BlackBird: the Black focused Browser Speaks
Blackbird, a custom browser for the African-American community launched today to mixed reviews from mainstream users. We were tipped off about the browser a while ago, but this afternoon we actually had an opportunity to “talk turkey” with Blackbird co-founder and CEO 40A Inc. Ed Young.
“Blackbird was originally the brainchild of Arnold Brown, who wanted a way to tie all black content online into one location,” Young says. So Young and Brown decided that the best way to encompass all of this web content was to use the tool that all content has in common, the Web browser. Blackbird was built using Mozilla technology, which gives the browser a similar look and feel to Firefox. And by default, BlackBird imports all of your Firefox plug-ins. But what makes Blackbird different is its custom add-ons, bookmarks, relevant bookmarks, and themes designed to cater to the Black community.
Not to take away from BlackBird as a product, there are some handy features for those who surf the Web in search of Black content, like:
- A Built-in Black video channel
- Scrolling RSS feeds displayed in a news ticker fashion (you can turn this feature off if it gets to be a bit too much for you)
- Pre-determined folders of bookmarks covering a range of topics including: Lifestyle, People and Networks, News and Politics, Sports and Entertainment, Business and Professional, Community and Organizations, as well as Black Colleges and Universities which contains a bookmark to every HBCU website
- The ability to create custom add-ons like we all love to do in Firefox.
- “Blackbird Black Search,” a Google Custom search engine which attempts to provide Blackbird users with more relevant search results. (If you choose not to use the Blackbird search engine, Blackbird still gives you the standard option of choosing from search engines such as Google, AOL search, and even Black Search Engine Rushmore Drive.)
As far as custom add-ons are concerned, Young says, “Now this is what gives me goose bumps. We are currently working on a developer community that will give African-American developers, both young and old, the ability to create custom add-ons and themes for Blackbird.”
But what everyone wants to know, and what we thoroughly discussed with Young, is Blackbird’s business model. Blackbird is cultivating partnerships with video content providers to provide them with distribution opportunities through Blackbird’s Video Channel, as well advertising is built into the video channel offering. And, Blackbird also has plans to monetize its search results.”
Young also discussed the controversy — particularly as it regarded race — surrounding the browser’s release, originally slated for 6 PM EST today. “Black Bird is not a separate thing, it’s an interest thing,” he says.
While Young wasn’t surprised by the comments he was on sites like TechCrunch, he says that the notion that a browser for African-Americans is separatist is false. Though he does admit there could be an adoption issue, simply because most Blacks use whichever version of IE is installed on their computer. Yet, he believes “that Blackbird is all about increasing relevancy.”
From our perspective, the greatest difference between BlackBird and the social browser flock is that it provides users with easy access to the Black experience. What many commentors over at TC FAIL to realize is that there is a Black culture and a Black Experience, and this naturally translates online and into any other medium since we are all a part of the human race. In 2008 it is not wrong to want to identify with your culture regardless of what that culture may be or how you choose to identify with it.
BlackBird is about as separatist as BlackVoices, BlackPlanet, RushmoreDrive, and heck even Black Web 2.0 is. Exactly…it isn’t.
If you’re interested in the latest Blackbird news, visit their website, or follow them on Twitter.
Category: Development, Launches, News, Startups, web 2.0 | Tags: black bird search, black browser, black firefox, blackbird, browser, rushmore drive
There is only ONE Black Culture just different spectrums. Tribal people such as in our heritage is culture and we share more in common with other races of people who had tribes and to this day have tribes. Very similar but our culture sets trends that others just follow even if it is something bad. There are no different black cultures as they are all under one roof no matter the experiences or where you come from. You can go anywhere in the world and see black people who do things the same but have their regional twist such as jamaica, haiti, and the many different spectrums of africa but yet are similar. It is in our bloodline and it cannot be denied.
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There needs to be more integration of black (and other) culture among everyone. Ideas like this only strengthen segregation. The general public is often viewed as white people, so a WhiteFox would be immediately viewed as racist.
