Slashdot Mirror
David Pogue and Yahoo's "Normals" Problem
Nerval's Lobster writes "In a keynote talk at this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, David Pogue (Yahoo's freshly minted technology columnist) suggested that the new 'Yahoo Tech' Website — a key part of the company's latest rebranding — would be targeted at 'normal' people as opposed to 'gearheads.' Based on a map that flashed on the giant screen behind him, which showed the 'normals' clustered in the middle of the country and the 'gearheads' restricted to the coasts, it's clear that Yahoo has embraced a divisive strategy that tries to equate Yahoo's brands with some sort of mythical 'middlebrow' audience that exists within clearly defined borders. (During his presentation, Pogue also flashed a slide that made fun of competing tech-news brands: The Verge was rendered as 'The Urge,' for example, while Gizmodo became 'Gizmoody.') The problem is that rigid audience of 'normals' doesn't exist, at least not in the way that Yahoo envisions. Large numbers of well-educated technology consumers — 'gearheads,' in Pogue's parlance — exist all over the country; to say otherwise is like suggesting that Wyoming is 100 percent Republican, or that everybody who lives in Florida hates snow. In other words, Yahoo's approach to tech content isn't merely schismatic; it's willfully unaware of the variety that exists among technology fans."
He is aiming for someone you do not like maybe? Also ask yourself why did you decide you do not like 'conservatives'. Was it because your friends and family say it? Or did you really stop and think about what they were trying to do? Do you watch your fellow 'liberals' the same way? If not why so bigoted?
It is much like back when married with children came out. They deliberately made a show that was 'not the Cosbys'. They even called it that during pre-production. Everyone said it would fail.
The giz/verge/huff crowd have their place to go. The echo chambers there are quite loud. I even read them. Yahoo could make a very nice living selling to another crowd. About 10-20% of people are 'hard core' whatever.
The rest of us in the middle of the bell curve are tired of sensationalist 'news' that has an agenda. Take for example the current line of of 'news' from the giz flotilla of sites. No less than 5 different buzzwords to draw you in. Words like 'fantastic, harness, humiliating, dance, masterpiece' and so on. They use very strong words to describe what in reality is very mediocre things to draw you in. To sell you something they do not even own. They are making money off you. Do you make it a practice to give money away to very rich people?
I frankly am bored of tabloid style news.
Conservative? Hardly. People are seeing like I do. Read the comments they usually are pointing out how AP or Reuters is slanting something *again*. We are *tired* of news with an agenda. We are *tired* of the 'news' saying how we should live. We are *tired* of the 'news' saying how we are horrible people who should rot in hell for thinking of eating *gasp* a french fry. We are *tired* of the 'news' saying how good/bad particular congress critters are.
This sums up what the middle is thinking of 'news' these days.
"Did you hear about the guy who swallowed a yo-yo. Some clodhopper in Griffith, Indiana. They write the silliest things in the newspapers. What do you mean, silly? l mean that's real news. That's not like that politics slop." -- christmas story