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Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

finance.fortune.cnn.com

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Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#61

Post by diogenescynic »

nl wrote: post #53
sofuture wrote: post #32

This is abhorrently unimportant drama. TC has been a trash rag from the start, and their flaming dramatic burnout is just as trash as everything else they've ever published. Go away already. This is publicity coup 101 shit. DIAF.

I don't get the vitriolic hate that TechCrunch gets on HN. Sure, it can be trashy at times but it plays a very useful role in the Startp ecosystem. If it didn't exist then either Startups would get a lot less attention or some other publication would fill its place. I think startups getting less attention is - on the balance - a bad thing. If a publication other than TC was publication-of-record then it is difficult…

>Arrington did a media startup, cashed out and was going to run a VC fund. What's wrong with that?

The details in between are what matter. I think most people are just put off by his constant need to interject himself into the stories.

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#62

Post by arn »

TomOfTTB wrote: post #36
Dramatize wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compete/Alexa rankings are worthless. It is known.

I agree on the specific numbers and on smaller sites. But on sites as large as engadget I think they can show fairly accurate trending

They really don't, even for large sites.

comparison:

- http://www.quantcast.com/macrumors.com#traffic (measured)

- http://siteanalytics.compete.com/macrumors.com/

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#63

Post by tsunamifury »

anonaol wrote: post #35

(throwaway account for the natural reasons) As an engineer at Aol, articles like this drive me crazy. I'm not 100% sold on the company's viability as it stands (MapQuest, AIM, and Moviefone don't really belong together), but I do want it to succeed. Bizzarre politicking played out publicly and the steady stream of internal emails stating "so-and-so got promoted and other-so-and-so is gone effective immediately" are g…

Then realize you and your peers potential and pull a SterlingCooperDraperPrice.

Realize that the talent is you, not the company, gather everyone up and walk out with everything of value Aol has left. Then build something great.

Its what I'd do if I had access to a pool of great engineering talent.

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#64

Post by swah »

ethank wrote: post #11

Reminds me of the Theseus Paradox: if all component parts (Arrington + writers) of Techcrunch are replaced will it be Techcrunch? And conversely, if all component parts setup shop at a new blog, is that Techcrunch (a map/territory debate perhaps?) Oh how I would kill to be the lawyers perusing employment agreements, anti-poaching clauses, etc right now. And very much looking forward to Disrupt this week.

Is HN still HN?

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#65

Post by invisible »

TomOfTTB wrote: post #36
Dramatize wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Compete/Alexa rankings are worthless. It is known.

I agree on the specific numbers and on smaller sites. But on sites as large as engadget I think they can show fairly accurate trending

This is really not true. They fudge numbers.

Edit: Apparently saying something factual gets downvotes at HN nowadays, so let me add some sources.

http://www.compete.com/resources/methodology/

http://aws.amazon.com/awis/faqs/#Where_does_Alexa_get_the_tr...

http://www.quora.com/Where-does-Compete-get-its-data-from

http://wackao.com/which-is-more-accurate-alexa-rank-or-compe...

http://www.bnet.com/blog/technology-business/comscore-money-...

First hand experience

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#66

Post by BasDirks »

nl wrote: post #53
sofuture wrote: post #32

This is abhorrently unimportant drama. TC has been a trash rag from the start, and their flaming dramatic burnout is just as trash as everything else they've ever published. Go away already. This is publicity coup 101 shit. DIAF.

I don't get the vitriolic hate that TechCrunch gets on HN. Sure, it can be trashy at times but it plays a very useful role in the Startp ecosystem. If it didn't exist then either Startups would get a lot less attention or some other publication would fill its place. I think startups getting less attention is - on the balance - a bad thing. If a publication other than TC was publication-of-record then it is difficult…

> or some other publication would fill its place.

That's what is and has been desirable for a long time.

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#67

Post by eliben »

olivercameron wrote: post #5

Tech news just became a whole lot more boring. I, for one, will miss his scoops, they were always the most exciting, scandalous ones.

Boring, really? What excites you about tech news is not their intrinsic technological value (as in "whoa, nice hack"), but soap-opera-married-reality-show-like drama announcements? (as in "X said Y about Z. OMG, OMG. What will Z say back? stay tuned")

Then, sir, I respectfully disagree.

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#68

Post by geboyr »

After reading the article above as well as TechCrunch the past few days, does anyone have another link or two detailing AOL's point of view in all of this? Arrington branded this as needing journalistic independence, and per the linked article, it seems to be bad execution of whatever it was AOL was trying to do. Drama and secret motivations aside, anyone give credibility to Arrington's call for journalistic independence of TC and what I'm perceiving of his belief that one can still be called a 'journalist' if you're transparent enough about what you're doing outside of the journalism job? To take a quote from one of the people he interviewed at TC Disrupt in NY, "transparency is the new objectivity" - any thoughts?

Re: Arrington out at AOL (for real this time)

#70

Post by chollida1 »

olivercameron wrote: post #13
Steko wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like he won't start a new site?

With a probable non-compete?

Typically they are only enforceable if you leave, or sign some sort of severance package, if it can be enforced at all.

It's very doubtful it can be enforced if you're fired.

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