But if we think in broad terms, there IS a shared black experience and as a black woman I CAN have things in common with a sis from Des Moines and Atlanta no mater where I am from.
But if we think in broad terms, there IS a shared black experience and as a black woman I CAN have things in common with a sis from Des Moines and Atlanta no mater where I am from.
Markus have you ever been to a primarily black school? Have you ever actually been to a place like Compton or Oakland and really gotten involved with the people who influence what’s cool in the black culture? There is nothing there but chaos and stupidity, Markus. I grew up there and I taught at a school there. It is seriously, no exaggeration, like walking into a fucking monkey house every day. Black kids literally do not give a shit about their education, and black parents who don’t believe that are living in a fucking dreamworld. The main problem is they all seem to think something is owed to them, when in reality nobody owes them a goddamn dime. Respectable people apply for welfare and things like that only in their darkest hour, after all other resources are exhausted. But a lot of black people seem to think that the government has specifically targeted them and that they -deserve- to be paid for sitting on their asses all day.
What say you friend?
This is a patch only to compensate for racism or other daily challenges to the minority. There needs to be more integration of black (and other) culture among everyone. Ideas like this only strengthen segregation. The general public is often viewed as white people, so a WhiteFox would be immediately viewed as racist. I lived in a town of 500,000, 90% Hispanic. The general public is not white. What about an AsianFox? We need to stop fueling segregation… work on the source of the problem by, for instance, asking Google to allow customization of searches for any ethnicity, age, and gender.
This for James, it’s not a THEORY Africans are the mother and father of all humans, as for the China thing.
Their DNA is the closest to Africans .
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/183392.stm
95% of the human DNA dwells in Africa.
@Big Al
“First off who said it was for blacks only? CPL Carter as soon as I read your first sentence I knew you were going to be way out in left field!!!!”
Download Blackbird
* CONNECT to African American Internet News, TV, Sports, websites, and all that’s most popular in your community
* EMPOWER your Internet to find what you want when you want it
* ENTERTAIN yourself with entertainment content from the African American community
-taken directly from http://blackbirdhome.com/
Excuse me Big Al, here is something else from blackbirdhome.com-
After more than six months of development, 40A, Inc. has completed the development of the Blackbird internet browser, a software application designed for the African American community by the African American community. The Company has also today announced a grassroots marketing program to promote the Blackbird Browser — making available banners and buttons for use on websites to promote downloads of the Blackbird Browser. The Blackbird download graphics can be obtained from the Company’s website under the tab, “Spread the Word.”
With statements like these, I can see how Caucasians, Asians, Native Americans and Hispanics are encouraged to download and use this browser. If you would like I am sure I can find more statements like the following on the home page:
BlackBird is the web browser for the AFRICAN-AMERICAN community.
And in response to your question, yes I have downloaded, installed and used the browser. And guess what, it uses Google Search. I tried the “Black Search” and yes I found news reports from BlackPressUSA and blackvoices.com and blackamericaweb.com. Guess what else, those same stories can be found on any other news site.
And to your disdain at the inclusion of my race, I was merely trying to show that even though I am white and from the South, most of my closest friends are not. My personal opinion of the BlackBird web browser, that is clearly targeted at African Americans(so says the very homepage where said browser may be downloaded), is no different than FireFox or IE. It still uses a Google Search. When someone is on FireFox there is no option for “White Search” and I feel there should not be. You clearly do not wish to discuss this topic in a rational and reasonable manner so it is here that I say good day.
Thank you tiffany, that’s one of the best comments on here. You gave hard facts about it’s features and it’s usefullness,it’s pros and cons. Not just talking about it randomly. Kudos!!!
