Summary
Although Sean Parker came along late in the whole concept of Facebook, once he came, he really changed things up. Parker was able to presuade and manuver Zuckerberg into meeting with all of these fancy business people and making a business out of Facebook that Zuckerberg did not want. Not only that, but slowly but surely Eduardo Saverin was being pushed out of the equation. Everything comes to an end when Eduarado realizes that papers that Parker and Zuckerberg had him sign were actaully papers that were giving up his 34.4 percent share of Facebook. Now, most of the shares were divided between Zuckerberg, Parker, and the two interns and Edurado was being diluted out of the company. While Saverin was being diluted, Facebook was getting bigger and better, new applications were being added and more and more people were joining each and everyday. Saverin feels as if he was betrayed and decides to file a lawsuit over Facebook, and the relationship that was shared between him and Zuckerberg will never be the same.
Quote
"Mark had betrayed him, destroyed him, taking it all away. It was all right there, in the papers in his hands, as clear as the pitch-black letters imprinted on those ivory-white pages" (Mezrich 228).
Reaction
The ending to this book is not how I would have ever expected. Before I read this book, I knew nothing about Facebook and how it was found, but I would have never imagined that there would be so much betrayal and decit behind it. The way that Mezrich was able to capture this story is simply magnificent, from all sorts of points of views and all sorts of reactions. Mezrich was also able to add a lot of comedy to this book as well. I think that in the book Mezrich sums up the whole sitaution phenomenally, when he says how he finds it ironic how Facebook is a website that is meant to bring people together, and it drove two close friends apart. The denoument of this book really just summed up the whole situation, and allowed to see what was going on with everyone that was involved.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Accidental Billionaires(151-196)
Summary
Facebook is becoming so popular that reps from major software companies and VC's are showing up to Mark's classes so that they can sway him into selling Facebook to their companies. Things are also becoming much more difficult in terms of them balancing their school lives with working on the website. Basically, Facebook is becoming a full-time job for everyone involved and with summer approaching they are going to have to find a way to handle it. To add to fuel to the fire, Mark begins to work on another project called the Wirehog and was planning on taking Facebook to California, and Eduardo had been offered an internship in New York. So they decide that Mark will need some help in California, and they find interns that are just as fired up and excited about Facebook to help them in the summer. Meanwhile the twins did not give up on their mission to make Mark pay up for stealing Facebook from them. Nonetheless, Mark still does not pay any attention to them, and he does not respond to any of their letters or their emails. Also, Harvard has washed their hands of the situation which makes them realize that there is really nothing more that they can do.
Once Mark and the rest of the Facebook crew get to California, they meet up with Sean Parker and they decide to allow him to move in with them. This is a move that Eduardo really does not approve of so he decides to freeze their bank accounts, which is a move that he will probably end up regretting.
Quote
"Eduarado was a businessman, and this move was all business" (Mezrich 196).
Reaction
I think that Mezrich uses this statement to show how much Eduarado and Mark's relationship had stopped being a friendship, and more of a business. Overall, I think it shows how flimsy their relationship was from the beginning. Both individuals had become friends because the circumstances that they were in which helped pull them to one another. I think that the climax of this novel is Facebook becoming a hit, and the transitions that each individual is facing because of it. We are approaching the falling action, and I do not think that the end result will be a good one. Especially due to the fact that Edurado froze the Facebook bank account.
Facebook is becoming so popular that reps from major software companies and VC's are showing up to Mark's classes so that they can sway him into selling Facebook to their companies. Things are also becoming much more difficult in terms of them balancing their school lives with working on the website. Basically, Facebook is becoming a full-time job for everyone involved and with summer approaching they are going to have to find a way to handle it. To add to fuel to the fire, Mark begins to work on another project called the Wirehog and was planning on taking Facebook to California, and Eduardo had been offered an internship in New York. So they decide that Mark will need some help in California, and they find interns that are just as fired up and excited about Facebook to help them in the summer. Meanwhile the twins did not give up on their mission to make Mark pay up for stealing Facebook from them. Nonetheless, Mark still does not pay any attention to them, and he does not respond to any of their letters or their emails. Also, Harvard has washed their hands of the situation which makes them realize that there is really nothing more that they can do.
Once Mark and the rest of the Facebook crew get to California, they meet up with Sean Parker and they decide to allow him to move in with them. This is a move that Eduardo really does not approve of so he decides to freeze their bank accounts, which is a move that he will probably end up regretting.
Quote
"Eduarado was a businessman, and this move was all business" (Mezrich 196).
Reaction
I think that Mezrich uses this statement to show how much Eduarado and Mark's relationship had stopped being a friendship, and more of a business. Overall, I think it shows how flimsy their relationship was from the beginning. Both individuals had become friends because the circumstances that they were in which helped pull them to one another. I think that the climax of this novel is Facebook becoming a hit, and the transitions that each individual is facing because of it. We are approaching the falling action, and I do not think that the end result will be a good one. Especially due to the fact that Edurado froze the Facebook bank account.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
The Accidental Billionaires(100-150)
Summary
The twins find out about Mark's creation of thefacebook and they are livid. They feel as if he has ripped them off. They attempt to shut down the site and threaten Mark if he does not, but all of this does not affect Mark one bit. It has been decided that Eduardo will handle the business side of things and also the financial side of the company and given a 30 percent share. Mark and Eduardo feel like since they have already conquered Harvard, that it is time for them to try and conquer different colleges such as Yale and Columbia. While Eduardo and Mark are basking in their happiness, the twins have decided that they are not going down without a fight. They attempt to bring the matter to the President of Harvard University but he just blows them off. Another person is also introuduced to the mix, and this person is Sean Parker the founder of Napster which was a website that let college kids everywhere get whatever music they wanted for free, in the privacy of their own dorm rooms. Napster was a huge success, but it caused Sean Parker a lot of trouble. Now, he is looking to move on, and Facebook, might just be his new thing.
