Month: December 2007

Professional services for professional blogs

Professional services for professional blogs: For Dave Winer, for me, for Ben Toth, for John Halamka, and for a growing number of professional bloggers in the sense I’m defining the term, there’s got to be a better way. We don’t need services that are free. We need services that are reliable here in the present, and that offer tiered levels of future assurance. If you build it, we will pay. [Opportunity knocks…]
Source: Jon’s Radio

Cyclist Doored, Killed by Truck in Midtown

Cyclist Doored, Killed by Truck in Midtown: Here is the wire report:

FINAL UPDATE,RESP-4 REPORTS A CYCLIST TRAVELING NORTH BOUND 6 AVE BTWN 36 & 37 ST WERE A RED PICK UP TRUCK WAS PARKED BY THE HYDRANT WHEN THE PASSENGER OPENED THE DOOR AND STRUCK THE CYCLIST . THE CYCLIST WAS STRUCK BY A PASSING BOX TRUCK.THE CYCLIST WAS TAKEN TO BELLVUE HOSPITAL {DOA} ..SIGNS & MARKING IN GOOD WORKING ORDER..PER OP-26

And here is how it was reported in the Daily News. Note the number of steps taken, and not taken, by the cyclist to put himself in mortal danger — starting with the headline.

Bicyclist killed after falling in front of truck
 
A 63-year-old man bicycling in midtown Manhattan Wednesday morning hit a car door and flipped into the street before he was run over and killed by a box truck, police said.

The man, whose identity wasn’t immediately released, was not wearing a helmet, a police source said.

It’s as if every action — hitting the door, flipping into the street — was initiated by the cyclist, who wasn’t even wearing a helmet. The drivers of the vehicles, meanwhile, are never mentioned in the story. In fact, the article makes it seem as if there were no drivers.

The Ace Hardware truck that hit the man stayed at the scene. [Perspective is why blogging rules. There’s an outlook, a framework through which we all view the occurrences in our lives. Shift the framework and our perspective changes, and so does the way we record the account of a given moment. Because of human nature, all the major papers report news from a similar perspective (in order to become a reporter, editor, etc. requires certain qualities which are self selecting for a given viewpoint.)]
Source: StreetsBlog

Monopolies, seven years later

Monopolies, seven years later: The past, the glorious, profit-making, fun past of the media business was based on:

  • scarce creators, under long term contracts
  • scarce retail outlets, able to be controlled with marketing muscle
  • scarce spectrum (few radio stations, few TV stations)
  • copyright laws (and a lack of technology) that limited theft of services
  • limited power of the creators to compete without a large media company as partner

It’s hard to outline a point of view that shows the power of any form of media getting stronger over the next decade. There are going to be more TV channels, not less. More ways for authors to distribute their works, not less. More ways for musicians to connect with listeners, not less. More ways for consumers to sample or take content, not less.

You were a monopolist. You’re not anymore. [On the money, and on my mind.]
Source: Seth’s Blog

Where there’s muck, there’s brass

Where there’s muck, there’s brass: The one thing that so many of today’s cute startups have in common is that all they have is a simple little Ruby-on-Rails Ajax site that has no barriers to entry and doesn’t solve any gnarly problems. So many of these companies feel insubstantial and fluffy, because, out of necessity (the whole company is three kids and an iguana), they haven’t solved anything difficult yet. Until they do, they won’t be solving problems for people. People pay for solutions to their problems. [Nice article.]
Source: Joel on Software