@lynne, a browser is a tool.how much sense does an african-american hammer or an african american television set make? i think that’s why the idea of a black browser rankles so many. a portal is a community centered on interest in a particular topic or way of life. a browser is … that piece of software i use to get on the internet.
but i’ll go at your point from a different direction. n00bs aren’t quite the audience for this browser either. after all, it requires the user to (1) fire up a browser, (2) go to blackbirdhome.com, (3) download the software, and (4) install it. if you know how to do steps 1-4, you probably know how to use google or yahoo or rushmoredrive.com to find what you want. and if you don’t, wouldn’t it be just as easy to learn how to use Firefox or Internet Explorer?
let’s be real: the browser UI itself is not n00b-friendly. it’s a hot a** mess. there’s poor contrast. there’s ugly iconography and typography. it’s cluttered. it’s inconsistent. and it behaves like shady software by featuring ads, by looking bad, by not being clear about its licensing, and by making itself the user’s default browser without asking. it fails all the way around.
I’ve been gone for a minute,I come back and I’m still amazed at the OVERBLOWN thought process!! Look,I get most of the opinions ,but what are we really talking about here? Belch speak?( Doesn’t the name say it all?)WTF!!?! are you talkin about man! And puertoricanwhitey,see what happens when you began to think? Strained race relations is all you could come up with? What about the fact that Blackbird choose one of the MOST downloadable open-source web browsers ever to piggyback off of,and the best some of ya’ll can come up with is “a blacks only web browser”. First off who said it was for blacks only? CPL Carter as soon as I read your first sentence I knew you were going to be way out in left field!!!! Who wanted to know that you were white? TMI homie. Has anybody even downloaded Blackbird yet? Or are we going to criticize from afar? Tgrundy is one of the few that has even used it. I guess I’ll be looking at tgrundy’s outlook on Blackbird, and give one myself in a few days.
@rasheen & everybody else…
Your comment about BlackBird filtering content from the perspective of Blackness, as well as, your comment on trust is…just bad.
First you don’t know every person that writes all of the information or content you consume on a daily basis. Or the people that directly or indirectly impact your personal well-being. Its impossible. Second, trust is implied in alomost everything you do. You trust banks, your boss, food producers, medicine makers, your doctor, traffic light builders. You trust a whole bunch of people that can do harm to you, but a bunch of guys that are TRYING to enrich your internet experience, you don’t know and don’t trust.
People we have to do better by each other. If not, 8 years will pass and nothing will have CHANGED.
MINI RANT: By the way, I’m going to join my homeboy. I don’t want to be Black anymore. If your actions and thoughts posted on this blog help to define Black Thought, Black Unity, & Black Loyalty…you all can have it. You all depress me.
iliveonce,
The first people were not “in fact” from Africa. The “Out of Africa” THEORY is just that – a theory. Also, not the best of theories. For example, have you ever heard of the “Peking Man”? I’ll give you a hint. . . it’s as old as African fossils, but it was found in CHINA.
Do not be fooled by popular opinion. The popular opinion is that the THEORY of Evolution is probably right, and that people probably came from Africa. Nothing that science has found has proven these theories correct. They are, in fact, just THEORIES.
Please, do not tell the world something is “A FACT” when it actually nothing more than a theory based largely on circumstantial evidence.
Clarification: “Comments by A N*gg*r” refers to a comment that seems to have been deleted by management by a user identifying themselves as “A N*gg*r”. It was derogatory and mocking of people of color.
Sometimes one need only look as far as the opposition to clarify what one’s position is (or maybe what it should be) in regards to a certain topic.
Exhibit A… the above comments by “A nigger”
Exhibit B… the comments expressed here http://www.crunchbase.com/company/40a-inc
It sure clarified my position in a hurry.
This post will be addressed towards all the negative criticizers black and white.
I’ll get to point!! First, true equality is when all people have equivalent access to economical and technological resources and thus are empowered.
