Slashdot Mirror
Slashdot IRC Forum Today
Hemos and I are going to try to answer questions today at 3:00 PM EST, on
irc.slashnet.org in #forum. Specifically we're going to try to keep the questions on the subject of subscriptions. There are a lot of misunderstandings about
a few things, and we wanna clear them up. We'll post a log in this story after the forum is done. Any questions can be /msged to Questions the bot and forum discussion can be had in #forum.d.
From this article on October 22, 2001:
Servers - Taxes - $$ for the people - Taxes
That cash would not last very long!
The ultimate network admin tool needs HELP!
I'm going to openly admit my willful ignorance of the subscription issue. I probably won't pay for the site, if there's ads, I'll just block them, and if I can't do that, I'll move elsewhere. The value-add to my day right now isn't that high - slashdot is an interesting way to fill boring spaces in work. I might pay for higher quality content, pictures of Jon Katz being forced to read war and peace 5000 times, etc - that would require real editors, producing real content, maybe some technial articles.
There's too many replacements now.. I can just read the EE times all day, too. And block their ads. Ha.
What I see happening here is Slashdot is going to fill up the compuserve model from the old days. For us old geezers (ha, I'm only 25 and feel old) who remember Quantum Link, those services were basically just BBS systems on crack. They had lots of files, lots of people, lots of topics - but they weren't personal. What happened was that small BBSes with people in the local community sprung up like mushrooms after a spring rain. I can see the same thing happening if slashdot goes to a commercial model - there will be an untapped demand, and lots of tools to fill it.
Folks, anyone can run a weblog site now.. I just finished configuring a scoop site (nicer than slash IMHO) for work. It's no big deal to kick a old pentium under a desk and start up a little local community.. this is happening all over as we speak. Slashdot is unique in the sheer volume of people it brings to the table.. anything which impacts the number of contributing users decreases it's only competitive advantage other than brand recognition.
Think long and hard about the subscriptions, guys. There's lots of content that I would pay here, but let me tell you, you're going to need a better carrot than "pay me or look at crappy ads". Make the pitch to the value-added service for the subscription and I might bite though.. for tips, you could start at perhaps letting paying users vote on stories in the submission queue, getting some real stories from real writers in there, and paying SOMEONE to check the front page for errors and duped submissions..
..don't panic
you forgot a ')". I suppose every rant that length does, but for some reason today, i was looking for it.
Totally, I hate pay-per-view TV! I always tape it anyway, tho...
It's not theft! Slashdot has chosen to put their website on the internet, accessible to everyone. I have the right to control what happens on my computer and no website has the right to force me to view advertising. If Slashdot wants to charge for access then they can shut off public access and only allow those with subscriptions to view the site. But as long as their site is publicly accessible, they have no right to complain that people are looking at it. And again, I have the right to control what I download and what is displayed on my computer, so if I want to block the ads (which I already do) then I'll do it.
Check out AbiWord.
You're on crack if you seriously believe that $1.2m can keep a site the size of /. going for a full year. A headcount of a dozen full-time people will cost that much. Don't bother adding in server and bandwidth costs.
The Daily Build