Oct 23
Today in Briefs: Ghost Cities Edition
Ghosts, both urban and of the dog variety, are on our minds today:
The Feudal Future? Ghost Cities, Nomads &
1 min read
Mark Coatney
I build new things. Started as the second employee of Time magazine’s new Website and grew it from a single, text-only webpage to a multimedia platform with millions of users. Helped grow Tumblr from its earliest days. Now building Rover
Oct 22
Today in Briefs: At Least Our Internet is Working Again Edition
The difficult thing about the current moment is that there are so many ongoing outrages that it all can start
1 min read
Oct 21
Today in Briefs: Home Improvement Edition
Some of the things we're enjoying on Rover today:
A History of White House Revamps
Why are we
1 min read
Oct 14
To Fix the Internet, Design for Empathy
“Empathy” isn’t typically a value you see associated with digital product design. Typically, there’s really only one value, and that’s “engagement.” Every product decision at a tech company comes down to “how will this get more people to spend more time using our thing?”
7 min read
Oct 10
You Make Friends by Asking Questions
So one of the things that I’ve really loved in working on Rover these past few months is how it inverts that dynamic, and what it means for social interactions.
2 min read
Oct 10
What Does It Mean When Most of the Web's Content Is Mass Produced?
What does any tangible handmade good mean when it can be cheaply replicated by machines? Duchamp’s response was in part to say that an object’s value comes from the human connection between giver and receiver.
1 min read
Oct 10
The AI Art That Speaks for Itself
I think we miss the deeper issue, which is this: Almost everyone is using AI to do the same thing they did before, just faster/cheaper/easier.
2 min read
Oct 08
Hello, World!
First off, and to avoid any confusion, we are not the pet sitter marketplace. (Yes, I know. I'm disappointed too.) Instead, Rover is an audio-first, AI-driven social content platform. What does that mean?
3 min read