May 2, 2010
News As A Commodity
"By this point, we have become inured to the fact that The National Enquirer greased some palms to bring down John Edwards, that TMZ, the gossip blog owned by Time Warner, will pay for news and that weekly magazines pretend they are paying photo fees when they are actually paying for celebrity news. Mr. Denton said that as exclusive news becomes an ever rarer commodity, the tactical aggression will grow in all corners."
The New York Times
The New York Times
April 25, 2010
Some Paywalls Do Have Them
Slate says: "These failures tell us much about what customers refused to pay for on the Web. But they tell us little about what customers will pay for. Not all successful paid sites are alike, but they all share at least one of these attributes: 1) They are so amazing as to be irreplaceable. 2) They are beautifully designed and executed and extremely easy to use. 3) They are stupendously authoritative."
37signals adds: "FT and WSJ succeed because of the kind of information they deliver: financial analysis and info that enables its readers to invest wisely, manage a business better, and/or improve the bottom line."
37signals adds: "FT and WSJ succeed because of the kind of information they deliver: financial analysis and info that enables its readers to invest wisely, manage a business better, and/or improve the bottom line."
April 24, 2010
Dave Eggers: “I Love Print, I Just Love The Form”
"It's too exciting and distracting online," Eggers said. While print - especially long-form print - encourages hunkering down and cuddling up, online journalism fosters a kind of low-grade, perpetual ADD. Online, "there's always some button that wants you to click to cat porn," he said, as the audience laughed. "You try to read something, and it's flashing, it's telling you to go somewhere else."
Kottke
Kottke
February 7, 2010
Content Is Emperor
"Content is not just king, it is the emperor of all things electronic. We are on the cusp of a digital dynasty in which our company and our shareholders will profit greatly. Devices and platforms are proliferating but this clever technology is merely an empty vessel without any great content."
The Australian
The Australian