There is, quite literally, nothing that cannot be turned into a reality show. Poverty, mental illness, addiction, no matter what it is, somebody has made a reality show about it. And now Simon Cowell and Will.i.am are trying to turn the process of disbursing venture capital to startups into a reality show.
Honestly? I can’t wait. This will be epic, although I feel bad for the startups that will be sucked into this train wreck.
And yes, this is actually happening:
“We’re working on a project called X Factor for tech — and it’s going to be out of this world. Singing and performance create a couple of jobs. But this will create lots. It’s about getting in touch with youth and giving them a platform to express themselves — whether that’s in science or mathematics.”
Why am I looking forward to it? Simple: Simon Cowell and Will.i.am are two of the least qualified people when it comes to technology that I can think of. Seriously, these are talented men, in music, but they both learned that talent means nothing and that people love crap.
It’s hard to deny that in entertainment they know what they’re talking about: Cowell started one of the most popular TV shows of the decade that served as a master stroke, turning Star Search into a self-funding advertising campaign for pop music nobody would care about otherwise. The Black Eyed Peas sold 42 million downloads at the end of 2011.
Yeah, they push crap music, but you can’t help the total lack of taste of other people. That said, if you hate these guys, watching them choke, on national television, will be a truly beautiful thing.
Because they will choke. Neither Cowell nor Will.i.am have shown any particular talent for or interest in the tech sector. At absolute best, they’ll throw some money behind a stinker and at worst, they’ll get ripped off. The odds of their picking a winner is pretty low and odds are pretty good they’ll back something described as “It’s like Spotify meets Twitter!” and will have a name that’s a normal verb with the vowels taken out that will immediately become a tech joke.
Either way, it’s going to be some hilariously stupid television. And unless they really luck out, a nice serving of humble pie.