
Sean Parker's "Airtime" launched to Public - Brajeshwar
https://www.airtime.com/
======
alttab
For a website created to get people into the service, its terrible that I have
to click the tiny-ass 'About' link at the bottom to learn anything about the
service.

"Create shared experiences with people you know, and people you want to know"
sounds like social web buzz-word bullshit.

My advice to the web designer - put some real info on the front page, and
don't require me to watch a video. If you can't explain it with text, then you
probably don't have a product.

~~~
amirmc
I understand (and agree) but you really should watch the video [1]. I'd have a
hard time putting most of that into words.

Here's an attempt [2] _"Airtime is a Web-based application designed to foster
spontaneous sharing and interaction with video. There's no download or
registration required"_

[1] <http://vimeo.com/43359572>

[2] [http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57447417-93/sean-parkers-
ai...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57447417-93/sean-parkers-airtime-
video-chat-service-launches/)

~~~
SkyMarshal
> _Airtime is a Web-based application designed to foster spontaneous sharing
> and interaction with video. There's no download or registration required_

How about this instead:

 _"Airtime is Chatroulette limited to your Facebook social graph. Eg, no more
random strangers' private parts, but instead chat with your friends, and meet
their friends, via video."_

It's basically curated Chatroulette, automating the curation with your FB
social graph.

It's also pretty cool in that it's using Flash multicast to stream video P2P
instead of via central server.

It's pretty much made for a Facebook aquisition. Completely dependent on FB's
social API, co-founded by Sean Parker, adds social video to FB, and released
right after FB's IPO.

I can't help but wonder a few things - could a FB acquisition of Airtime
actually _help_ FB's stock price? It's a rather brilliant addition to FB.

Also, could FB buy Spotify too? There are several parallels - It's also a P2P
service that integrates the FB API (not quite so dependent on it as Airtime is
though), Sean Parker is a board member.

Facebook + Spotify + Airtime (+ Instagram) covers almost all the social media
bases. Only thing missing is movies and TV, but that's not as social as music
or user-generated pictures and videos. That would be a hell of a social web
company.

~~~
jcfrei
interesting point. did sean parker see the missing link in facebooks product?
aka the google hangout for facebook?

~~~
SkyMarshal
Probably. I think Airtime originally came about just from seeing
Chatroulette's initial wild success and traction. He and Fanning saw an
opportunity to do it better. Then that idea got some validation as
Chatroulette filled up with pervs and imploded. Which is the big problem
Airtime solves.

But beside that, it's a pretty obvious next step for the world's largest
social network and I'm sure he saw that early on. As did Google with hangouts.

------
soup10
Looks cool and well designed, but I think Sean has overestimated the demand
for video chat and talking to strangers with webcams.

~~~
jcfrei
that's the thing with video chat - it seems horrendously cool, looking at the
video on vimeo ( <http://vimeo.com/43359572> ). however most of the people in
the video have some very visual talent they can show off. I would certainly
like to try out such a service (I really liked chatroulette at the time it was
big), however I don't have anything to show off. the thing with those video
chats is that they need a certain amount of anonymity otherwise those meetings
might turn awkward. being quickly introduced to numerous people at a party can
be strenuous, doing the same to up to 20 people might get you exhausted pretty
quickly, if you always try to be at your best in terms of behaviour.
chatroulette had this veil of anonymity because every jerk could join and you
knew anything that happened there wasn't supposed to be taken seriously.
airtime tries to take this to the next level, but I don't think I'll be up for
it.

------
peterwwillis
So from the About video it looks like it's intended to help you meet people
based on shared interests and... showing off neat tricks. That's... nice...
but who exactly was asking for this kind of service? Isn't this just a
terribly shallow way to make friends - judging by some attractive feature of
them instead of how they think or who they are?

My hope is one day we have a social network which contains no pictures. I
know, it would never make any money, but they have had them for a while in a
format called 'forums'. You would have discussions about a variety of topics
and over time form friendships based on content, and not if someone looked
like they were having tons of fun on a beach with other hot people, or if they
could play the ukelele.

edit: rephrase

~~~
skore
> _My hope is one day we have a social network which contains no pictures._

I don't think you understand how humans work.

