Comments on: Boom or Bust

By: LotharBot

LotharBot — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 03:48:18 +0000

I don’t need OSM as my media gatekeepers… but I think they’ll make a nice filter, as one among many resources. Chicago Boyz is another, and there are others I use as well.

If OSM manages to bring together the best content from multiple sites, I’ll be very pleased with it. I don’t know whether I should expect it to or not, though…

By: snitch

snitch — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 03:02:26 +0000

Why do I need as my media gatekeepers people who’ve long proclaimed the ossification of the old gatekeepers?

Because a certain aging screenwriter and a certain middle-aged musician are considered by Hollywood/MusicBiz to be over the hill, and are desperately seeking second careers….

By: Jeff

Jeff — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 23:38:41 +0000

As a reader of several of the OSM blogs, I’m baffled about what the added value to me is supposed to be. I can get the same news feeds from numerous other sources, I can search for commentary on a given topic via Technorati in mere seconds on my own, and I can skim all of the relevant blogs simply by starting at one of them and jumping from blogroll to blogroll.

Basically, they’ve re-created The Huffington Post with less original content and a different ideological slant. Why do I need as my media gatekeepers people who’ve long proclaimed the ossification of the old gatekeepers?

By: Murdoc

Murdoc — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:08:32 +0000

I applied for and received membership almost immediately after Pajamas Media was announced, though I’m sure I would have been among those dropped later. I’m a believer in the “new media” movement and in a blog network-ish model.

At the time, I couldn’t figure out exactly why I was supposed to sign a contract. I didn’t understand exactly what Pajamas was going to do. I still don’t.

Maybe in the end I’ll wish I had joined up. Right now it ain’t really looking like it, though.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:32:40 +0000

also…I don’t think that the common statement was that the Internet was created for nuclear survivability is actually true. See this brief Internet history written by Larry Roberts, one of the original Internet designers:

http://www.ziplink.net/~lroberts/InternetChronology.html

By: Shannon Love

Shannon Love — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:21:14 +0000

The OSM site does have that designed-by-committee look.

By: corbusier

corbusier — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 16:09:32 +0000

I’m a bit underwhelmed by OSM. Beyond the confusion of their business model, the site suffers from a poor layout and a dearth of different kinds of visible content. Drudge does a much better job of this, in spite of the lack of flashy graphics. I find LGF has a similar problem as well. I’m working on graphics right now, and I sure do appreciate those who do it well.

By: David Foster

David Foster — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 15:26:50 +0000

I think what OSM is doing is interesting and potentially very important. However, I’m concerned about the site design. The home page is very, very cluttered, and reminds me of the look of some of the MSM attempts at web products.

I don’t think we have yet discovered the best way of organizing and displaying text on-line, but in general simpler is better.

By: Steven Den Beste

Steven Den Beste — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:55:32 +0000

Dennis the Peasant didn’t “jump ship”, he was booted out by Roger Simon. This happened about the same time as they unceremoniously dumped 230 sites which had previous been told they were part of the system.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 14:08:36 +0000

Is it just me, or does their logo have that "going-down-the-drain" look already built in?

By: Omnibus Driver

Omnibus Driver — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:59:17 +0000

I am simply amazed that they’ve been able to raise $3.5 million in venture capital. Bad business model. Seeming lack of due diligence in choosing/trademarking name. (Not to mention a complete lack of imagination.) They are not a moving target. They are sitting ducks. And it’s a shame, because there are some brilliant writers in that bunch.

I just keep getting the feeling that it’s the dot-com boom and bust all over again. A few people are going to make a LOT of money… and a LOT of people are going to get burned.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 13:08:29 +0000

I looked at Pajamas/OSM a while ago but didn’t understand the business model and decided to pass. I wish them all the best.

Viable business models for news-and-opinion blogs appear to be developing slowly. The Kaus/Drum/Sullivan model of paid blogging seems to work for a few. Sponsored ads like those of BlogAds and Intrade work well. (Unfortunately, on this blog a lot of the revenue gets eaten up by expenses like hookers, envelopes full of cash and web hosting.)

Context-sensitive ads do not seem to work well for non-product-related sites, but I think this may be changing. One of the new schemes gives bloggers the option to select their own key words. I think this system might work for book reviews and other conceptual writing that can nonetheless be tied to particular products. I don’t think the ad company gets it (they rejected this blog, for instance), but over time they or someone else will probably figure it out and we will have more options.

By: ed in texas

ed in texas — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 12:04:01 +0000

Yeah, but the deal is, the experiments you learn the most from are the ones that fail. That’s because they teach you what you’re wrong about. If it doesn’t work, there will be reasons why it doesn’t work, which will indicate what will work.
Sorry, I’m getting pedantic here.

By: Dan from Madison

Dan from Madison — Thu, 17 Nov 2005 11:36:16 +0000

I just checked out their homepage and how…boring. AP news feeds? If I want to read AP, I will go to AP or pick up the local paper!As an interesting aside, Charles Johnson over at Little Green Footballs, who is one of the founders of OSM has made boatloads of posts over the past year shredding AP. Like you said, I hope this thing doesn’t bring down some good blogs with it. Ahh, that’s what they get for not inviting me with my 150 or so uniques a day. If this is all they have to offer, I will just keep parked here and a few other blogs. I am interested in what Jonathan has to say about it.