Does anyone know if that last part with the spinning globe was created in D3.js? I'm constantly gobsmacked with what can be done with that library.
Norway the Slow Way
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Re: Norway the Slow Way
#12Does anyone know if that last part with the spinning globe was created in D3.js? I'm constantly gobsmacked with what can be done with that library.
Mike Bostock (the author of D3.js) is a NYT employee. His name is listed in the final credits for this piece, and a lot of other NYT content. I assume he is often called in to sprinkle some D3 magic onto a lot of their interactive articles.
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#13I'm seduced. But I think this technique is based on tricking those who enjoy reading conventional text articles. It pulls the rug out from under them as soon as they start scrolling. It's mischievous and, in some ways, quite typical of the NY Times.
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
agreed; they appear one of the few who embrace the new possibilities in publishing and actually try to come up with something different and are not afraid to make some mistakes in the process… i'd love to see other (news) publishers to walk this path as the options are there, they just need some creativity
Agreed. Apparently NYT had a big come-to-Jesus meeting earlier this year, where they discussed the challenges their business model is facing, and resolved to do something about it. Who's to say whether this stuff will move the needle for them. But at least they're doing interesting things, and I support them. NYT can't necessarily see the future (when it comes to journalism, nobody can). But it recognizes that its fu…
Apparently NYT had a big come-to-Jesus meeting earlier this year, where they discussed the challenges their business model is facing, and resolved to do something about it. Who's to say whether this stuff will move the needle for them. But at least they're doing interesting things, and I support them.
IMO they need to get the basics right first. Why, for instance, can't I use their iPad app to access all of the content from the print edition, and in a similarly-dense format?
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#15Just this past july we rode the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Trondheim. Although the upper decks of the MV Polarlys are like a modest and tasteful cruise ship, and the majority of passengers were there for the scenery and the day-trip excursions, they do still haul cargo and commuters. At every stop there are cars and cargo being put on and off the cargo deck. One surprise was when I got up at 4am to see the famous road bridge at Måløy, and walking through the Panorama deck found there were a dozen people sacked out sleeping on the couches. Apparently you can buy a no-stateroom ticket cheap, and people do.
Some pics if anyone cares: http://cortesi.smugmug.com/Scandinavia-2014/Trip-Segments/Hu...
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#16What is the cost to produce a page like this? Must be high, versus the cost of a normal article with inline images. I cannot imagine that the ROI is worth it. Therefore I think that this article format will disappear for economic reasons.
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#17What is the cost to produce a page like this? Must be high, versus the cost of a normal article with inline images. I cannot imagine that the ROI is worth it. Therefore I think that this article format will disappear for economic reasons.
I don't think so. If you look at theatre for comparison (which is also an act of storytelling), most plays are simple amateur pieces, that anybody with some skills and knowledge can put together. However there are also very expensive professional theaters that that sometimes tell the same stories as the amateurs for many thousands times the cost of the amateur pies. Yet expensive theatre is found in every major city.
To keep the analogy, NY-times is doing web-page stories Broadway-style. Perhaps they found an unexplored marked, perhaps it is too soon. But sooner or later, the art-form of story telling on the web is going to be taken to the next level done by professionals for a lot more money than any amateurs telling the same story.
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#18Does anyone know if that last part with the spinning globe was created in D3.js? I'm constantly gobsmacked with what can be done with that library.
Sure was, check out: http://bl.ocks.org/mbostock/e2a20d86124693ef0f93
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#19> the country boasts one of the most undulatory coastlines in the world, measuring an astonishing 64,000 miles (by comparison, the entire United States coastline measures 95,471 miles).
It is, in fact, impossible to measure the length of a coastline: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox
This accounts for the fact that contrary to the article’s stated length of 64,000 miles, the World Factbook gives the length as 15,626 miles¹ and the World Resources Institute once gave the same length as 33,056 miles².
① https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/...
② http://web.archive.org/web/20120419075053/http://earthtrends...
Re: Norway the Slow Way
#20What is the cost to produce a page like this? Must be high, versus the cost of a normal article with inline images. I cannot imagine that the ROI is worth it. Therefore I think that this article format will disappear for economic reasons.
NY Times did an even longer and more advanced article like this a while ago called "Snow Fall: The avalanche at Tunnel Creek" (http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2012/snow-fall/#/?part=tunne...)
It had over 3.5 Million page views the first week. Estimates are that it took about three man-months to write and design the long article. But that was two years ago, and without any of the tools and experience they have now.
That's expensive, but napkin-calculations can be done:
Average yearly at NY Times according to Google is: $98 167 That means about $33 000 plus some taxes and costs for three monte, say, $50 000 then.
Can you sell one ad space in such an article at $50 000 / 3 500 000 = $14.29 per 1k impression?
NY Times sells ads at $6.29 for 1k impression on their sports pages. On the Snow Fall article three such ads would be enough to cover the estimated costs.
As a comparative note: A full page print ad costs $10 per estimated reader, it is possible that this Norway article is also published in the regular print, and will therefore recuperate some costs there as well.