Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it) • Hacker News Board

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#11

Post by robryan » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 5:21 AM UTC

raganwald wrote: post #4

philiphodgen wrote: post #2

Pearls before swine. I have no bias against Mr. Murdoch but why waste the limited amount of time and energy afforded each of us by freely offering unrequested and uncompensated advice?

...because every one of us reading these reviews is thinking "I don't want my app to suffer the same fate. Let's make a note about what not to do..." It's also easier to remember tips and dictums when given an example to ponder than if provided in a vacuum.

Good way for the author who works in the area to be able to organize their thoughts on the app. Without the structure of the blog post it can be hard to clear your mind and gain some insight from what you are seeing.

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#12

Post by robryan » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 5:29 AM UTC

I am a little confused on what the daily is try to achieve. I've read that they were bringing together a top notch team of journalists to product top notch content. From other thing's it seems like they are content light and are playing on the interactiveness of the ipad to produce somewhat unique and engaging multimedia. And from everywhere I've read that even if they are doing this well the tech fails it horribly.

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#13

Post by cubicle67 » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 5:29 AM UTC

if the red of the lhs is distracting, try this

javascript:document.getElementById('menu').style.backgroundColor="#c0c0c0"

[Edit: just realised it's only red if your mouse is over that area, which mine was]

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#14

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 5:31 AM UTC

cubicle67 wrote: post #13

if the red of the lhs is distracting, try this javascript:document.getElementById('menu').style.backgroundColor="#c0c0c0" [Edit: just realised it's only red if your mouse is over that area, which mine was]

[deleted]

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#15

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 6:01 AM UTC

j_baker wrote: post #8

Is it just me, or can anyone else not scroll down to read the whole post on the iPad?

[deleted]

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#16

Post by spolsky » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 6:02 AM UTC

j_baker wrote: post #8

Is it just me, or can anyone else not scroll down to read the whole post on the iPad?

ironic, isn't it :) Because of the way the designer is using frames, you have to use the ever-so-intuitive THREE FINGER DRAG on iOS to scroll

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#17

Post by halostatue » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 6:18 AM UTC

j_baker wrote: post #8

Is it just me, or can anyone else not scroll down to read the whole post on the iPad?

I managed to do it by using the "two finger scroll"; use two fingers to scroll the text section.

Go figure.

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#18

Post by rorrr » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 6:35 AM UTC

robryan wrote: post #12

I am a little confused on what the daily is try to achieve. I've read that they were bringing together a top notch team of journalists to product top notch content. From other thing's it seems like they are content light and are playing on the interactiveness of the ipad to produce somewhat unique and engaging multimedia. And from everywhere I've read that even if they are doing this well the tech fails it horribly.

They are trying to replicate the old media experience (newspaper) on the new technology. It's a pretty dumb idea. That's what HTML is for, websites have been around long enough and are good enough to present information, especially such simple information as news. I have no idea why anyone would care about this piece of crap app, when you can just open your browser and go to your favorite news site.

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#19

Post by jpadvo » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 6:58 AM UTC

j_baker wrote: post #8

Is it just me, or can anyone else not scroll down to read the whole post on the iPad?

Here's a mobile formatted version that is readable on my iPod, at least (courtesy of Google):

http://www.google.com/gwt/x?source=m&u=http://fourstarst...

Re: Why "The Daily" is an Abomination (and how to fix it)

#20

Post by robryan » Sun, Feb 06, 2011, 7:19 AM UTC

rorrr wrote: post #18

robryan wrote: post #12

I am a little confused on what the daily is try to achieve. I've read that they were bringing together a top notch team of journalists to product top notch content. From other thing's it seems like they are content light and are playing on the interactiveness of the ipad to produce somewhat unique and engaging multimedia. And from everywhere I've read that even if they are doing this well the tech fails it horribly.

They are trying to replicate the old media experience (newspaper) on the new technology. It's a pretty dumb idea. That's what HTML is for, websites have been around long enough and are good enough to present information, especially such simple information as news. I have no idea why anyone would care about this piece of crap app, when you can just open your browser and go to your favorite news site.

The only stuff I would consider paying for would be those great long investigative articles that magazines like the atlantic or vanity fair do. Normal shortish news articles have become a commodity that is best monetised by advertising. If traditional newspapers can't make a dollar there online leave it to the blog style sites like tech crunch and go after the real substance.