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Steven Levy put a ridiculous amount of time and effort into researching this article, and I think it shows. He really immersed himself into the whole experienc

by ericflo 15y ago

Steven Levy put a ridiculous amount of time and effort into researching this article, and I think it shows. He really immersed himself into the whole experience--for months! In some ways, it felt like he was a part of the class, working alongside us as we worked to build our companies. This kind of real journalism is something that I didn't think existed any more, at least not in the tech world. But after watching him work, and seeing his process, I think it's just a damn shame how rare his kind of journalism is. Didn't mean for this to turn into a puff comment, but I have to admit the whole production was quite impressive.

BuzBe 15y ago
I agree, I'm frustrated that I'm in work and I cant justify readying the whole thing...
drusenko 15y ago
I couldn't speak any more highly of Steven Levy's writing as well. He wrote a story for Newsweek during our batch: http://www.newsweek.com/2007/05/20/meet-the-next-billionaires.html http://www.newsweek.com/2007/05/20/meet-the-next-billionaire... The feeling was very similar. Having experienced all of the time he put into it, how he listened to all of our seemingly pedestrian stories and masterfully wove an eloquent story line out of mere tidbits -- it's a pretty awesome experience. He's one of the best writers around and one of the last bastions of true, old-fashioned journalism in the tech world.
- ddol 15y ago
  Glenn Chapman of AFP is another great old-school journalist who focuses on tech. Well researched, concise, balanced - as good wire stories should be. http://google.com/news?q=author:Glenn+Chapman http://google.com/news?q=author:Glenn+Chapman
wyclif 15y ago
Agree 100%, this is the best piece I've read in Wired for a while (I've been pretty dissatisfied with the quality of Wired for some time). This gives me hope for the publication.
alexsb92 15y ago
I was an intern at a YC company (Allerta of inPulse) during the W2011 term, and I got to attend a few YC dinners and meeting. I can say that Steven Levy was always there, always jotting down stuff and meeting and talking to people. I was quite amazed how involved he was with the research for the story.
brandnewlow 15y ago
I enjoyed the article, too and agree that Levy did a great job telling what could have been a bring story in a lesser reporter's hands. The whole "it's a damn shame how rare his kind of journalism is" sentiment comes up fairly often here on HN and always bugs me a little bit. This is a community where people heap praise on folks who create things like Instapaper and Readability, link to the printer-formatted version long articles, complain about pay walls, and generally take an extremely liberal view toward copyright infringement and content monetization subversion. Those are all fine things, but I think it's important to understand that we can't have it both ways. Online ads pay for the great journalism people on HN claim to want more of.
- pg 15y ago
  I think you've set up a false dichotomy here. There are probably other ways to support good writing than the clumsy methods existing media companies have tried so far.
  - brandnewlow 15y ago
    This is true, it's not a direct if/then relationship. I do think however that the spirit of gleeful copyright subversion is at odds with the desire to read great journalism. It's very hard for a publisher to derive value from content when they have no control over the experience in which the content is consumed. A story that's been Readability-ed creates no immediate value for the publisher.
    - pg 15y ago
      I do think however that the spirit of gleeful copyright subversion is at odds with the desire to read great journalism. I think you're mistaken about that. I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect copyright is a (mostly) obsolete concept, and that gleeful copyright subverters are just the people who are already living in the future. A lot of musicians have already given up on the idea of making money from selling recorded music, and expect to make it from concerts instead. I suspect we will see similar displacements in writing.

by ericflo 15y ago

BuzBe 15y ago

I agree, I'm frustrated that I'm in work and I cant justify readying the whole thing...

drusenko 15y ago

I couldn't speak any more highly of Steven Levy's writing as well. He wrote a story for Newsweek during our batch: http://www.newsweek.com/2007/05/20/meet-the-next-billionaires.html http://www.newsweek.com/2007/05/20/meet-the-next-billionaire... The feeling was very similar. Having experienced all of the time he put into it, how he listened to all of our seemingly pedestrian stories and masterfully wove an eloquent story line out of mere tidbits -- it's a pretty awesome experience. He's one of the best writers around and one of the last bastions of true, old-fashioned journalism in the tech world.

ddol 15y ago
Glenn Chapman of AFP is another great old-school journalist who focuses on tech. Well researched, concise, balanced - as good wire stories should be. http://google.com/news?q=author:Glenn+Chapman http://google.com/news?q=author:Glenn+Chapman

wyclif 15y ago

Agree 100%, this is the best piece I've read in Wired for a while (I've been pretty dissatisfied with the quality of Wired for some time). This gives me hope for the publication.

alexsb92 15y ago

I was an intern at a YC company (Allerta of inPulse) during the W2011 term, and I got to attend a few YC dinners and meeting. I can say that Steven Levy was always there, always jotting down stuff and meeting and talking to people. I was quite amazed how involved he was with the research for the story.

brandnewlow 15y ago

I enjoyed the article, too and agree that Levy did a great job telling what could have been a bring story in a lesser reporter's hands. The whole "it's a damn shame how rare his kind of journalism is" sentiment comes up fairly often here on HN and always bugs me a little bit. This is a community where people heap praise on folks who create things like Instapaper and Readability, link to the printer-formatted version long articles, complain about pay walls, and generally take an extremely liberal view toward copyright infringement and content monetization subversion. Those are all fine things, but I think it's important to understand that we can't have it both ways. Online ads pay for the great journalism people on HN claim to want more of.

pg 15y ago
I think you've set up a false dichotomy here. There are probably other ways to support good writing than the clumsy methods existing media companies have tried so far.
- brandnewlow 15y ago
  This is true, it's not a direct if/then relationship. I do think however that the spirit of gleeful copyright subversion is at odds with the desire to read great journalism. It's very hard for a publisher to derive value from content when they have no control over the experience in which the content is consumed. A story that's been Readability-ed creates no immediate value for the publisher.
  - pg 15y ago
    I do think however that the spirit of gleeful copyright subversion is at odds with the desire to read great journalism. I think you're mistaken about that. I'm not 100% sure, but I suspect copyright is a (mostly) obsolete concept, and that gleeful copyright subverters are just the people who are already living in the future. A lot of musicians have already given up on the idea of making money from selling recorded music, and expect to make it from concerts instead. I suspect we will see similar displacements in writing.