6 ms·

All Things Digital shutting down

147 points by ivank 13y ago

voltagex_ 13y ago
Does archive.org need to grab the site before WSJ break all the links?
- nwh 13y ago
  Too late. The whole domain is gone.
  - thirsteh 13y ago
    Direct links still seem to work: http://allthingsd.com/20131231/you-say-goodbye-and-we-say-hello/ http://allthingsd.com/20131231/you-say-goodbye-and-we-say-he...?
minimaxir 13y ago
Walt and Kara's new site is Re/code, which will launch tomorrow: http://recode.net/welcome/ http://recode.net/welcome/
- GigabyteCoin 13y ago
  So they're not exactly shutting down, as much as they are changing brands?
  - itsprofitbaron 13y ago
    Yes and No. Essentially Kara/Walt and WSJ/Dow Jones/NewsCorp "divorced". The "divorce" left Kara/Walt with the writers (as they were employed by them) and WSJ/Dow Jones/NewsCorp the AllThingsD brand, website and conference business. However, it appears the AllThingsD site is being completely shut down and redirected to http://wsj.com/tech http://wsj.com/tech - probably because NewsCorp who struck the original deal with Kara/Walt don't want a situation like this to happen again. Recode is a completely new business (site and conference business; WSJ/NewsCorp/Dow Jones still owns the D Conference) albeit with the same writers from AllThingsD.
  - minimaxir 13y ago
    The shutdown is also separation from the Wall Street Journal.
- belluchan 13y ago
  Re/code is a pretty weird name for them. Allthingsd was a mix of Walt reviewing Apple products or comparing non-Apple products to Apple products and Kara's Yahoo! drama column. Nothing about coding, ever. If I'd never read a single Allthingsd column in my life, I doubt it would have been much different than it is now.
  - jychang 13y ago
    For a website with "code" in its name, having the favicon still set to the default Wordpress one doesn't offer a good impression.
    - aw3c2 13y ago
      For a website with "code" in its name, having the favicon still set to the default Wordpress one is a low priority.
      - mkr-hn 13y ago
        It's hosted with WordPress.com. Changing it involves configuration, not code.
        deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
        ra3 13y ago
        Well if they can't even change their own configuration, how can we expect them to code? </ sarcasm>
        mkr-hn 13y ago
        It has nothing to do with coding. The name is probably a metaphor.
    - ams6110 13y ago
      It's just a landing page at this point. Probably minimal time was spent setting it up.
- JoshGlazebrook 13y ago
  Well, I'm glad they're sticking together. I like the duo in the D conferences and interviews.
- untilHellbanned 13y ago
  pretty ghetto looking landing page
iamabraham 13y ago
It's the news-blog equivilant of "pivot."
nedwin 13y ago
Why are they doing this? Are there any good resources out there on the split with WSJ?
- shinratdr 13y ago
  If I had to guess, I would assume it's similar to the Verge/Engadget situation. Splitting from a stodgy corporation that doesn't want to change or update anything. Eventually they collectively realize that nothing is going to change and they could run a much better site without their parent corporation, and it goes from there. Of course, this is complete speculation based on zero actual evidence. But it would hardly surprise me if the WSJ and AOL had a reluctance to be proactive in common.
  - bstar77 13y ago
    Your assumption is incorrect. Wsj decided not to renew its contract with allthingsd. Wsj has launched a new technology section today which replaces the old stale section.
    - walshemj 13y ago
      mm so traditional publisher attitude NIH and we can do it much better than those internet nerds. I predict that the WSJ will waste almost all of the value built up by allthingsd.
    - redidas 13y ago
      And to bring it full circle, the WSJ employed a former The Verge writer (that had left The Verge for ABC). I'm actually excited to see where the WSJ tech section goes.
    - deptofcorrex 13y ago
      actually, you're wrong. the guy above you has a much better grasp on it. nice try, though.
yawz 13y ago
I liked the name, I liked the content. I'll be following their new site. All the best. Happy new year!
zinx 13y ago
The new site looks nice, the bold fonts and red and black
peterjancelis 13y ago
So is this possible because California doesn't recognize non-competes? Because basically Walt/Kara seem to have borrowed Newscorp backing until they didn't need it anymore, after which they announce a new URL and continue on their own.
- seunosewa 13y ago
  They lost the content of their successful website and there is no guarantee that the completely new one will be successful.
- coldtea 13y ago
  >Because basically Walt/Kara seem to have borrowed Newscorp backing until they didn't need it anymore, after which they announce a new URL and continue on their own. And how is that illegal a priori -- or who said they had signed a "non compete"?
- cwp 13y ago
  I have no idea what went on behind the scenes, but you could just as well say that Newscorp borrowed Walt and Kara's personalities until they didn't need them anymore, after which they redirect to a new URL and continue on their own.
- snowwrestler 13y ago
  I don't know about Kara Swisher, but Mossberg was with the Journal for like 30 years, as a reporter in various capacities. So it's not like he just used them. His entire career was supported by that company, since long before Newscorp owned them. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened either. A bunch of reporters and editors left the Washington Post a few years ago to create a new digital news company called Politico.
mtkd 13y ago
Sadly it looks like / is 301 to WSJ already. This was posted last night and still available: http://allthingsd.com/20131231/some-of-our-fave-d-conference-videos-before-allthingsd-signs-off-in-3-2-1/ http://allthingsd.com/20131231/some-of-our-fave-d-conference...
elorant 13y ago
Am I the only one in here who used to find AllThingsD extremely boring? I specifically didn't like Kara's attempts to make gossip an essential part of our industry. Yes we happen to have quite a few billionaires in this market but nobody cares about the way they spend their money. We're here for the innovation part.
- wyclif 13y ago
  I agree and came here to share a similar thought. I know a bit about journalism and how the sausage is made, and it's a tough market for tech journalism. Lately, that segment of the industry has been in a race to the bottom in terms of viable financial models for success. I would simply say to the people trying to make a go out of serious tech journalism: I'm a nerd. Let me geek out with high quality coverage of technical issues and tech politics. Please, no more billionaire gossip. That's not what I want to read. If I did, I would be reading TechCrunch or Valleywag. And if your new news site is going to be called "Re/code", then it had better have news related to actual code and computer programming, instead of just re-warmed Apple intrigue (that John Gruber does better anyway) and rich-guy gossip.
michaelmartin 13y ago
Given the histories of these 2 writers, I'd have hoped for a bit more substance in such an important post for them. They don't mention anything specific about the new site, and given how many other good tech sites there are, the vagueness doesn't make me curious enough to come back. And in terms of journalistic integrity with full disclosures; I learnt more about what has really happened from the comments here than I did in that post. Surely they should have disclosed that a need to "refresh, reimagine, remake and reinvent" wasn't the only thing in play here.
af3 13y ago
GG
adam222 13y ago
I am looking forward to the 'The Verge' moment.

