TheStandard.com - It's Back

The Industry Standard was, back in the days of the dotcom boom, a high-flying print publication dedicated to the economy of the internet. Based in San Francisco, the Standard launched in 1998, but its fortunes went the way of the bursting bubble. However, for everyone who’s been weeping its demise, there’s good news yet—the Standard is back and it’s appropriately available online only. The zine is now a predictions market and technology news analysis site. They feature news coverage from the blogosphere and other off the track sources. As for the predictions market, registered users will be given $100,000 Standard dollars to bet on predictions; those who win and save can use their earnings to later claim prizes such as an iPhone.

“The Industry Standard features news and analysis that covers emerging technologies and companies, venture funding, acquisitions, site launches, and other developments in the internet space. Additionally, The Standard aggregates community knowledge in a quantified fashion, thereby ranking both the knowledge of the individual community members themselves, as well as the value of the information the community provides as a whole. This system is built as a prediction market, intersected with a reputation-based social network.”

The Standard was already once a mainstay in the world of internet and technology. There are, no doubt a whole generation who has missed its presence. Now with its relaunch, it’s getting into the increasingly popular predictions market and it has taken to crowdsourcing, expanding its content and giving readers a variety of different points of view.

There’s a whole generation of who have never heard of the Standard—will these people be as keen on the publication as their predecessors? This market is extremely saturated, will it be able to succeed?