This is Kevin Spacey. He’s a man who gets paid millions of dollars to pretend to be other men, for entertainment. And here he is on the “Late Show With David Letterman” trying to explain Twitter, the pulse of the planet, to Mr. Letterman.
Key points to remember: Twitter is free; you type with your thumbs; it’s “a waste of time.”
Mr. Spacey: “And now, I’ll get, in about an hour, lots and lots of people saying ‘hi’ back.”
Mr. Letterman: “That really is a miracle.”
via Huffington Post
Very funny.
this is funny, david is always funny
Some of the commentors here need to chill out on their unnecessary negative criticism. The video is funny, if you don’t like it, then just fuck off.
Let’s see how funny and fast Kevin is when he receives my tweet..that I,m in his audience at the OLD VIC….or right behind him w/my 45..see U soon..9/09..old twat!!! Bobbi
Very true.
Yeah, it’s not gonna *cost* ya.
it reminds me of what… oh yeah…. “a waste of time”….
Yep, I am 100% behind Letterman on this
Yes very funny, but it also shows us difference of generations and mentalities…
Like what, 50s and 70s?
Or the mature and the immature.
This is just one more example why you don’t have to be too smart to be in show business.
And your comment is one more example that you don’t have to understand sarcasm and humor to comment on TechCrunch.
now THAT was among the top pieces of sarcasm i’ve heard in a while.
good one! :)
hehe I love the double meaning of “Your Tweets ;D”
Twitter = waste of time.
Google Wave = Actually useful and productive
Twitter, yes indeed, a waste of time, on so many levels.
Those guys Kevin and Dave really have great chemistry. Twitter…. It has it’s place…
its. not it’s. spelling has its place, too.
Yes, and so do syntactic rules. You should start sentences with a capital letter.
LOL
What a sad statement to the value of ones life. It is so true that some (millions) of peoples lives are so boring they now need to vicariously live through someone else’s life. Who cares what Kevin Spacey is up to ? do you care he is taking a drink or water or meeting with his friends or on Letterman ? How does this create value in your life ? Or does it reflect that you have no life and must rely on these outsiders to bring a smile your existence. People quite wasting away and go out and find your own life !
You do realize the irony of your comment, don’t you?
Thank you, this is like the stock market crash of the 1930’s: when everyone including your gardener is pitching stocks, it’s time to get out. Twitter is now being pitched by some of the most boring people on earth, and that will be it’s downfall (sorry techcrack, you need to move beyond tweets and googs)
Interesting, Bill! Seriously, I’m going to start using the expression “Twitter bubble.”
The point is alot of people care and alot of people lives are like this…why do gossip mags sell, reality TV and why is facebook so popular, we as humans have a voyeuristic nature which is why services that cater to this will always do well.
I admit to having this nature, I think most do but in general I keep it to things that I can extract some meaning from rather than someone daily routine.
Not mentioned in this post, Spacey’s half kidding, half serious ribbing of Letterman for being too old and closed minded to appreciate the value of Twitter.
…something I would echo towards the haters making comments here. This is Letterman ( and you ):
“Get off my lawn you damn kids!”
yup. top 5 most over hyped companies to come along.
With revenue figures of DONUT
Twitter is not a waste of time letterman, you’re just old.
Whine about it all you want, but it works pretty damn well as a news outlet.
I wouldn’t classify a rumor mill as a news outlet.
what up with the phreaking name? lol
I thought it was phunny.
lol @ news outlet.
thumbs up**
Twitter is a waste of time…if you don’t know how to use it. It took me a while to see it’s value, but I too am drinking the kool aid. I follow people in my profession who know how to use Twitter and only post relevant information…information I could never find on my own.
A lot of you people sound like those who said the internet would never fly.
Comparing Twitter to the Internet is the dumbest thing I’ve ever read.
You may be too young to relate, Jason, but the concept of having independant machines being able to connect with each other for the purpose of business and communication was as ridiculous a concept in 1990 for people like Dave, as having a 160 character application be purposeful in 2009. It relates to the process of innovation and adaptation.
I’m 29, so I’m not sure that qualifies as being “too young”. But rehashing a concept we’ve had for 20 years and then limiting it to 140 characters is not innovation. There is a reason no one else did this, while Evan and the crew sat on the idea for 6 years. Because it’s dumb.
Another example of if Twitter wants to become ubiquitous, it needs to be something even people like letterman loves.
you mean like, gangster rap..? Nope, I think their only real task is to make some money and ride this thing till the wheels fall off.
Gangsta rap never aspired to reach 1 billion people.
Regarding twitter i think the concept has proved valuable but whether twitter are the ones who capitalize on it financially is another question!
For a start I think it will be hard on one player to monopolize the stream, what I would like to see is multiple channels to filter my stream, if I just want personal and social stuff i switch to my facebook channel, if I want to follow tech news I switch to another, if I want english football I switch to another. Almost like cable, where each channel represents my niche and I mean very niche interest!
