I don't get Building 43

I don't get the point of Building 43. Well, I get that it is a video outlet for Robert Scoble, but what I really don't get is what Rackspace gets from it. I mean, they get a popular blogger/web video guy promoting their brand, to some degree, but is it really going to drive new business for them? Rackspace's big thing is their awesome support, which comes at a price. Will watching a video of Scoble interview some guy from marketing at Random Dotcom, Inc make anyone decide they really do need the fanatical support that Rackspace brings?

Maybe I would better get it if there was actual content on the site. Yeah, another vaporware soft-launch. This is to me the big sign there isn't quite yet a there there and that the endeavor is more about hype and buzz than real content. Why get the blogosphere in a big tizzy before you have real content to go with the name?

And wow, the name. Doesn't Rackspace have some interesting name they could use rather than steal a name from Google? What is it really supposed to mean? Ignoring the N thousand mildly amused Google employees who might get the name (many of whom won't really associate anything special with building 43), and a handful of visitors, it pretty much will always need to be explained.

So, I don't get it. It just doesn't work at any level for me. But hey, good luck, Robert and Rackspace. Hopefully something cool will come from it. But I suspect it will either be boring or just blatant advertising, and that's a shame.

(oh yeah, this blog isn't dead... it's just been resting, pining for the fjords and all that)