5 ms·

Japanese Girl Sensation: Virtual Boyfriends (Webkare)

25 points by blackswan 18y ago

antirez 18y ago
Ok it's not only in the west the programmers are focused on bullshit...
- bootload 18y ago
  "... Ok it's not only in the west the programmers are focused on bullshit ..." Making things that people want?
  - tudorachim 18y ago
    People simply wanting it doesn't make it important or useful in objective terms. Diggers, for example, really keep up with the service, even though a) almost all of the stories are a waste of time and b) almost all of the commenters are hilariously misinformed, to put it politely.
    - pmjordan 18y ago
      By that standard, any kind of entertainment is worthless.
      - tudorachim 18y ago
        No, I don't think so. I think there is entertainment, like reading a good book, or listening to good music, that is worth something because it ... helps you in some way, and entertainment like digg, which is just a complete time sink. This essay by Neal Stephenson puts it into words better than I can: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17stephenson.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17stephenson.html
        maxklein 18y ago
        What's a good book? Harry Potter? Shakespear? What's good music? Beethoven? T-Pain? More importantly - who is the judge? The government? You? If so, then are you allowed to decide what is 'good' for others? Are they allowed to decide what is 'good' for you? You see what I mean? There is no absolute when it comes to entertainment. There is no good or bad. There is just stuff that entertains, and stuff that does not.
        bootload 18y ago
        "... What's a good book? Harry Potter? Shakespear? What's good music? Beethoven? T-Pain? ..." Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: The Sonnets, 18. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/wssnt10.txt Shakespeare not "Shakespear".
        jimbokun 18y ago
        I thought that spelling was not standardized in his day, so that any one of a number of variations would have been acceptable? http://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html http://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html
        DanielBMarkham 18y ago
        in his day, probably.
        maxklein 18y ago
        Shakespeare can hardly be classified as entertainment anymore. The english is just too old and too difficult for most people to read to be anymore than a chore. Harry Potter is REAL present-day entertainment, and anyone who wants to get into the industry has to understand that.
        bootload 18y ago
    - zandorg 18y ago
      I used to like Reddit but now the comment list consists of embarassing, crude language and long threads of puns which aren't funny.
- rgrieselhuber 18y ago
  This (more stupid bullshit) was my initial reaction but it's ultimately a very subjective thing. Tim O'Reilly's piece the other day reminded me of that. Only the people who make something can tell you whether it was worthwhile for them to make it. We may not like it and we may think it's a waste of time. But the creators might not. On the other hand, it's sometimes hard to be honest with yourself about this. There is the pet rock mentality which says "if I can just build something stupid that everybody falls for, then I can make a lot of money and it will be so easy." Looking at Web Kare, I actually don't think this was their approach at all, but I hear different versions of this all the time. If you ever catch yourself saying something similar, then it's probably worth examining whether you really think it would be a worthwhile thing to build.
litewulf 18y ago
I'm really curious why this is cast as a "Japanese girls are lonely". My girlfriend also watches those horrible Asian romance dramas and (jokes notwithstanding) I'm pretty sure the reason is more to fulfill her sappiness quota and not to cure her deep aching loneliness. I think its more notable for its interesting game mechanic and the utterly evil method they have for getting high page counts per user. (I mean, it seems that the company just implied you advance in the game by looking at pages you wouldn't have looked at normally. Devious!)
- andreyf 18y ago
  ...to fulfill her sappiness quota and not to cure her deep aching loneliness Just like boys who play counterstrike do it to fulfill their violence quota? Give me a break.
  - iron_ball 18y ago
    So boys who play counterstrike do it, instead, because they really want to kill people?
    - evilneanderthal 18y ago
      Depends if it's monday.
Hexstream 18y ago
3 of the boys look like girls... True to the tradition.
newt0311 18y ago
Only in Japan...
- Prrometheus 18y ago
  The Japanese seem more ready than most to project human feelings onto cartoon characters. Thus the popularity of cartoons focused at young adults in Japan, as well as the phenomenon of cartoon pornography.
river_styx 18y ago
So girls are getting virtual boyfriends now? Great. My chances were bad enough already.
lalagrande 18y ago
Doesn't sound very "girls only" to me...

