here? Perhaps. Well, such is life. Consider yourself collateral damage. Perhaps you’ll decide that wading through the comments of disgruntled kickstarter backers isn’t worth it to read Cringely’s posts anymore. That’s cool. If enough folks do that, maybe he’ll feel it enough to address the issue.
I don’t condone his behavior, I feel about *this* bad that he took your money, and gee I wish he’d turn out to be a better person.
BUT…
– He’s clearly not a good person to do business with.
– He’s clearly not going to respond to this infantile campaign to soil the blog comments.
– Your money is gone and you aren’t going to get the product you were hoping for.
More victim-blaming and shaming. Nice.
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What’s infantile about this whole thing is Bob’s avoidance of responsibility. It’s interesting that people willing to accept and defend such childish behavior and attempt to project it onto the victims can always be readily found. Maybe you’re right that he’ll no longer respond to comments like he used to, but the sweet taste of the tears of his loyal followers makes it all worthwhile.
Nice comment and great picture. But I do understand how the backers and buyers feel.
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As a product manager, your Steve Jobs interview was gold.
I’ve been reading Bobs stuff for 20 years and his TV program “Triumph of the Nerds” genuinely changed my life and inspired me to Persue a career in IT that has taken me to 72 countries on every continent.
The fact that his CHILDREN aged 8-12 have not been able to manage a tech project properly does not change my admiration for Bob at all.
@David Roper — His CHILDREN are hardly old enough to have a bank account, much less run a Kickstarter project. This is entirely on their Dad.
@David Roper – No communication has EVER come from any of his children other than in the video/ploy when the Kickstarter campaign launched meant to solicit funds. All communication has been from Cringely himself, which ceased on the KS site in November 2016 (~3.5 months ago). So please tell me how this is not a reflection of Bob?
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Just as you were able to change your career path and joined the world of IT, people can change and fall from grace. You should not let someone’s past inspiration give them a free ride to embezzle $35k under false pretenses. Or maybe we just have different ideas about what’s classified as admirable…
The KS campaign was also launched on this blog and several blog entries have been posted here about his kids “successful” KS campaign. When things started to go bad for the project, Mark also posted his complaints about how the people on the Internet were so demanding. According to KS, his wife is the actual creator of record, but no one has ever posted a response to any of the questions that have been asked on the KS project page. We;re still waiting for the response that Mark promised “in a few days.”
We;re still waiting for the response that Mark promised “in a few days.”
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52 days ago and still counting….
@David Roper:
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I’ve been reading Bob’s stuff for quite a bit longer than that. How do we know that his CHILDREN aged 8-12 are any less fictitious than his pen name or his Ph.D? As far as we know, similar to his doctorate work, he may never have actually completed his insertation!
Off topic: would the web site manager consider implementing SSL for this site to protect readers from government and ISP data collection and reporting concerns.
SSL will do nothing for you in terms of ISP. Yes your data stream is encrypted but your home modem uses an IP assigned and owned by your ISP as well as their DNS. They can see every site you visit.
It’s not quite that bad. SSL, aka TLS, means end-to-end encryption. As long as the certificate allowed by your browser was issued to the site you’re visiting, the data was encrypted from your device to the website. If that were not true, there would be no on-line shopping or banking. It even works over an open Wi-Fi hot spot, being end-to-end. Just make sure the subsequent pages remain “https”, and the site certificate belongs to the website, not an intermediate proxy, which often happens on corporate networks.
@Ronc – I believe FatStud was referring to traffic analysis which isn’t blocked by SSL.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_analysis
Bob, I still watch your PBS series after all these years. The book and series are two of my favorite stories/books/documentaries, ever. A great story told greatly with insight and humor. I also watched Nerds 2.1 about the Internet you did, the Steve Jobs interview and whatever other videos/interviews of yours or about you I could find on YouTube. Thank you for all the info, inside gossip, humor and great writing you’ve done.
Hi Everyone who has positively commented. I completely agree that Triumph of the Nerds was a great documentary. I also really enjoyed Nerds 2.0.1 A Brief History of the Internet. (on YouTube, I have the VHS, never opened b/c I don’t own a vcr.) BUT, have you guys seen “The Transformation Age”? Hard to find, but you can buy a dvd online if you look hard enough.
Bob, I don’t know what sort of businessman you are, but the world loses out when you don’t make these videos. Maybe partner with a proven businessman – one of your billionaire friends? – who can figure out how to make money on these. Release it as an independent film and then make money on the copies? Straight to streaming on Netflix and Amazon ala “the interview”?
Yes Bob. You would be the Woz to your Steve of choice. 😉
Good one thanks for post