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13 Comments
- TroubleInMind, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12Just like the fifty other ***** sites that already do the exact ***** thing that Graspr is trying to do.
Also, it's awesomely easy to raise money for ***** business plans if you drop a vowel out of the company's ***** name. - Mehster, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Somehow the name Graspr doesn't seem like a fit for a site the purports to be for professionals.
- etx313, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Graspr my Weinr.
- TroubleInMind, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I think you are a paid shill, Graspr is on nobody's radar. There is nothing on their site proper regarding professionals, yet you use that in your title. There is nothing about any niches. It's just another one of those "five minute expert" ***** video meets social networking sites that nobody will ever care about - enjoy spending whatever fee you received to promote this *****. "Hai guyz, today I will teach you how to wash dishes! Yay!"
Bollocks. - Voasi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It looks a lot like www.5min.com too. I've seen a few of these sites pop up lately.
- xenlab, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I wouldn't say that. There are plenty of vacuums of knowledge out there. Hoping sites like these will encourage people to fill those vacuums.
- polyGone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Holy site re-design, batman!!
- biglio, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2LOL thats a fooking good point. However I think graspr has an interesting niche. Yes there are tons of video sites but this one is particular to education and tutorials. You can create them yourself and upload them. Could be something interesting. Maybe not though.
- SPARTACVS, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I would've thought all the adjectives with droppable 'E's were taken by now as website names.
- anonatron, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I played around with it a little, it is not bad, but it all comes down to content in the end.
- redwards, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So I can pay money to watch a video about something I could probably find somewhere else on the web? Yaaay.
- dgarallenpoe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Here's the text of something I wrote a few months ago before I'd ever heard of Graspr:
Briefly, I want to create an online, user-based, real-time, incentivized, knowledge sharing application using web conferencing software that would serve seven distinct functions: 1) allow people to create and present didactic material on any subject to “students”; 2) allow people to easily find help with episodic problems with computers and computer applications; 3) creating viral elements; 4) allow people to form social networks around the foundation of particular learning interests; 5) create a knowledge archive deriving from user-submitted tutorials, and “captured” sessions; 6) create a software marketing platform; 7) pay-per-click
Let me take each of these in turn to better describe how I imagine it actually working
1. Creating a knowledge market and distribution platform
There are already about a dozen web conferencing tools available. This technology has already been proven to be a technically and economically successful. Web conferencing would form the core of this whole concept. Web conferencing is still full of rich, untapped possibilities, in my view.
What I have in mind is a portal that would bring together Solution Seekers (SSs) and Solution Providers (SPs), and as such would constitute a market. If someone was interested in teaching others about a particular application (I’ll use Fireworks as an example), they could use such a portal to announce their availability, their credentials, an introductory or sample tutorial. Additionally, there would be required parameters among which would be class schedule, price, level of instruction, class size limit, languages presented in, country, and all other important information that a potential user might find relevant. The SP would provide a detailed description of their areas of specialization to aid potential prospects in search.
An SS would then be able to quickly and effectively search for topics of interest using several parameters matched to the ones provided by the SS. For example, an SS may designate Fireworks CS3, Intermediate level, English, Country (from which presenter hails), class size preference, desired start date, amount willing to pay (per minute). Price would probably be set according to the SP preference as it would be logistically difficult to arrive at a set auction price if more than one person is buying the same thing.
A solution seeker would charge an account with a minimum amount of funds (like the way Skype works) and would then have “time” credits to use according to the per minute rate charged by the SP.
One of the key factors in successfully implanting this concept would be the development of a user defined rating system so that potential SS would have a good way of ascertaining the value of a prospective SP (in addition to the ways already mentioned). To be fair to SPs, however, each SSs rating history would also be viewable and searchable so that if a particular SS always gave everyone two stars, this could be taken in to consideration by other potential SSs when considering a potential SP.
2. Finding help
If the described knowledge market application were designed correctly, it would also have another distinct use: allowing people to find live help from an expert for an episodic problem. User rating in this case would also include average amount of time needed to solve problems.
Additionally, it would probably be important to create an incentivized referral system so that SPs are not tempted to try to solve problems beyond their ability. Obviously some problems are difficult by their very nature to describe, and it may not be possible for someone for a SP to determine whether he has the requisite level of expertise to solve it efficiently without first having a look.
A referral system would also serve another subtle yet extremely important purpose. It would create a “meta” knowledge system which is to say a system in which people have knowledge about people who have knowledge. In a case where a case was referred higher up, the referrer would get an equitable percentage of the transaction. But SP would also have stats to discourage people without useful knowledge simply making referrals for the transaction fee.
3. Creating viral elements
There are a number of possible ways to help such an idea become viral. If agreed upon by all parties, sessions of whatever kind could be captured (both audio and video), archived, and then made available for download for a relatively small, standard fee. Revenues thus generated could be split between the SS the SP, and the host. That means that someone could potentially earn money simply by seeking help if the resulting content was viewed by many people. Another way to do it would be to share revenue from ad sponsors. For example, perhaps all of the archived material would be free, but when someone click on an ad, there could then be a revenue split. SPs could also create their own tutorials and charge for them what they wish. This is one possibility among many, to be sure. The idea is to remove any possible barrier that to using the service, and to ensure the creation of plentiful and high-quality content on a diverse array of topics.
4. Forming social networks
This idea would be fertile ground for creating social networks around common areas of learning interest. For example, I might choose to learn Fireworks with those in my local community who are also learning it. That would allow people meet a specific physical locations no matter how distant the teacher might be. Other possibilities surely exist.
5. Creating an archive
If someone presents a class on a particular subject, this information will be archived and then made available for download by others. It might be either ad sponsored, or there might be a small fee attached. In any case, users would have a choice between live classes/help or simply searching the archives to find what they need. The archived information would be described and rated by users to aid in searching for it. If someone wanted to find out the best way of getting rid the MS Word 2003 office assistant, previous users might have described a prior tutorial as “getting rid of office assistant, paper clip, help”, etc.. Again, since there would be a potential payout, there would be every reason to describe each session well. It will not be perfect in every case, of course, but it could prove to be useful a good deal of the time.
6. Marketing
This idea presents a number of rich marketing angles. If one watches a tutorial on MS Excel, competing software vendors like Zoho, Google, etc., might choose to market directly in this material. Additionally, each SS would have a user account which might have targeted ads based on material previously viewed. Additionally, SPs could demonstrate software for free and earn a commission each time is was sold through link or personal portal.
7. Pay per click
There are a number of possible ways an SP might advertise on such a site. An SP might choose to cultivate his own following and simply use the described application as a marketing platform.
Looking ahead, one can imagine the expansion of services as well. One might be able incorporate video so that learning experiences can be expanded beyond that which naturally finds its home on a monitor.
If knowledge became cheap enough, one might even be able to imagine a great deal of the customer service burden now being shouldered by corporations being taken on by freelancers. - inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1"Graspr is on nobody's radar."
Thanks to this Digg, it's on my radar now.
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