If you create a sufficient level of informed conversation about a very narrow subject, that's a business. You better really love it, though, because you'll get bored.

They've set a business model that relies on making money on game sales rather than box sales. That's part of their problem,

[Others lambasted the ROKR:] Talk about an anticlimax, ... The lack of genuinely interesting news about this phone is the real story. This phone and service are late and lame.

Seconds later,

Fewer citizens participated, they were less interested in collaboration with one another, and the response to our initiatives was underwhelming.

This is a sad day for the Times and for journalism.