Quote
"[Thefacebook] was insinuating itself into everyone's routine...It was really such an amazing tool lubricating the social scene"(Mezrich 110).
Reaction
Mezrich does an excellent job of describing how much Facebook affected people lives then, and is a perfect example of how much it is affecting our lives now. He turns Facebook into a person and uses personification to show it wiggles itself into everything that we do. It becomes a part of everyone's routine; from when they wake up in the morning, to when they go to sleep at night. However, Mezrich's introduction of a new charecter to late in the story kind of confused me, but it also made for an intense story line because we now have the perspectives of at least 5 different people. This also means that all of the bases are covered in terms of how Facebook got to be where it is, and no stones are left unturned.
The twins find out about Mark's creation of thefacebook and they are livid. They feel as if he has ripped them off. They attempt to shut down the site and threaten Mark if he does not, but all of this does not affect Mark one bit. It has been decided that Eduardo will handle the business side of things and also the financial side of the company and given a 30 percent share. Mark and Eduardo feel like since they have already conquered Harvard, that it is time for them to try and conquer different colleges such as Yale and Columbia. While Eduardo and Mark are basking in their happiness, the twins have decided that they are not going down without a fight. They attempt to bring the matter to the President of Harvard University but he just blows them off. Another person is also introuduced to the mix, and this person is Sean Parker the founder of Napster which was a website that let college kids everywhere get whatever music they wanted for free, in the privacy of their own dorm rooms. Napster was a huge success, but it caused Sean Parker a lot of trouble. Now, he is looking to move on, and Facebook, might just be his new thing.
Quote
"[Thefacebook] was insinuating itself into everyone's routine...It was really such an amazing tool lubricating the social scene"(Mezrich 110).
Reaction
Mezrich does an excellent job of describing how much Facebook affected people lives then, and is a perfect example of how much it is affecting our lives now. He turns Facebook into a person and uses personification to show it wiggles itself into everything that we do. It becomes a part of everyone's routine; from when they wake up in the morning, to when they go to sleep at night. However, Mezrich's introduction of a new charecter to late in the story kind of confused me, but it also made for an intense story line because we now have the perspectives of at least 5 different people. This also means that all of the bases are covered in terms of how Facebook got to be where it is, and no stones are left unturned.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
The Accidental Billionaires(50-99)
Summary
Once Facemash is completed, Mark sends it to some of friends so that they could tell him what they thought about it. However, as these things usually turn out, the site gets sent around all of Harvard. Everyone hears about, and some girls that were are on it get very upset. The scandal manages to get a story in the Crimson which is a school newspaper, and that is where the Winkelvoss brothers have their bright idea. They will ask Mark to be the programmer of their for the Harvard Connection. In the beginning when they first approach Mark about the concept, Mark is very excited and takes on their offer. However, as time goes by Mark begins to form a whole different concept then theirs and begins working on his own website called the Facebook. Instead of a website for "hooking up" like the Winklevoss twins had an idea for, it would be a website to socialize and see what your friends were up to. Mark does not tell the twins what is going on, and just stops working on their project completely, so that he can focus on his.
Quote
"Mark sat there enveloped in silence, lost in his own reflection as it danced across the screen" (Mezrich 99).
Reaction
The imagery that Mezrich utilizes to develop these characters is very fascinating. While I was reading, I could actually envision Mark Zuckerberg glued to his computer seat, staring at the computer in some sort of trance. I can imagine his reflection dancing across the screen like the quote says, which is also an example of personification. His imagery also takes the somewhat flat charecters and gives them life and depth. For example, in the beginning Zuckerberg was only one dimensional, but now as he is working on something that he truly enjoys, you can see how much of a hardworking, caring person that he is. I also enjoy that way that Mezrich lays out the storyline. Instead of just spitting everything out, he strategically uses dates, and ends most chapters with a cliffhanger making a reader want to turn the page and find out what happened.
Once Facemash is completed, Mark sends it to some of friends so that they could tell him what they thought about it. However, as these things usually turn out, the site gets sent around all of Harvard. Everyone hears about, and some girls that were are on it get very upset. The scandal manages to get a story in the Crimson which is a school newspaper, and that is where the Winkelvoss brothers have their bright idea. They will ask Mark to be the programmer of their for the Harvard Connection. In the beginning when they first approach Mark about the concept, Mark is very excited and takes on their offer. However, as time goes by Mark begins to form a whole different concept then theirs and begins working on his own website called the Facebook. Instead of a website for "hooking up" like the Winklevoss twins had an idea for, it would be a website to socialize and see what your friends were up to. Mark does not tell the twins what is going on, and just stops working on their project completely, so that he can focus on his.
Quote
"Mark sat there enveloped in silence, lost in his own reflection as it danced across the screen" (Mezrich 99).
Reaction
The imagery that Mezrich utilizes to develop these characters is very fascinating. While I was reading, I could actually envision Mark Zuckerberg glued to his computer seat, staring at the computer in some sort of trance. I can imagine his reflection dancing across the screen like the quote says, which is also an example of personification. His imagery also takes the somewhat flat charecters and gives them life and depth. For example, in the beginning Zuckerberg was only one dimensional, but now as he is working on something that he truly enjoys, you can see how much of a hardworking, caring person that he is. I also enjoy that way that Mezrich lays out the storyline. Instead of just spitting everything out, he strategically uses dates, and ends most chapters with a cliffhanger making a reader want to turn the page and find out what happened.
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