Radiohead/Lolcats/Grindr
“I very much hope the song does justice to his memory as the last survivor. It would be very easy for our generation to forget the true horror of war, without the likes of Harry to remind us,” Thom Yorke said.
The two of them nailed down a first draft of the story in two months, which posed some challenges considering the site on which it’s based is essentially a collection of funny cat photos. “The Web site’s really plotless,” Ms. Steinberg said.
Or is it? “The through line is that all cats want cheese, and all LOLruses want buckets,” Ms. Pomranz said.
“Then it became a story of a quest. These cats are on their search for the Holy Grail,” Ms. Steinberg added.
“It’s your classic story quest arc,” Ms. Pomranz said. “The question is, what should you do or not do?”
“How do you pursue your dreams, and how does that journey affect your character,” Ms. Steinberg said.
The explanation was getting weighty. “It’s really full of LOLs,” she said.
He receives frequent emails from satisfied customers and has seen Grindr in use in dozens of countries, including Iran, Israel and Kazakhstan. One user told him he used the app to chat with a fellow passenger while flying over Dallas, using Virgin America’s Wi-Fi service.
So many straight people have requested their own version of Grindr that it is now in development, Mr. Simkhai said. It will launch as a separate app and most likely with different branding, in coming weeks, he said (a lesbian version is also a possibility, though he hasn’t seen as much demand).
Though Grindr lends itself to hook-ups and casual dating, he sees its potential as something more. “As it grows, people will find that, ‘Oh, there’s someone in the café with me,’” he said. “It’s not like you’re going to jump in and have sex right then and there. I think as it evolves and matures, I think the usage of it will also mature and evolve.”
