Content Everywhere, But Not A Drop To Drink
A stark look at tech journalism. However, I think that there are a number of options available to help stem this tide. I’ve read about a couple Mac sites that are cutting back on the number of their stories to focus on quality. I’ve also seen Macstories start publishing a “Reading List” of what their reading for the week (which might be construed as more linkbait, but I’d disagree with that). It allows for some perspective to persist. There’s also shawnblanc.net as another counter-example.
The other thing I’ve seen is more sponsoring of specific writers and their sites. Things like Splat-F and Ribbonfarm are functioning with a pseudo NPR model of free content backed up with voluntary sponsorships backed by bigger donors. I know there’s at least one other large blogger who has a sponsor-only podcast, but I’ve forgotten his name right now, which also highlights the ways that this could work out. But in general, I would agree with this article, and I’ve been a bit sheltered in a handpicked neighborhood of the Apple blogosphere.
This morning, I woke up and read Nick Bilton’s weekly New York Times’ column. Nick is a friend and one of the best bloggers/writers/journalists out there. But with today’s column, he was way off base.
Having already said what I wanted to say about the Path situation, I debated if I should weigh in again. Then I read Nick’s column again. There’s a way to say what he wants to say, but he goes about it the complete wrong way. I felt like I had to respond.
But before I could, my CrunchFund partner Michael Arrington wrote almost exactly what I would have written — but in a more effective way. As a dog owner/lover, Michael thought up a great analogy: “So the belly is shown.”
