I have been thinking about this as well lately, and it was interesting to see it actually posted online this morning: Is Slashdot the driver of Buzz that it once was? [here]
I would be tempted to say that the impact of the Technorati, and uber-linking and trackback phenomena are more important to Buzz now then Slashdot. Slashdot was the go-to place for hip and cool news about the world of geeks. Now, blogs and the associated tools do the same job.
Will Slashdot fade away? Not likely. The more important question is whether it will evolve. What could Slashdot do to make it more relevant to the blog-focused techophiles?
Month: March 2005
New CEO
My company brought the new CEO online yesterday. This is an interesting time…be interesting to hear her outline and execute on her vision.
Time to re-fill the tub o’ popcorn and hunker down.
Head stuck in the sand…
I am glad to see the 4th Estate re-invigorated and challenged to go get the story again. Since the end of the Nixon debacle, the media has been slowly sliding into the lazy habits of the well-fed and pampered. Now that the barbarians are pounding at the gates (an analogy I will not use again), the media is being forced to find stories.
Their will be an increase in partisanship and subjectivity. However, if you look at the long history of the media, this is not new. It’s just that there is a generation who has seen the rise of a relatively independent media, followed by it’s slide into debauchery and depravity.
I gained my knowledge of the behaviour of the media from the writings of Hunter S Thompson. Some will say that this is a bad source, but I learned about the pyramid, and other journalistic terms while wading through his vitriol and disdain for the mediocre.
For me, the newspaper is simply a bulletin board. It tells me about happenings, but rarely takes the time to do much else. The question is: what is the newspaper’s market? What is the niche that they are serving?
I can get all of the stories in the newspaper on-line. In fact, not just from one newspaper. And with blogs and feeds, I can get more detail than I have ever imagined, or am able to process.
So, I ask the newspaper “writers” and “editors”, why should I pick up your paper? Beyond the portability of your product, an advantage that is diminishing by the second, is there a sound economic reason for newpapers to continue to exist.
I am sure that there are deeper thinkers than I, who have considered this, and have deep philosophical thoughts on this. But, how do you convince me and my ilk, the iPod-wearing, laptop-toting, instantly-gratifiable leading edge to buy your product?
What makes a newspaper sexy? What about a newspaper makes me want to pick one up on a daily basis?
Answering that “I am not your target market” is no longer viable. Joe Lunchbucket wants his scores now to track his pools. Reviews are plentiful, and targeted; the local critic no longer can control a market. Recipes and home ideas? Please!
Is there a reason, beyond the persistence of memory, for newspapers to exist as physical entities in the digital age?
Norway
I want to visit Norway before I die.
Infuriation…
I have had one of those days that make action-oriented people mad with insanity. I had my trip to the Bay Area “postponed”, because I am only able to meet with one client.
I hear managers out there going good! Until they hear that:
- It is one of the company’s largest clients
- The Account Manager for the area just left the company
- They are key to our strategic focus for one of our major products
So, to save a couple of hundred dollars, they scrubbed my meeting. And this is supposed to make me feel good about going out and getting a feel for what customers want, without having it go through the Marketing or Management filters.
I am feeling…abandoned is a good way to describe the way I feel today.
Time to figure out another pay to pay the bills.
CA Trip cancelled
Got word that my CA trip has been cancelled at the executive level. Sounds like time to dust off my resume.
Snow…again
Glad to hear that Jim from across the street was using his snowblower on his drive this morning…he said it was thanks for the stuff we have done to help and his family this winter. And it saved Samantha a ton of time going out this morning.
I am working from home today, getting ready for my trip to the Bay area tomorrow. It will be a severe shock to go from snow to 65F and Rain…NOT!