147 points by ivank 13y ago

voltagex_ 13y ago

Does archive.org need to grab the site before WSJ break all the links?

nwh 13y ago
Too late. The whole domain is gone.
- thirsteh 13y ago
  Direct links still seem to work: http://allthingsd.com/20131231/you-say-goodbye-and-we-say-hello/ http://allthingsd.com/20131231/you-say-goodbye-and-we-say-he...?

minimaxir 13y ago

Walt and Kara's new site is Re/code, which will launch tomorrow: http://recode.net/welcome/ http://recode.net/welcome/

GigabyteCoin 13y ago
So they're not exactly shutting down, as much as they are changing brands?
- itsprofitbaron 13y ago
  Yes and No. Essentially Kara/Walt and WSJ/Dow Jones/NewsCorp "divorced". The "divorce" left Kara/Walt with the writers (as they were employed by them) and WSJ/Dow Jones/NewsCorp the AllThingsD brand, website and conference business. However, it appears the AllThingsD site is being completely shut down and redirected to http://wsj.com/tech http://wsj.com/tech - probably because NewsCorp who struck the original deal with Kara/Walt don't want a situation like this to happen again. Recode is a completely new business (site and conference business; WSJ/NewsCorp/Dow Jones still owns the D Conference) albeit with the same writers from AllThingsD.
- minimaxir 13y ago
  The shutdown is also separation from the Wall Street Journal.
belluchan 13y ago
Re/code is a pretty weird name for them. Allthingsd was a mix of Walt reviewing Apple products or comparing non-Apple products to Apple products and Kara's Yahoo! drama column. Nothing about coding, ever. If I'd never read a single Allthingsd column in my life, I doubt it would have been much different than it is now.
- jychang 13y ago
  For a website with "code" in its name, having the favicon still set to the default Wordpress one doesn't offer a good impression.
  - aw3c2 13y ago
    For a website with "code" in its name, having the favicon still set to the default Wordpress one is a low priority.
    - mkr-hn 13y ago
      It's hosted with WordPress.com. Changing it involves configuration, not code.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
      - ra3 13y ago
        Well if they can't even change their own configuration, how can we expect them to code? </ sarcasm>
        mkr-hn 13y ago
        It has nothing to do with coding. The name is probably a metaphor.
  - ams6110 13y ago
    It's just a landing page at this point. Probably minimal time was spent setting it up.
JoshGlazebrook 13y ago
Well, I'm glad they're sticking together. I like the duo in the D conferences and interviews.
untilHellbanned 13y ago
pretty ghetto looking landing page

iamabraham 13y ago

It's the news-blog equivilant of "pivot."

