Macworld lays off most staff • Hacker News Board

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#61

Post by brotoss » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:01 PM UTC

declan wrote: post #22

bhouston wrote: post #3

What is the catalyts for this? Apple's market share is similar to what is was a few years ago. Is there a decline in ad revenues? What is the reason for this.

My guess (as someone who worked for a decade+ as a journalist before leaving to create http://recent.io/ ) is increased competition for readers and advertising dollars. What said is correct, especially the decline of print. Who wants to wait a month or two to find out more about yesterday's watch announcement? How many HN readers are actually paying for a print subscription to MacWorld? Also, even if MacWorld moved e…

My only print subscription is Bloomberg Businessweek. Seeing the week's cover in my mailbox is a highlight of my Saturday. But I got three years for $20.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#62

Post by GuiA » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:05 PM UTC

CamperBob2 wrote: post #17

untog wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Attending events like the one yesterday has to be one of the best perks of the job Are you serious? Live blogging events like that is utter misery. Constant stress for an entire day.

(Shrug) Stressful or not, it's one of those jobs that someone, somewhere, will cheerfully do for free.

Work done for free is worth exactly what you pay for it: nothing.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#63

Post by shenanigoat » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:11 PM UTC

Hi, I just stopped by to say 'basic income'.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#64

Post by convex » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:12 PM UTC

aikah wrote: post #55

munificent wrote: post #46

Today is a great time to be a writer. There are virtually no middlemen between you putting together a sentence and millions being able to read it. There are countless communities where you can find people to give you good feedback to hone your craft. Unfortunately, that also means it's a really terrible time to be a writer for a living. Like every job that is (a) creative and (b) can be distributed digitally, almost…

> almost all of the money is falling out of it. Well no money because nobody's paying for it,and since nobody's paying for it the content is usually average at best. Free information is great,but let's face it,quality news cost money and time. What have we today?in the tech world? content farms (readwrite,thenextweb,techcrunch,mashable...) where writers often know nothing about the subject,or are using social justice…

The current quality and quantity of information previously classified as "news" is far beyond what has ever existed previously. Look at any news event and compare the information that's immediately available now compared to similar news events 20 or 30 years ago. People on the ground publish pictures, videos, and reports as the events are happening, and we can read reports from any source in the world translated instantaneously into our native languages. And we have access to all of this using a tiny computer that fits in a pocket.

The idea that quality has decreased is simply an absurd and obvious myth perpetuated by editors and professional writers who are unhappy that their control over the journalism and publishing industries is evaporating. Furthermore, the market has never really paid for journalism, which was always subsidized by ads of questionable efficacy and ownership by wealthy individuals.

Finally, the big secret is the a massive amount of non-fiction by professional writers is embellished, plagiarized, or outright fabricated, and there is almost no real fact-checking in the industry. The regular scandals are just the tip of the iceberg.

Journalism and non-fiction writing as they exist now are in need of a major overhaul. Thankfully, technology is creating a situation where the world is naturally moving forward.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#65

Post by toyg » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:23 PM UTC

orbifold wrote: post #60

aikah wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> almost all of the money is falling out of it. Well no money because nobody's paying for it,and since nobody's paying for it the content is usually average at best. Free information is great,but let's face it,quality news cost money and time. What have we today?in the tech world? content farms (readwrite,thenextweb,techcrunch,mashable...) where writers often know nothing about the subject,or are using social justice…

I don't think there is really no one paying for it. At least where I am from you can buy 100+ really obscure magazines at larger railway stations for example. I doubt the magazines will generate large profits, but seem to be self sustaining and at least some of them have content you would not easily find on the web. Even with tablets, it is more pleasant to leaf through a 10 Dollar magazine about design, than the equ…

> At least where I am from you can buy 100+ really obscure magazines at larger railway stations

That's because magazine publishers are responding to widespread decline in sales with more and more titles, trying to capture every possible niche under the sun.

> seem to be self sustaining

That's less and less true every year.