OK if twitter is the pulse of the planet here’s all that’s happening on earth today:
Jay-Z
Miley Cyrus
Quando
Sliimy
Adam LaRoche
Harry Potter
Selena Gomez
AT&T
Google Wave
Sam Raimi
I have Three words for the unbelievers:
Iran
Gaza
Mumbai
who cares about Harry Potter. I care about real-time geo-located search.
hmmm, try http://askaround.me/
Hmmm, Iran — isn’t that what people were tweeting about before all the Michael Jackson stories crashed the site?
I guess perspective on Twitter is dramatically different when you have almost 1MM real followers. There are countries smaller then that…
For those of you saying Twitter=Waste of time,
please remember that the same was said of Facebook, but now more and more people are using it to keep in touch with friends and family around the world and for other “useful” purposes. Twitter is a much newer tool, but I am certain that eventually the line between frivolous uses and genuinely good uses will become more clear and people are always free to participate in one sphere or the other. Developers will continue to improve it to make sticking to that choice easier (and btw there are plenty of tools and articles out there already).
And I completely agree with SJ’s comment, that you build your own niche in each of these social networking sites.
keeping in touch with friends about last night’s party is a waste of time. being a waste of time doesn’t mean it shouldn’t exist.
i have yet to make anything work-related on facebook.
Hmm…. not if you have relatives on 3 continents and you’re showing your grandma(s) pics of your new home, baby, or family gatherings she could not attend in person…I don’t consider that a waste of time. As per work related uses….I have found out about job opportunities via facebook through direct messages… just because you haven’t, doesn’t mean it’s not possible, though I will agree that LinkedIn is better for this type of thing. Note that I do know of colleagues who have found jobs via Twitter.
Hey, I’ve got something that works like that: it’s called “e-mail.”
it’s a popular medium. when people look for information / communication they turn to popular media. that’s the law. twitter is popular now, but it’s more of a fad than it seems. twitter inc. needs to capitalize it before competitive/new solutions arise and sweep them away. facebook on the other hand is rolling out connect, which may turn out to be their most valuable asset in the future.
So, anything not work-related is a waste of time? That certainly says something about the overall happiness of your existence.
Spacey is funny.
Yeah, twitter is free. For now. It’s not all thumbs, though, I’m typing on it right now. Well sort of. And I might add that I disagree that it’s a waste of time.
“Is it fun?”
I don’t really think anyone can explain twitter properly, but basically it is what you make it.
thats actually a bad thing.
It’s not a waste of time if you use it right, that’s the whole point. Spacey was just giving an easy example, but that was just a basic “lesson,” like showing someone the letters of the alphabet without showing how to put a sentence together. If you illustrate how powerful Twitter is in marketing, pr, campaigns, etc., that’s another story entirely. Ironically, Letterman probably could have made good use of Twitter when he was in hot water last month with the Sarah Palin comment. “Cyber” apology to millions of people at once, anyone?
Here’s Seinfeld discussing technology as well, this time iPhone and BlackBerry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E8fw00WmYg
Nice vids!
This guy is so funny ^^
i saw this last night. kevin does a good letterman. i understand the purpose of twitter but i can’t be convinced to get an account.
but it IS a waste of time!
Hey Dave-
The waste of time you refer to actually lead me to watch part of your show for the first time in years…
Nice twitter plug Spacey!
Twittering on twitter is not a waste of time, if you don’t do this start now.
10 points to spacey for the ny sense of humor
Look, I can see some people never understanding it. That’s cool. The same type of people 15 years ago didn’t get the web or even email. They thought it was a passing fad. When Facebook and Twitter inevitably give way to something else, it will a be thing that incorporates the best of both and will add something new and innovative. The march to a more connected world is inexorable.
I’m a long term expat. I have friends and family on many continents. Twitter and Facebook provide me with the means to keep in regualr contact with them in the most efficient way possible (so far). They are the most valuable applications available to a global citizen like me. Sure, if you are some insular mid-western xenophobe with no passport and you think the world is only 4000 years old, then nope, you won’t get it. No great loss to people like me anyway.
Yeap, us mid-westerners think it is a waste of time. We make an effort to visit people face-to-face and have REAL relationships with our neighbors, friends, and family. And when we twitter with a women, they can actually feel and enjoy it.
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After two Tdjaln not an excuse for my share
Any person to the far-hearted close
The employer, however, a person close to love me
The proximity and distance, however, what was the hardest of hearts that the people around you and you alone in space
What of the self and a sense of Hdpouhdp Balvrac
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The most difficult that you feel strange about the beloved
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Friendship friends gold Alsaddaqpoin??!
Left me alone and left
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Uwe Vnevsi myself a friend
WAIT TILL Kev gets my tweet that i am standin right behind him….New Orleans…birthday party..
And if I should miss him there..hope he shits his pants when I tweet him at OLD VIC9/09 that I,m in the audience w/my 45..
Can’t wait to see U again kevin..hope U remember me ..U know the 16 year old u had handcuffed to the bed,so U could “have YOUR way w/me…I”M 26 now and waitin patienly in soho for u..this time it is my turn…and I;m gonna take my time torturing U ..give u a taste of your own medicine..U old QUEEN!!!!!