TechCrunch 40: Web 2.0 Overload, But Some Stuff Looks Cool

September 17th, 2007

Dang… I’ve been looking at the list of companies at the TechCrunch 40 (and even more in the demo pit) realizing there are a freaking lot of investing-hungry technology companies… and this is surely only scratching the surface. While some of the short blurbs I’ve read aren’t too appealing, I already have a short list of companies / products I’m looking forward to checking out:

• MusicShake: Some kind of music mashup site. The audience supposedly got into this one.
• 8020 Publishing: I really believe in their idea of flipping the magazine business model around and having online influence print. They produce JPG magazine.
• AOL’s Bluestring. Time to dig up that AOL login I haven’t used in ages.
• For search, both Powerset and CastTV. I really would appreciate video search that would dig into the content.
• Ponoko: Creating little one of a kind tchotchkes and IKEA-esque furniture kind of like the stuff from the fabricators at the Maker Faire — that’d be cool. This should appeal to all the hip do it yourself-ers and the wanna be’s like me.

All these tech luminaries idolize Steve Jobs. What’s up with that?

While I was initially glazing over with boredom from the long list of Web 2.0 companies at the TechCrunch 40 — it doesn’t seem like a long list of Digg clones or Facebook wanna-bes.

Still, I dunno about some of these companies’ names, either, and I question MC Hammer’s relevancy except maybe his parachute pants might come in handy when this bubble starts losing air.