Update to last weekend’s breaking news about the creepy 23andMe zeppelin that’s been floating around my house. It was back again today. For all I know it’s been circling my house all week. What do you want, 23andMe zeppelin? I already bought a DNA kit. Go away.
by
Michael Arrington
on
July 16, 2009
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Why do they go to such extremes? The cost of a blimp could easily spread enough juice to wrangle a Vogue cover from Conde Nast.
So is 23andme secretly owned by Twitter?
Google owns 23andme
they want your soooooooooooul !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If i say something critical…will this comment be deleted or will it not be deleted…that is the question.
Probably. It seems to be how things work: http://twitter....atus/1903186356 . I wonder how long this comment will last.
“What do you want, 23andMe zeppelin?” – For you to continue talking about them. Being on TechCrunch validates their existence.
Its the start of big bother … and Mike is being paid to promote it …
Seriously Mike.. you still don’t get it.. google is from an alien planet, and they keep tabs on people after they get their DNA… that thing will be following you for the rest of your life… it is like your very own pet floating dog..
Money well invested.
I love TechCrunch and all, but did this really constitute a blog from the TechCrunch account? I’m not taking away the fact that the blimp may, in fact, be gathering data on you in the most unconventional of ways, but, really?
how much did 23 pay tc for more useless articles on this shit company
Damn blimp almost made me crash the other day
Mike I think you need to go on another vacation.
i’m pretty sure it would follow me wherever I went. I need an underground vacation. do they have those?
Underground Vacations
http://www.goog...earch&meta=
Goodfellas, helicopter scene? just sain :->
Mike, I always thought you may have been followed by little black helicopters, but blimps! Come on! Deb
Nothing says “secretive conspiracy” like a BLIMP floating over the house, right?
I’d worry if men in black combat gear, repelle from the blimp, and land in your backyard. But we all know that’s not going to happen, right?
RIGHT?!?
Grab a good hold of REALITY… It’s just a floating billboard.
Take your complaint to the police. If they can’t help, then ask for suggestions of who to talk to to get rid of the blimp IF it annoys you that much.
I made a deal with them to monitor you at all times Mike!
Are you the only person that lives near your house, or might there be other potential customers, perhaps on a roadway, that might see this floating billboard and remember the site?
i saw it today on my way home from sunnyvale to sf… as it was parked at nasa. i almost crashed on 101 as i was rubber necking that 23andme zeppelin. i know… my fault, i shouldn’t rubber neck, but it was there and needed a rubber neck. that thing is such a bad use of dollars and is a liability waiting to happen. did it boost brand awareness? no. brand equity? went down…
It’s funny because they are about to demonstrate what I fear the most in 23andme:
Surveillance of everybody, knowing everything about everybody.
It’s a sick trend and in a few years everybody will get it.
This is like a scene from the movie Goodfellas in which a paranoid drug dealer believes that he is followed by a DEA helicopter.
The only difference being the drug dealer was not asked to write a story about it provide DEA writes him a check.
They want you to write about it and you are! They’re getting exactly what they want!!!
MA is so naive about PR and stuff…
I was down in Menlo Park today, enjoying a friend’s backyard, and the damn blimp flew right above us. Next thing you know, it’s gonna start beaming up unsuspecting guinea pigs to suck up their DNA information.
Somebody’s grouchy! Zeppelins are uber cool (where’d I put that umlaut). Only three in the world, and this one is the biggest. What a treat. Enjoy it!
I actually am with you about 23andMe, At best, it’s a crappy prwsent from Goog Guy ro his wife to flatter her into believing she’s an entrepreneur, But the hostility towards the zeppelin? What is that about? I think it’s beautiful to see flying around. Fantastic.
An old Lighter-than-Air fan, I shelled out the bucks to take a one hour tour and loved every moment. Flying in a zeppelin is an amazing experience.Very different from a plane, a glider, a hot air balloon.I’ve been waiting a long long time for the opportunity to experience slow, silent flight with room to walk around and, yes, stick your hand out and feel the wind flow by.
But this stupid hostility to the zeppelin because of the ad, is just plain idiotic. Like attacking a bus because you don’t like McDonalds and there’s an ad on the sign that’s helping keep the bus on the road. Grow up already.
Tom, you were actually on the Eureka? Ooh, tell me all about it! I never thought I’d have the opportunity at all. Tweet me if you get a chance.
What do you think of the video though? Looks more like a pesky little blimp to me, but I’ve never seen the Eureka.
Oh, the humanity.
Yeah, never mind about my 3:57 note. Poking around YouTube (wonder if they have a patent on however the degrade video so horribly) discloses that it’s the Eureka.
Oh well. The Parisians hated the Eiffel Tower at first too. They came around after, what, 50 years; now they deal with it.
OK–played video (could YouTube quality be any worse please?). Looks small like a blimp, not big like the zeppelin that lives at Moffett Field. Hard to tell when every pixel is the size of my thumbnail. If blimp, complain at will. They’re like roaches. If zeppelin, show some forkin’ respect. You wouldn’t say, Creepy Golden Gate bridge still looming, go away! Would you?
They’re only there because you keep talking about them. Like all spammers, if you ignore them they’ll go away.
So right–I ignore my spam, and it always goes away.
This is what happens when girls head organizations..
Exactly! Whenever girls head organizations, you get advertising zeppelins flying around Arrington’s house. Every bloody time.
Just like Goodyear?
They want you to create a pointless post for publicity. Mission Accomplished!
Are you sure it is not the Zeppelin manufacturing or operating company? They are the one taking orders from the startups now.
By the way at the AAfter Search we use flying saucers. Look for one in coming days.
..when crap articles like this show up in my RSS reader, I wonder why I am still subscribed to Techcrunch. Mike, can’t you get a personal blog for stuff like this? Your fellow Techcrunch writers, who pour their heart and soul into quality articles, deserve better company, ug.
1. Buy a bullet and rent a gun
2. Shoot that damn thing
3. ????
4. PROFIT!!!
I’m thinking “model rocketry”.
Arrington’s paranoia is understandable… when everyone’s out to get you, being paranoid just makes good sense.
Why wouldn’t you rent a Zeppelin to circle Arrington’s home 24/7 if only just to get exposure on TechCrunch? I would!
Why not start spying on them here is the link to see where it is flying now.
http://www.airs...om/tracking.php
Is it like the genetic grim reaper? Mike: You better look into your DNA history, bad things may be in store.
At least when the company fails, unlike its namesake blimp, it won’t destroy your home and leave burning remains with radio announcers yelling, “Oh the humanity!”
Mike:
They are trying to beam you their confidential internal docs!
You probably have too much stress at work to hallucinate about a giant blimp following you at home. Relax! Airship Ventures is offering you a Zeppelin tour over the San Francisco bay. You can zip wine while enjoying the view from the air. All this only cost you $500 an hour. Cheaper than seeing a shrink. http://www.airs...ipventures.com/
Genetic testing, google, and NASA: ????
http://gawker.c...ng%2Borgy-blimp