25 points by blackswan 18y ago

antirez 18y ago

Ok it's not only in the west the programmers are focused on bullshit...

bootload 18y ago
"... Ok it's not only in the west the programmers are focused on bullshit ..." Making things that people want?
- tudorachim 18y ago
  People simply wanting it doesn't make it important or useful in objective terms. Diggers, for example, really keep up with the service, even though a) almost all of the stories are a waste of time and b) almost all of the commenters are hilariously misinformed, to put it politely.
  - pmjordan 18y ago
    By that standard, any kind of entertainment is worthless.
    - tudorachim 18y ago
      No, I don't think so. I think there is entertainment, like reading a good book, or listening to good music, that is worth something because it ... helps you in some way, and entertainment like digg, which is just a complete time sink. This essay by Neal Stephenson puts it into words better than I can: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17stephenson.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/17/opinion/17stephenson.html
      - maxklein 18y ago
        What's a good book? Harry Potter? Shakespear? What's good music? Beethoven? T-Pain? More importantly - who is the judge? The government? You? If so, then are you allowed to decide what is 'good' for others? Are they allowed to decide what is 'good' for you? You see what I mean? There is no absolute when it comes to entertainment. There is no good or bad. There is just stuff that entertains, and stuff that does not.
        bootload 18y ago
        "... What's a good book? Harry Potter? Shakespear? What's good music? Beethoven? T-Pain? ..." Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer's lease hath all too short a date: The Sonnets, 18. http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext97/wssnt10.txt Shakespeare not "Shakespear".
        jimbokun 18y ago
        I thought that spelling was not standardized in his day, so that any one of a number of variations would have been acceptable? http://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html http://shakespeareauthorship.com/name1.html
        DanielBMarkham 18y ago
        in his day, probably.
        maxklein 18y ago
        Shakespeare can hardly be classified as entertainment anymore. The english is just too old and too difficult for most people to read to be anymore than a chore. Harry Potter is REAL present-day entertainment, and anyone who wants to get into the industry has to understand that.
        bootload 18y ago
  - zandorg 18y ago
    I used to like Reddit but now the comment list consists of embarassing, crude language and long threads of puns which aren't funny.
rgrieselhuber 18y ago
This (more stupid bullshit) was my initial reaction but it's ultimately a very subjective thing. Tim O'Reilly's piece the other day reminded me of that. Only the people who make something can tell you whether it was worthwhile for them to make it. We may not like it and we may think it's a waste of time. But the creators might not. On the other hand, it's sometimes hard to be honest with yourself about this. There is the pet rock mentality which says "if I can just build something stupid that everybody falls for, then I can make a lot of money and it will be so easy." Looking at Web Kare, I actually don't think this was their approach at all, but I hear different versions of this all the time. If you ever catch yourself saying something similar, then it's probably worth examining whether you really think it would be a worthwhile thing to build.

litewulf 18y ago

I'm really curious why this is cast as a "Japanese girls are lonely". My girlfriend also watches those horrible Asian romance dramas and (jokes notwithstanding) I'm pretty sure the reason is more to fulfill her sappiness quota and not to cure her deep aching loneliness. I think its more notable for its interesting game mechanic and the utterly evil method they have for getting high page counts per user. (I mean, it seems that the company just implied you advance in the game by looking at pages you wouldn't have looked at normally. Devious!)

andreyf 18y ago
...to fulfill her sappiness quota and not to cure her deep aching loneliness Just like boys who play counterstrike do it to fulfill their violence quota? Give me a break.
- iron_ball 18y ago
  So boys who play counterstrike do it, instead, because they really want to kill people?
  - evilneanderthal 18y ago
    Depends if it's monday.

Hexstream 18y ago

3 of the boys look like girls... True to the tradition.

newt0311 18y ago

Only in Japan...

Prrometheus 18y ago
The Japanese seem more ready than most to project human feelings onto cartoon characters. Thus the popularity of cartoons focused at young adults in Japan, as well as the phenomenon of cartoon pornography.

river_styx 18y ago

So girls are getting virtual boyfriends now? Great. My chances were bad enough already.

lalagrande 18y ago

Doesn't sound very "girls only" to me...