White people (addressed to the mixed individual and others) are the majority
and all other browser and multimedia web technology plus most businesses cater to the majority thus they’re desires and needs are best assessed and met because there are more profits to be made. But because they are more PROFITS TO BE MADE simply doesn’t warrant the indifferent approach to so called minority desires. They are alot of differences as well as similarities, hence the birth of BLACKBIRD. I’m ashamed of the black people who are criticizing BLACKBIRD. i understand the ignorance of some black people ( it comes from fear and possessing an inferiority complex. A lot of Black people expect less and have a low standard because they feel like they are beneath there white counterparts. THEY ARE FOOLISH AND WEAK MINDED. IF MARTIN LUTHER KING, MALCOLM X, ADAM CLAYTON POWELL AND MANY OTHERS FOLLOWED AND INFERIORITY COMPLEX STANDARD…THESE house negros and fearful, spineless, cowards would not even be able to have access to a compuTer to blog they’re ungrateful comments. HOW MANY BLACK PEOPLE OWN DISTRUBUTION AND FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, INTERNET COMPANIES AND TECHNOLOGIES? NOT MANY. THESE UNCLE TOMS ARE THE SAME ONE’S THAT SAID AT FIRST BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA WOULD NEVER BE ELECTED AS PRESIDENT. AS SOON AS WHITE PEOPLE BEGAN TO GRAVITATE TO BARACK THEY SWITCHED FROM HILLARY AND OTHERS AND SAID BARACK MAY WIN. WHILE I COMMEND THEM FOR GETTING ON THE RIGHT TRACK..I SCOLD THEM FOR ALWAYS SEEKING APPROVAL OF WHITE PEOPLE BEFORE THEY DO ANY THING!!
FINAL NOTE THE FIRST PEOPLE WERE FOUND IN AFRICA. (IT”S A FACT) WHERE WOULD EVERYONE ELSE COME FROM OH!! BARACK MOTHER IS WHITE BUT HE KNOWS HE IS BLACK!
@Cpl Carter USMC: Can’t tell you how much I appreciate the reasonable, intelligent discussion we’ve engaged in on this topic. That is all I really want. As you have pointed out, there has been far too much stupidity and foolishness perpetuated all this week about this software.
To be honest, as a computer professional and Internet veteran of almost 20 years, I don’t think that I am the ideal user that this application is (or should be) targeted at. That fact may be true of most others commenting in this forum. Additionally, from using it this past week (Hmmmm, I wonder how many other folks who have had so much to say about this thing have actually taken the time to install it and use it?) I can factually say that it has a lot of room for improvement if it hopes to be a viable product in the marketplace. Actually, from watching the interview that the developer Ed Young did with Brian Lehrer earlier this week it sounds like he did not intend for the product to be released to the general public at this time.
@tgrundy
See the issue here is that we are not a “color-blind” society/world. And truthfully, as I’ve gotten older (or “more experienced” as I like to think of it *smile*), I don’t think that we should be. I WANT to see the color of the different people I meet. I don’t want to be blind to the differences of the various ethnic groups in the world. I want to see the differences, learn from the differences, be further educated by the differences that the various cultures have in this world. What I DON’T WANT though is to be discriminated against, put down, held back, shoved aside, used or abused because my color/culture is different from yours or someone else’s.
I agree and disagree. I agree that every ethnicity has something to offer society as a whole. Many of my Hispanic- and African American brothers have shown me many things that I have never noticed and that I greatly appreciate. You are 100% right in that the cultural differences of the many races that make up this great nation should never be ignored. I do however disagree that this browser does not hurt the trials of the men and women who have gone before. This is just the beginning. I’m not bagging on BET. I’m not saying that whites need their own browser. But others are. It has already been said in this post and many others centered around this controversial topic, “When do the whites get their own browser?” This is a foolish statement, as it is thoughts such as these that can and most definitely will spur on more and more heated arguments in the schools and communities of our country. The last thing we need is a reason for more hate. There is enough of it in our society as it is. I respect your opinion tgrundy, and the fact that you have discussed this topic with me rationally and reasonably. I am not a highly educated man. I am not a scholar nor do I have a degree from ANY university. I have not seen as many years as many people and I am willing to learn from them. I have seen the racist side of life(unfortunately). But I have also seen multitudes of men and women whose only similarity is that they were born, or now live, under the same set of stars and bloody stripes that makes us free. It is here that we must regrettably agree to disagree.