So there’s motivation for these blogs and second-rate news sources to violate NDAs. It’s a short-term gain that adds readership and applies eyes to page views, with a remote chance of suffering any negative consequences.
But it’s also really dirty pool, and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a lousy way of doing business.
We hear a lot from bloggers whining that they’re not taken seriously as journalists. My recommendation: If you want to be taken seriously as a journalist, then take your head out of your ass and start acting the part.
Category: Journalism
On Curating
Kyle Baxter, on what curating means:
The web means there is always more supply than we can handle, so what we need is groups that can sift through the muck and find the people worth reading. Instead of publishers being merely the people who provide printing and distribution, completely irrelevant to the end-user, they should become someone whose taste we trust.
The Spoken Word
Podcasting has taken off. While its been around for years, in the last 8 months or so, it seems to have really grown in popularity, at least in our corner of the Internet.
Here’s a list of the podcasts I currently subscribe to:
- The B&B Podcast
- The Bro Show
- Engadget
- The Engadget Show
- Enough - The Minimal Mac Podcast
- The Macgasm Podcast
- NPR: Car Talk
- NPR: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me
- The Operation Broken Silence Podcast
- Put This On
- Shawn Today
- The Talk Show
Only two of those are video podcasts — the rest are just audio.
Shawn Today
If you haven’t signed up to be a member of Shawn’s site, you really are missing out.
The B&B Podcast
Be sure to check out Ben and Shawn’s new podcast. It’s great.
Dave Caolo Wrote a Book
Writing this book has been an incredible challenge and the realization of a dream. I’m extremely proud of it, and feel certain that you’ll enjoy it, too. Aimed at small business owners and independent professionals interested using the iPad as a business tool, Using Your iPad as a Business Productivity Tool describes how to incorporate the iPad into your workflow and your business successfully.
Congrats, my friend. Can’t wait to read it.
Shawn Blanc, on Going Indie
This morning, he announced he’s writing full-time starting in April:
When I began shawnblanc.net in July of 2007 it was with the intention of enjoying and exploring that place where creativity and computers come together — I am fascinated by that blend of the artful and the technical. And for almost four years now I’ve been exploring that place while writing this site on the side, as I’ve been able.
But writing on the side, as I’m able, is no longer enough for me.
Paul Miller Leaving Engadget
I’d love to be able to keep doing this forever, but unfortunately Engadget is owned by AOL, and AOL has proved an unwilling partner in this site’s evolution. It doesn’t take a veteran of the publishing world to realize that AOL has its heart in the wrong place with content. As detailed in the “AOL Way,” and borne out in personal experience, AOL sees content as a commodity it can sell ads against. That might make good business sense (though I doubt it), but it doesn’t promote good journalism or even good entertainment, and it doesn’t allow an ambitious team like the one I know and love at Engadget to thrive.
Gizmodo Rented a Plane to Check Out Steve Jobs’ Demolished House
An Open Letter to the Apple News Community on Steve Jobs’ Health, Professional Boundaries and Not Being Douchebags
Dear Apple-centric media,
It’s time we had a chat. I think you know what this is about.
Writing about rumors concerning Steve Jobs’ health is not only unprofessional, but it is disrespectful.
I get that a lot of people think that Steve Jobs equals Apple. Not only is that incorrect, but it places an unfair burden on Jobs.
I totally understand that living in the public spotlight means that privacy sometimes is difficult to come by. I really do understand that. But there are still lines. While I find it distasteful, I get that the Mac Rumors[1. Update: Mac Rumors moved this story to its Page 2 section since my post first went up.] and Apple Insider teams feels compelled to report that Jobs has been seen at a cancer treatment clinic.
Episode 44 of the Bro Show
If you don’t listen to this podcast, at least download this episode. Shawn Blanc gives some great advice to web content producers in the first segment.
The Thirty Percent
Apple is betting that the allure of being tied into their incredibly efficient iTunes payment ecosystem (along with its 100 million + accounts tied to credit cards) will outweigh the downside of having to pay them a 30 percent fee. The same 30 percent fee they currently take from the thousands of app developers collectively making billions of dollars off of the App Store. And the same 30 percent fee they currently take for all other types of in-app purchases.