Comment by HanClinto
2 days ago
Cool site!
But why does it exist? Will it be around in 6 months? What is the backstory / creator of this project?
It's odd that they use their own license language, and doesn't use something explicit like CC-BY-NC. It appears to be a non-commercial, non-distribution license, but otherwise free for personal and commercial use...?
Appears that the site is funded through being able to purchase sponsorship spots for $10 / mo.
Confusingly, the about page suggests that this is an AI-driven storytelling app: https://www.thiings.co/about. Maybe that's a vestige of prior iteration of the app, though.
The concept minds me of the million dollar homepage, where you could pay a dollar per pixel of advertisement. Here, you're paying a dollar (that's a guess; i didn't check) to get a new object listed in the potentially infinite grid, which gives you a unique URL for that object, an emoji-like reference image, and a one-paragraph description for aliens, were they to land on earth and ask what that object was for.
Basically, looks like an art project that monetizes participation.