Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Register used to be for dicks, now it's actually good. So well done Chris!
Now its just for Tom and Harry?
Sure, but also Jane.
Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
81–90 of 139 posts
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#82Hello, I'm Chris Williams, the editor of The Register. Maybe I can answer some of these Qs. > what caused this transformation? All things have to evolve and move with the times. As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggreg…
> As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggregation and sharing. And I want our original, technical, and best coverage seen by as many folks as possible. This is like being a curry shop known for having intensely flavorful…
OP literally left despise them having "intense curry".
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#83Hello, I'm Chris Williams, the editor of The Register. Maybe I can answer some of these Qs. > what caused this transformation? All things have to evolve and move with the times. As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggreg…
> but it was holding us back reaching many more people,
Christ mate! Long term El-Reg reader here.
The pure Blightly, homegrown, sarcastic piss taking tone is why I read the Reg, and so do many others. Selling out to some bland US-corporate bullshit WILL loose you readers.
And BTW, can we have the 'Paris' icon back? Please.
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#84Hello, I'm Chris Williams, the editor of The Register. Maybe I can answer some of these Qs. > what caused this transformation? All things have to evolve and move with the times. As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggreg…
The problem now is that you take journalism serious and it has just become yet another boring website. A lot of articles also read like advertisements in disguise.
Same thing happened with Engadget and Gizmodo. Used to absolutely love reading them on a daily basis, product reviews were always super technical and a bit off the wall, it had that hackaday-type vibe.
Now they are a spammy lowest-common-denominator pop culture “tech news” and cell phone reviews.
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#85I used to visit it everyday from the early 2000's, but I don't think I have really visited in the last 3-4 years. I can't put a finger on it, but the writing and then subsequently the comments (which were always fun) kinda started falling off. I still have it in my bookmark bar, but as I still cant get the favicon to load properly in Firefox, I forget to click on it :)
Same. Used to really like some of the old stuff, like Lewis’s, but these days I only visit if an item is linked from here.
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#86Example of the previous editorial style: https://web.archive.org/web/20190410065314/https://www.there...
Bland tabloid then, and bland tabloid now. What changed?
I really don't see much of a difference
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#87Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#88Hello, I'm Chris Williams, the editor of The Register. Maybe I can answer some of these Qs. > what caused this transformation? All things have to evolve and move with the times. As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggreg…
Another victim of SEO requirements :( Punny headlines unfortunately are terrible for targeting keywords
Exactly, that's why s-engine monopolies are bad. People don't see it, but it is a big step towards giving fellatio to a machine. If you want to be unique you will suffer, because the shitty search engine that has monopoly over the market governs what will get a green light and what won't. And as the years pass more and more the faceless, intangible corpo backed machine bullshit will govern our lives.
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#89Hello, I'm Chris Williams, the editor of The Register. Maybe I can answer some of these Qs. > what caused this transformation? All things have to evolve and move with the times. As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggreg…
I am seeing a parallel here to the article posted yesterday about how everything is measured by engagement: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32765002
As a product, I would think that you would survive by finding a niche and expanding it. But these changes seem to try to compete for engagement rather than serve the niche.
Yes, you expand your business and make more money - but I would also think that the competition would be more fierce as a trade off.
Kind of wish it could be a setting "sarcasm on".
It's also very similar to how by a bands second or third album (after they hit it big) - they end up changing their sound (often sounding like every other band in the process) - because they go on tour and then they tailor their music to what makes the crown react more.
Re: Ask HN: What happened to theregister.com?
#90Hello, I'm Chris Williams, the editor of The Register. Maybe I can answer some of these Qs. > what caused this transformation? All things have to evolve and move with the times. As you've said, we were known, for example, for "intentionally-obscure headlines." Guess what, that works for some people - and it was fun - but it was holding us back reaching many more people, not just from the headline tone but also aggreg…
This is so interesting, I used to read The Register back in the mid 2000s. I learned about it by stories posted to /. and later loved the headers, it is what attracted my attention. For one reason or another I stopped reading it and a couple of months ago I stumbled upon an article and remembered I liked it quite a lot.
Now I understand why it has not captured my attention in these last years: I checked the homepage and the titles are pretty vanilla, they don't read tongue in cheek not witty, which is something I liked. Nothing wrong with that, I assume the standard editorial style attracts a broader audience.