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13 Dec 2009 22:29

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Tech: SEO, Demand Media, “fast food content,” and the loss of quality

  • These models create a race to the bottom situation, where anyone who spends time and effort on their content is pushed out of business. We’re not there yet, but I see it coming. And just as old media is complaining about us, look for us to start complaining about the new jerks.
  • TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington • On the rise of “fast-food content” – information that’s turned into commodity, with no thought put into quality but focus put into SEO alone. Don’t believe us? It’s already here, kinda. It’s called Demand Media. Where everything is recycled so many times that the good content goes away and we’re stuck eating crappy, good enough media burgers. With genetically modified URLs. (ReadWriteWeb also noticed this trend.) Our thoughts: Wouldn’t it be great to know you’re surfing the Web and getting more than snake oil? Because, hey, SEO is nice and all, but content with a clever approach is even better. Also, we’re convinced that Google and Microsoft will fix the SEO problem someday and figure out quality-based algorithms to curb the rise of crap content. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 11:21

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Tech: Poll: Google’s possibly game-changing Nexus One phones


  • Reports yesterday suggested that Google’s been working on a new phone, called the “Nexus One.” Beyond being built on an Android base, it’s reported to have a very basic feature which could be a game-changer: It’s an unlocked cell phone. Which means that people can use it on any carrier they want, with no contracts. Do you think this is enough to stand out in the market? Vote above. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Dec 2009 10:37

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Tech: MySpace screws over its musicians big time with iMeem deal

  • lame Despite music being a huge bedrock of the company’s business model, MySpace paid less than $1 million for bankrupt iMeem, which ran the dead pay-for-music service SNOCAP (founded, BTW, by Napster founder Shawn Fanning).
  • lamer MySpace did NOT buy iMeem’s liability to pay royalties to musicians who used, umm, MySpace to sell music. Some artists haven’t been paid for over a year. And some of these artists are owed a lot of money. This is bull#)&!. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2009 16:36

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Tech: Our spidey-sense just detected the phrase “Google Phone”

  • ZOMG we had fireworks and we all got the new Google phone. It’s beautiful.
  • Google employee Leslie Hawthorn • Revealing to the world that she got a “Google phone” – a product that was given out to Google employees yesterday. Google responded to the Twitter message, referring to it as “dogfooding” (as in “eating your own dogfood”) and noting that it was an experimental product not for general consumption. Still has us really curious. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

12 Dec 2009 10:22

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Tech: Want to end your virtual like on Facebook? Commit Sepukoo.

seppukoo1212

  • Don’t off yourself until you’re good and ready. But when you are, you can use this site to commit Seppukoo on Facebook. It’ll convert your site to a memorial page that you can no longer update. Facebook doesn’t want you to use it. But the concept is there for the using. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2009 22:46

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Tech: Dear jerk from CNET: Way to be uninformed about Lala

  • Consider that Apple is now seeking help from a group that cast about the digital-music sector for years, swapped out business models multiple times (without ever finding a profitable one), and basically did little to distinguish themselves.
  • CNET scribe Greg Sandoval • Describing his skepticism on Lala, which Apple acquired last week. Sandoval’s take on the startup is beyond unfair – it’s straight-up uninformed. He wrote about the service as if the current version of the site – which sites such as Pitchfork and The Onion AV Club, and heck, we, regularly use – was nothing special. In our opinion, it reads as if he’s never actually used the service, which was struggling financially but had solid business deals in place. Why is Apple interested in Lala, like Google also was? Simple. Because it has a huge, passionate, cult audience – an audience bored by iTunes. (By the way, Sandoval totally missed Google’s Onebox setup, which TechCrunch was quite excited about.) Write about it when you know what you’re talking about, Greg. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Dec 2009 11:53

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Tech: Old mobile tech vs. new mobile tech: Apple, Nokia sue each other

  • 10 number of patents Nokia accused Apple of infringing upon – mostly industry-standard-type things
  • 13 number of patents Apple accused Nokia of infringing upon – mostly iPhone-type things source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

10 Dec 2009 21:21

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Tech: Gamers apparently don’t mind sticking with the same old crap

  • 7.6% dip in all video games except for Farmville source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

10 Dec 2009 11:12

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Tech: eBay’s reason for wanting a piece of Craigslist? To block Google.

  • The deal hasn’t exactly been roses for them since. In the midst of a lawsuit with the free, indifferent-towards-money classified service, a top exec admitted this was part of the reason for acquisition. However, they also noted that another suitor was interested – but they were apparently hostile to Craigslist’s mission. eBay is run by idiots, apparently, because they launched a direct competitor to Craigslist, Kijiji, which suffers from the triple-threat of 1) being something nobody has ever heard of (with a confusing name to boot), 2) ruining current business deals and 3) being an also-ran in the market the company technically already owns. Brilliant! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Dec 2009 21:25

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Tech: AT&T’s CEO is a giant douchenozzle, based on this statement

  • The first thing we need to do is educate customers about what represents a megabyte of data. Longer term, there’s got to be some sort of pricing scheme that addresses the users.
  • AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega • Describing his frustration with smartphone data users (iPhone users, mostly) who go whole-hog on data usage because, well, just look at their phones. The company’s service, which has gotten suckier as more people give into the iPhone’s charms (and because they agreed to the Apple deal without the infrastructure to handle it), could turn into a pay-toll-style service based on what this jerk just said. His claim: 3% of users are responsible for 40% of data use. Our claim: Those 3% are setting the template for your other 97%. Get ready. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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