

Freebase Launches - rams
http://www.freebase.com/

======
rams
Danny Hillis is associated with this company. They seem to be into the
semantic web "thing" - not exactly a hot favourite with most programmers.
Check out this podcast with one of the freebase guys -
<http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1879.html>

------
bls
This seems to be like a site that is supposed to appeal to the general public.
Aren't you worried that it won't get through the content filters at businesses
and schools due to the name? Building your brand around cocaine seems pretty
risky.

It seems like you feel that the API and the highly structured organization of
the data is what differentiates you from Wikipedia. But, Wikipedia already has
huge mindshare, and there are very few people that would ever your added value
features. That means advertising is not a viable revenue source. Charging for
access is out unless you change the name; who would you pay for something
labeled "free"? So, what's the business model?

The people that WOULD need the data to be very structured need to have some
assurance that the data is reliable. Usually, somebody who has spent a lot of
time and effort to build an accurate data set will want a return on their
investment. I could see somebody building a business by aggregating sets of
reliable data from reputable data sources (universities, government
laboratories, medical journals, etc.), and renting out the data sets to users
and/or charging subscription fees. That is what junk mail companies due with
mailing lists, for example. But, it is hard to imagine giving it all away for
free and still making a living.

------
palish
The frontpage is extremely noisy. They didn't emphasize the correct things.

------
flyhighplato
How do I get an invitation code?

~~~
rams
I asked for one and they mailed it in a couple of days

------
almost
Crack?

