Day 9 Predictions
Here is a related youtube video, CouchSurfing: What one website reveals about the future of the net. Yosuke
I'm interested in hearing about the identity verification system that Daniel mentioned at approx. 23:30 in the YouTube video. How are they getting access to passport numbers and credit card numbers? If it is that much better at identifying people, why hasn't eBay implemented something like this?
It's interesting how the Extraordinaries (great name, reminded me of the Pixar movie The Incredibles) is for-profit, while Couchsurfing is non-profit. Will the Extraordinaries be able to build a Couchsurfing or Wikipedia-type community even though it's for-profit?
I was struck by the fissues within the couchsurfing movement. It seems inevitable in these bottom-up, free internet communities that there will be intense fights over the direction of the project. What keeps communities like Wikipedia and Couchsurfing from still providing useful services despite all the chatter? Could that balance be reversed?