Utopian Entrepreneur
"There is no business value in social responsibility; it will not raise your stock price or increase your revenues."
Business is about making money and how you make money is by creating a game that will sell. Of course there is a code of ethics which most businesses follow but it is not unethical to create violent video games or R-rated movies. Businesses are not at fault for trying to make games that are violent because that is what is appealing to teenagers and most of our society.
"I considered our work to have been a cultural success in the sense that it touched the lies of millions of girls and offered the fresh views of girlhood and a new portal into the technology. But our business failed."
It is amazing to me a site like this could fail with all the support it had from girls and parents alike. This was one of the fist sites for girls to be able to interact and play some type of computer game.
"..we decided to use what we had learned about girls' social concerns, identity formation, and character preference to offer material that would help them to discover the range of choices they could exercise in their own lives." This is also something Koster talked about, using games to create and teach us life like experiences and decisions. Games have been able to give us lessons regarding to life for a long time. Games like this can help gamers in real life make better life choices and these games are very helpful.
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/EL250/2010/01/laurel_1-52/#more
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Jessie Krehlik on Utopian Entrepreneur: It still really amazes me that
Jeremy Barrick on Utopian Entrepreneur: I agree with what you had to s
Matt Takacs on Utopian Entrepreneur: Susan and Keith, I also saw th
Dennis G. Jerz on Utopian Entrepreneur: Keith, Laurel offers an opposi
Susan Carmichael on Utopian Entrepreneur: Her website did not fail; girl
Jeremy Barrick on Utopian Entrepreneur: I agree with what you had to s
Matt Takacs on Utopian Entrepreneur: Susan and Keith, I also saw th
Dennis G. Jerz on Utopian Entrepreneur: Keith, Laurel offers an opposi
Susan Carmichael on Utopian Entrepreneur: Her website did not fail; girl
Her website did not fail; girls that bookmarked the site were able to visit the site and continue to sign up friends. That just proves that the business side failed and not the idea.
I also agree that both Koster and Laurel touched upon the same concept to create games that relate to our cultural views and teach us lessons. It is great to see connections forming between these books and our other class articles.
Keith, Laurel offers an opposing view to the argument that business is just offering what people want... she notes that businesses are not offering girls the experiences THEY want, so that girls have to settle for what's out there, or they lose interest and don't become devleopers themselves. She would never have reached all these girls if she hadn't questioned "we're just giving the audience what it wants".
Susan and Keith, I also saw the similarities of Koster and Laurel:
http://blogs.setonhill.edu/MattTakacs/2010/01/laurel_pages_1_-_52.html
I agree with what you had to say in the first paragraph. A buisness is not at fault for catering to adults nor is it at danger for the likes of children. That's why ratings accompany games and movies. It restricts who watches and plays them.
It still really amazes me that the company folded after having so much success. I guess this just goes to show that even mildly successful operations might not survive out there. Unfortunately, I have to say that prior to this assigned text, I'd never heard of Purple Moon or Rockette, which kind of surprised me considering I was playing video games when it was successful...We still should applaud Laurel's efforts, though, because she opened so many doors for female gaming.