4 ms·

Disrupters rarely start with quality. Mini mills were strictly inferior to integrated steel mills, web-based software was less powerful than desktop software, d

Disrupters rarely start with quality. Mini mills were strictly inferior to integrated steel mills, web-based software was less powerful than desktop software, digital photography was inferior to film. (Many of these are from Clay Christensen.) The history of progress & technology is of fast, simple, low-end solutions getting better over time to the point where they're strictly superior to the legacy alternatives. I have little doubt that Buzzfeed, or another upstart media company, will someday be able to do "real" journalism better and faster than the NYT. (If anyone else believes this, come help me make it happen: http://www.cafe.com/developers http://www.cafe.com/developers)

idlewords 12y ago
Journalism is not a technology. It serves an important civic and moral purpose that isn't accounted for at all when you frame it as yet another case of 'disruption'.
- morgante 12y ago
  I absolutely agree that it serves an important civic & moral purpose, but that is precisely why journalism needs to adopt new technology to reach people on their level.
  - jmathai 12y ago
    I'm not seeing how BuzzFeed is adopting new technology nor how adopting new technology is what journalism needs. I see BuzzFeed as a company that's found a way to exploit people's pull towards instant gratification. But it serves a terrible purpose which has short term benefits for the company but little benefit for others. They're similar to payday loan companies. Many argue that they're meeting a market need. They maybe but they're doing it in an exploitative way. That's bad for everyone.
- madeofpalk 12y ago
  BuzzFeed isnt journalism, and I don't think anyone actually thinks it is.
- mseebach 12y ago
  Journalism may not be a "technology" per se, but like technology it's a means to an end (the civic and moral purpose), NOT the end itself - although you could be excused for confusing the two, considering the pompousness with which the trade toasts itself.
- jfb 12y ago
  "Journalism is not a technology." Depends; there's always the (no longer so quaint) Soviet usage of the term.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > Journalism is not a technology. It is a domain of technology, the same as computing is. > It serves an important civic and moral purpose Which is orthogonal to whether or not it is a (domain of) technology. Medicine, unquestionably, is a domain of technology, and it serves an important civic and moral purpose, too. Journalism may be a largely social domain of technology, but social technology is just as real as digital technology, or any other kind.

idlewords 12y ago

Journalism is not a technology. It serves an important civic and moral purpose that isn't accounted for at all when you frame it as yet another case of 'disruption'.

morgante 12y ago
I absolutely agree that it serves an important civic & moral purpose, but that is precisely why journalism needs to adopt new technology to reach people on their level.
- jmathai 12y ago
  I'm not seeing how BuzzFeed is adopting new technology nor how adopting new technology is what journalism needs. I see BuzzFeed as a company that's found a way to exploit people's pull towards instant gratification. But it serves a terrible purpose which has short term benefits for the company but little benefit for others. They're similar to payday loan companies. Many argue that they're meeting a market need. They maybe but they're doing it in an exploitative way. That's bad for everyone.
madeofpalk 12y ago
BuzzFeed isnt journalism, and I don't think anyone actually thinks it is.
mseebach 12y ago
Journalism may not be a "technology" per se, but like technology it's a means to an end (the civic and moral purpose), NOT the end itself - although you could be excused for confusing the two, considering the pompousness with which the trade toasts itself.
jfb 12y ago
"Journalism is not a technology." Depends; there's always the (no longer so quaint) Soviet usage of the term.
dragonwriter 12y ago
> Journalism is not a technology. It is a domain of technology, the same as computing is. > It serves an important civic and moral purpose Which is orthogonal to whether or not it is a (domain of) technology. Medicine, unquestionably, is a domain of technology, and it serves an important civic and moral purpose, too. Journalism may be a largely social domain of technology, but social technology is just as real as digital technology, or any other kind.