5 ms·

I have more questions now... 1. Why was this app created? 2. How expensive is it to run this app? (no seriously, even at scale, I can't see this getting more

I have more questions now... 1. Why was this app created? 2. How expensive is it to run this app? (no seriously, even at scale, I can't see this getting more expensive than a few thousand $ a month - which at NBC's level should not be too much of an issue?)

angry-hacker 10y ago
They can't monetize it and because they want people to read their paper instead (watch ads), they shut it down. At least that's what I make of this reading those tweets.
- ohstopitu 10y ago
  it'd be easier to push ads on-to the app (or the app to load the news article as a webview with ads in it). ^ more views, more money and probably more profits.
jimbokun 10y ago
I doubt the hosting was the big cost, probably paying the journalists to pick the stories, write a quick summary, and get the alerts out as fast as possible. (Not a user of the app, but didn't seem like an automated AI type of thing.)
- jonknee 10y ago
  You are correct. It's not cheap to have 24 hour breaking news coverage globally. They did a great job on weeding out hoaxes too, it was a pretty remarkable service.
pg_is_a_butt 10y ago
they finally realized 9/11 is over, and we don't need a news scrawl constantly in our lives, and when we do have one, it is abused by propaganda pouncing at times the scrawl can either latch on, or die without content to spew. you're all idiots.
thinnerlizzy 10y ago
I believe the @breakingnews Twitter account existed well before the app. I imagine NBC News committed to the brand based on its Twitter following before it evolved into an app. I don't see why editorial responsibilites couldn't be a little more decentralized to lower costs. Give a number of editors Breaking News-level access in their CMS and check a box when a story fits the criteria. But NBC isn't in it for the public good. The app probably simply didn't generate enough revenue to justify the costs.
jrochkind1 10y ago
> I can't see this getting more expensive than a few thousand $ a month You aren't accounting for staff time. All software is a living organism, they can't just lay off the developers and expect it to keep working.

angry-hacker 10y ago

They can't monetize it and because they want people to read their paper instead (watch ads), they shut it down. At least that's what I make of this reading those tweets.

ohstopitu 10y ago
it'd be easier to push ads on-to the app (or the app to load the news article as a webview with ads in it). ^ more views, more money and probably more profits.

jimbokun 10y ago

I doubt the hosting was the big cost, probably paying the journalists to pick the stories, write a quick summary, and get the alerts out as fast as possible. (Not a user of the app, but didn't seem like an automated AI type of thing.)

jonknee 10y ago
You are correct. It's not cheap to have 24 hour breaking news coverage globally. They did a great job on weeding out hoaxes too, it was a pretty remarkable service.

pg_is_a_butt 10y ago

they finally realized 9/11 is over, and we don't need a news scrawl constantly in our lives, and when we do have one, it is abused by propaganda pouncing at times the scrawl can either latch on, or die without content to spew. you're all idiots.

thinnerlizzy 10y ago

I believe the @breakingnews Twitter account existed well before the app. I imagine NBC News committed to the brand based on its Twitter following before it evolved into an app. I don't see why editorial responsibilites couldn't be a little more decentralized to lower costs. Give a number of editors Breaking News-level access in their CMS and check a box when a story fits the criteria. But NBC isn't in it for the public good. The app probably simply didn't generate enough revenue to justify the costs.

jrochkind1 10y ago

> I can't see this getting more expensive than a few thousand $ a month You aren't accounting for staff time. All software is a living organism, they can't just lay off the developers and expect it to keep working.