nedwin 13y ago

Why are they doing this? Are there any good resources out there on the split with WSJ?

shinratdr 13y ago
If I had to guess, I would assume it's similar to the Verge/Engadget situation. Splitting from a stodgy corporation that doesn't want to change or update anything. Eventually they collectively realize that nothing is going to change and they could run a much better site without their parent corporation, and it goes from there. Of course, this is complete speculation based on zero actual evidence. But it would hardly surprise me if the WSJ and AOL had a reluctance to be proactive in common.
- bstar77 13y ago
  Your assumption is incorrect. Wsj decided not to renew its contract with allthingsd. Wsj has launched a new technology section today which replaces the old stale section.
  - walshemj 13y ago
    mm so traditional publisher attitude NIH and we can do it much better than those internet nerds. I predict that the WSJ will waste almost all of the value built up by allthingsd.
  - redidas 13y ago
    And to bring it full circle, the WSJ employed a former The Verge writer (that had left The Verge for ABC). I'm actually excited to see where the WSJ tech section goes.
  - deptofcorrex 13y ago
    actually, you're wrong. the guy above you has a much better grasp on it. nice try, though.

yawz 13y ago

I liked the name, I liked the content. I'll be following their new site. All the best. Happy new year!

zinx 13y ago

The new site looks nice, the bold fonts and red and black

peterjancelis 13y ago

So is this possible because California doesn't recognize non-competes? Because basically Walt/Kara seem to have borrowed Newscorp backing until they didn't need it anymore, after which they announce a new URL and continue on their own.

seunosewa 13y ago
They lost the content of their successful website and there is no guarantee that the completely new one will be successful.
coldtea 13y ago
>Because basically Walt/Kara seem to have borrowed Newscorp backing until they didn't need it anymore, after which they announce a new URL and continue on their own. And how is that illegal a priori -- or who said they had signed a "non compete"?
cwp 13y ago
I have no idea what went on behind the scenes, but you could just as well say that Newscorp borrowed Walt and Kara's personalities until they didn't need them anymore, after which they redirect to a new URL and continue on their own.
snowwrestler 13y ago
I don't know about Kara Swisher, but Mossberg was with the Journal for like 30 years, as a reporter in various capacities. So it's not like he just used them. His entire career was supported by that company, since long before Newscorp owned them. This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened either. A bunch of reporters and editors left the Washington Post a few years ago to create a new digital news company called Politico.

mtkd 13y ago

Sadly it looks like / is 301 to WSJ already. This was posted last night and still available: http://allthingsd.com/20131231/some-of-our-fave-d-conference-videos-before-allthingsd-signs-off-in-3-2-1/ http://allthingsd.com/20131231/some-of-our-fave-d-conference...

elorant 13y ago

Am I the only one in here who used to find AllThingsD extremely boring? I specifically didn't like Kara's attempts to make gossip an essential part of our industry. Yes we happen to have quite a few billionaires in this market but nobody cares about the way they spend their money. We're here for the innovation part.

wyclif 13y ago
I agree and came here to share a similar thought. I know a bit about journalism and how the sausage is made, and it's a tough market for tech journalism. Lately, that segment of the industry has been in a race to the bottom in terms of viable financial models for success. I would simply say to the people trying to make a go out of serious tech journalism: I'm a nerd. Let me geek out with high quality coverage of technical issues and tech politics. Please, no more billionaire gossip. That's not what I want to read. If I did, I would be reading TechCrunch or Valleywag. And if your new news site is going to be called "Re/code", then it had better have news related to actual code and computer programming, instead of just re-warmed Apple intrigue (that John Gruber does better anyway) and rich-guy gossip.

michaelmartin 13y ago

Given the histories of these 2 writers, I'd have hoped for a bit more substance in such an important post for them. They don't mention anything specific about the new site, and given how many other good tech sites there are, the vagueness doesn't make me curious enough to come back. And in terms of journalistic integrity with full disclosures; I learnt more about what has really happened from the comments here than I did in that post. Surely they should have disclosed that a need to "refresh, reimagine, remake and reinvent" wasn't the only thing in play here.

af3 13y ago

adam222 13y ago

I am looking forward to the 'The Verge' moment.