Archive for June, 2008
Newspapers are the new general stores
Remember them? The thing about general stores is that they are helpful. You can pick up a variety of things from food to bandages to clothes to live bait. But the other thing about general stores is that they don’t do anything well. They’re helpful, but they usually aren’t someone’s favorite store, because they don’t [...]
Innovation is a bumpy road but journalism needs it
Lost in the whole Rob Curley/LoudounExtra “flop” flap is that innovation is never easy. Heck, six out of 10 start-ups fail within the first four years of operation (let alone individual ideas and products at a start-up). And for some reason people are using the performance of LoudounExtra.com (it’s still going by the way) to [...]
Weekend fun: Mount Rushmore II
Mount Rushmore was a celebration of the first 150 years of America. It features four of our most iconic and important presidents ever: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. It hasn’t been another 150 years yet, but I have a fun proposal to ask: If you could make a second Mount Rushmore [...]
LoudounExtra, a hyperlocal failure for the Washington Post?
It’s depressing. It feels like my girlfriend broke up with me and took my dog with her. Yes, I’m talking about The Wall Street Journal’s assessment of the failure of LoudounExtra.com. Maybe failure is a little harsh, but according to Rob Curley, his sites in Lawrence, Kan. got better traffic than LoudounExtra.com. For those keeping [...]
It’s good to have non-wired friends
One of my good high-school friends signed up for Facebook last week. Yes, the same Facebook that, had you listened to the digerati, has jumped the shark. But Facebook hasn’t jumped the shark. It’s still becoming more popular and adding more features. Facebook may have jumped the shark for the kinds of people who have [...]