Stories from Buzz Machine
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Regulating sex and speech
Buzz Machine &bull Sep 6, 2010
Let me start with a disclosure: I hope to think that Craig Newmark is a friend. He can be as hard for me to read as James Joyce or C++. But I know him as a decent and genuine man who believes that he is bringing a service to millions of people, saving them billions of dollars that used to go to overpriced, monopolistic middlemen. He doesn't do it to get rich (I've driven by his office and home and they ain't palaces), which is precisely what bedevils those old middlemen; I've… Full Story »
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Press as Facebook & Foursquare
Buzz Machine &bull Sep 1, 2010
As research for Public Parts, I've been reading Jay Rosen's doctoral dissertation about the creation of publics and the press. As in other research, I'm finding so many wonderful parallels between the changes in society caused by technology today and… Full Story »
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The German paradox, continued
Buzz Machine &bull Aug 25, 2010
The hard-on Germany has for Street View gets more ironic and amusing by the day. Deutsche Telekom's online phone book let you search on someone and find an aerial view of the house from four angles and a view of… Full Story »
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Transparent inventory & the rebirth/death of retail
Buzz Machine &bull Aug 24, 2010
The Times reports this morning on smart retailer Nordstrom making its inventory in warehouses and in stores transparent so a buyer who's dying for a purse can find it nearby (for immediate gratification), or from the warehouse (for convenience), or at the last store that has it (which will ship… Full Story »
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Topics:
- Amazon.com
- Network
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Internet, schminternet
Buzz Machine &bull Aug 10, 2010
So ol, grandpa internet may chug along giving us YouTube videos of flaming cats, but you want to get that while you're out of your house? Well, that's the nonnet. But wait. Mobile is the internet. Mobile will very soon… Full Story »
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Bad things could happen
Buzz Machine &bull Aug 7, 2010
Farhad Manjoo New York Times review of Clay Shirky's Cognitive Surplus relies on the argument I hear a lot in privacy circles: Bad things could happen. Shirky imagines what good things people could do if they watched less TV and… Full Story »
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The price of privacy
Buzz Machine &bull Aug 5, 2010
I love it when economists and their ilk reduce a complicated issue in life to a simple line and chart (that's what makes Freakonomics so popular). At the latest New York Tech Meetup, Drop.io founder Sam Lessin did just that with my favorite topic: privacy and publicness. Right. It takes effort to create privacy -… Full Story »
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Whither magazines?
Buzz Machine &bull Aug 5, 2010
Three people I respect a great deal now lead the big magazine companies: David Carey (ex CondA) at Hearst, Bob Sauerberg at CondA, and now Jack Griffin at Time Inc. - and I'll add Justin Smith at Atlantic. It's a big challenge to head a magazine company these days (witness the sales of Newsweek and TV Guide for a buck each). Circulation is plummeting; costs are soaring; advertising competition is killing. But I still say that magazines have unique value in media… Full Story »
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Cookie Madness!
Buzz Machine &bull Jul 31, 2010
I just don't understand Julia Angwin's scare story about cookies and ad targeting in the Wall Street Journal. That is, I don't understand how the Journal could be so breathlessly naive, unsophisticated, and anachronistic about the basics of the modern media business. It is the Reefer Madness of the digital age: Oh my God, Mabel, they're watching us! If I were a conspiracy theorist - and I'm… Full Story »
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Crowdsource government work
Buzz Machine &bull Jul 29, 2010
In my pollyanna way, I imagine a day when citizens could take over some tasks of government to save money and do them better. Politico reports today that Rupert Murdoch wants to charge the White House $600,000 a year for… Full Story »