------
Aloisius
Interesting that they decided to launch in New York instead of San Francisco
given they are based in SF.

Also, I'm not sure how to feel about all the celebrities. I mean, I expect
Sarah Jessica Parker to hock hair care products on TV for some giant
multinational, not launch a chat system for Facebook.

Still I wish them the best of luck!

~~~
blacklooksgreat
They launched on the intertubes. Why do they have to have a party in a city?

------
skore
So basically a SFW Chatroulette with tight Facebook integration. I could see
that work out.

------
chasingtheflow
Facebook log in only .... meh.

------
cmwelsh
Looks like Airtime is experiencing some downtime. Here's a CNET article
talking about what this service is:

[http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57447417-93/sean-parkers-
ai...](http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57447417-93/sean-parkers-airtime-
video-chat-service-launches/)

~~~
wmeredith
So this is a Chat Roulette clone that doesn't work? WTF?

~~~
james4k
Yes, but it's not near as 'roulette'. I get the impression it connects you
with people that are a part of or near your social network, and/or people that
have similarities according to your interests, likes, etc.

Edit: There's also no anonymity to it. Your identity is there for all to see,
so there's an inherent level of accountability there that should deter
the...exhibitionists. :p

~~~
amirmc
Are you sure there's no anonymity? Check out the Airtime video [1]. The first
few seconds clearly indicate that names are anonymous until you 'add' each
other.

[1] <https://www.airtime.com/about>

Edit: Of course, I do agree that the FB link will deter exhibitionists.

------
groaner
Uhoh. Dan Shipper's web-based business (<http://www.airtimehq.com/>) has run
into a serious namespace collision.

------
rdl
I'm not sure why I'd want to use a service to video chat with my existing
facebook friends. Those are presumably people I already have connections with,
and can use existing tools to chat with, or see in person. Maybe there's some
use for friends-of-friends for dating, but meh.

------
mvkel
Very surprised that this didn't launch with a native mobile offering.

Parker asked where the cool stuff on the Web went. It went mobile. People
don't want to be chained to their desks to do something cool anymore. It'd be
pretty neat to chat with a stranger while strolling the Louvre.

~~~
utlanning
> It'd be pretty neat to chat with a stranger while strolling the Louvre.

Please tell me you meant while THEY'RE strolling the Louvre. Please. Because
if you're using a web app to talk to a stranger while simultaneously strolling
the Louvre (I'm not sure "strolling" is what one does to the Louvre) I believe
there's something wrong with you.

~~~
mvkel
My specific example was you can get more context about something you've never
seen before, potentially getting a personalized tour, before you go.

Sorta like what we're doing now, but with video. Is that scary to you?

~~~
utlanning
Yes, the notion of people using ChatRoulette while they're at the Louvre is
scary as shit to me.

------
ajays
Airtime is to Chatroulette what Facebook was to MySpace.

------
elderberry
Interesting that all of the engineering positions require BS or higher in
Computer Science when both of the founders skipped college

~~~
mvkel
The best thing you can do is hire people smarter than you. There's no shame in
it.

Nevertheless, I think it's safe to say the accomplishments of both founders
far exceeds the career expectations of a degree-toting computer engineer.

~~~
blacklooksgreat
Yeah, because we all know how degrees prove how smart a person is.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-Term_Capital_Management>

------
stfu
_the first live video network._ huh? what about Justin.tv, Ustream.tv, etc?

------
ing33k
this is the only service for which I think , login with facebook makes sense .

------
adammacleod
So, is this just Google Hangouts for Facebook?

------
robot
it asks for too much personal exposure for many people.

------
ew
Wasn't this exactly what color.com was supposed to be?

~~~
frankdenbow
No, color was more about app + location based browsing of photos, while this
is web video chat