Try googling "Linux Voice"; read up on their background, what they are doing and why. You'll see how things are really going. The "magazine" format is dying a slow death, in the same way generalist TV is; their death will be slower than the one of newspapers, but it's written in stone in the same way.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#66

Post by 37prime » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:28 PM UTC

aikah wrote: post #55

munificent wrote: post #46

Today is a great time to be a writer. There are virtually no middlemen between you putting together a sentence and millions being able to read it. There are countless communities where you can find people to give you good feedback to hone your craft. Unfortunately, that also means it's a really terrible time to be a writer for a living. Like every job that is (a) creative and (b) can be distributed digitally, almost…

> almost all of the money is falling out of it. Well no money because nobody's paying for it,and since nobody's paying for it the content is usually average at best. Free information is great,but let's face it,quality news cost money and time. What have we today?in the tech world? content farms (readwrite,thenextweb,techcrunch,mashable...) where writers often know nothing about the subject,or are using social justice…

I rolled my eyes every time someone linked to the “publications” you’ve mentioned: readwrite, thenextweb, techcrunch, mashable… add venturebeat, buzzfeed, cnet, business insider, the street, and many more……

It is all in the name of page hit, no longer about useful information.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#67

Post by phaus » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:29 PM UTC

aikah wrote: post #55

munificent wrote: post #46

Today is a great time to be a writer. There are virtually no middlemen between you putting together a sentence and millions being able to read it. There are countless communities where you can find people to give you good feedback to hone your craft. Unfortunately, that also means it's a really terrible time to be a writer for a living. Like every job that is (a) creative and (b) can be distributed digitally, almost…

> almost all of the money is falling out of it. Well no money because nobody's paying for it,and since nobody's paying for it the content is usually average at best. Free information is great,but let's face it,quality news cost money and time. What have we today?in the tech world? content farms (readwrite,thenextweb,techcrunch,mashable...) where writers often know nothing about the subject,or are using social justice…

>readers are not idiots.

The wild success of such social justice warfare proves that you are incorrect. Most people are too stupid to read, comprehend and / or care about legitimate news, and so the industry adapted in order to increase revenue. This adaptation started over 100 years ago, and now the transformation is almost complete.

There are still some excellent journalists out there, but they are outnumbered.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#68

Post by ska » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:52 PM UTC

convex wrote: post #64

aikah wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> almost all of the money is falling out of it. Well no money because nobody's paying for it,and since nobody's paying for it the content is usually average at best. Free information is great,but let's face it,quality news cost money and time. What have we today?in the tech world? content farms (readwrite,thenextweb,techcrunch,mashable...) where writers often know nothing about the subject,or are using social justice…

The current quality and quantity of information previously classified as "news" is far beyond what has ever existed previously. Look at any news event and compare the information that's immediately available now compared to similar news events 20 or 30 years ago. People on the ground publish pictures, videos, and reports as the events are happening, and we can read reports from any source in the world translated inst…

I think that's a bit of an oversimplification. Straightforward reporting is in very good shape right now, particularly due to the effects you mention.

Long form journalism and in-depth reporting is not doing nearly as well, and is not well supported currently.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#69

Post by cdnsteve » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:53 PM UTC

We're at the turning point where great journalists are getting pushed out of their careers because jobs are vanishing under their feet. The content model has completely changed, some argue for the better. In the long term I fear the quality of content written will suffer, article accuracy will be reduced and we'll all be reading each others blogs about medicine [insert other topics here] (without ever having studied it or any previous knowledge on the subject). The Internet of "everyone's an expert" overnight is not something I'm looking forward to. Just look at all the overnight social media professionals. Many of these people don't have an understanding of how the Internet (or email) even works but they'll throw down the hot keywords to make themselves sound important; KPI's, User experience, etc etc.

I still feel there's huge opportunity in the learning space for online education. If I was a journalist or writer with specialized knowledge in a certain field, I'd focus my attention to that and bring my friends.

Re: Macworld lays off most staff

#70

Post by at-fates-hands » Wed, Sep 10, 2014, 8:53 PM UTC

munificent wrote: post #46

Today is a great time to be a writer. There are virtually no middlemen between you putting together a sentence and millions being able to read it. There are countless communities where you can find people to give you good feedback to hone your craft. Unfortunately, that also means it's a really terrible time to be a writer for a living. Like every job that is (a) creative and (b) can be distributed digitally, almost…

>> almost all of the money is falling out of it.

This always struck me as odd. Writers are clearly aware making money in their industry now is an uphill battle, yet in music (which has the very same environment), people seem to think the industry is thriving.