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Author Topic: And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.  (Read 5290 times)

Offline Paddy

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« on: November 23, 2009, 05:42:36 PM »
http://www.macworld.com/article/144037/200...oft_google.html

If Robert Murdoch and his dreck disappear from the universe entirely, it won't bother me. I'm sure as heck not going to PAY to see content on any of his "news" outlets' websites!
« Last Edit: November 23, 2009, 05:43:02 PM by Paddy »
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Offline Jack W

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2009, 05:58:57 PM »
Good old M$.

Trying always to get the advantage.

Some things never change.
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Offline kbeartx

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2009, 07:31:28 PM »
I'm pretty sure Mr. Murdoch's first name is Rupert, not Robert.

Kb cool.gif
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2009, 08:34:32 PM »
That's right , kbear! It's really Rupert Mordoch!

Pictures at ten (online right now!). tease.gif
« Last Edit: November 23, 2009, 08:35:19 PM by Xairbusdriver »
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Offline Paddy

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #4 on: November 23, 2009, 11:26:33 PM »
Er...yes. Sorry...typo. tongue.gif

However, I'm not the only one to make that mistake!

Pretty funny to see it posted under a tag line saying "100 years of journalistic excellence"!!! rolleyes.gif
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Offline Highmac

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2009, 01:53:43 AM »
News International's The Sun (at present anti-Labour) ran a story recently about Gordon Brown mis-spelling the name of a soldier in his letter of condolence to the mother. The Guardian (known affectionately as the Grauniad for its own illustrious history of typos long before they became "fashionable") reported that The Sun then had to apologise for getting the mother's name wrong in its own website story.... As one comment says "Pot, kettle, black".

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Neil
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Offline Highmac

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2009, 02:14:25 AM »
... and on the original topic....
From another Guardian report:
QUOTE
For the newspapers, of course, the question is whether Microsoft's dollars can make up for the loss of traffic that Google generates for them.

Which rather contradicts the MacWorld report that Murdoch's papers make no money out of the search engines. They presumably do make money - from the ads seen by people sent to their sites.

And, from the comments:
QUOTE
The management of both firms has gone senile. Theory is, if you tie two rocks together, they sink slower.
                 laughhard.gif              laughhard.gif
« Last Edit: November 24, 2009, 02:15:16 AM by Highmac »
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Neil
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Offline Paddy

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #7 on: November 24, 2009, 08:29:17 AM »
Love that comment, Neil!! toothgrin.gif

Also, back to the original discussion, I also can't fathom how NewsCorp think they're going to make money by charging for content, either - practically every general news site that has tried it has given up that model because nobody is willing to pay. I realize that news organizations are having a tough time of it - I worked at a newspaper for 2 years - but charging for content will drive people away, not bring them in droves. And removing yourself from the most popular search engine on the planet? Surefire suicide - nobody will FIND your content, let alone pay for it!
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #8 on: November 24, 2009, 08:54:00 AM »
Charging for content will work as soon as they can figure out how to keep anyone else from copying it to another site and offering it for free or even less. I suspect the cost of that "solution" will be the final nail in print news.

The next question is, who will then supply the news that others are copying and giving away? Sure, 'Citizen Reporters' can supply what they see. But what do they know about what they see? What did they not see? What does someone closer to the subject know that doesn't even get asked, much less reported?

"Journalists" are not "pure" but they're better than a bunch of amateurs in the long run, in my humble opinion. One way or another, real news will have to be paid for or we will end up even more ignorant than we are. The "Free Press" does not refer to the costs of providing its dissemination.

OTOH, I'm all for Murdoch shooting himself in some particular bodily part. clap.gif rofl.gif And what better "partner" than Microsoft? After all, their known for "innovation!" rolleyes.gif
« Last Edit: November 25, 2009, 02:15:40 AM by Highmac »
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Offline Paddy

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2009, 10:55:07 AM »
I agree Jim, but until EVERYONE charges for content, the paid model is competing against the "free" model. This is particularly problematic in the realm of general news - there seems to be less resistance to paying for specialized news such as the Wall Street Journal provides. And if news outlets can make a go of the "free" (ad-supported) model, the paid model will always have difficulty in competing. As noted in the article below, to add to the difficulties of the commercial newspapers in the UK there is the taxpayer-supported and very well-respected BBC - which is free. Canada has the CBC.

Good discussion of the entire situation here:

http://www.wordtracker.com/academy/newspap...ke-money-online
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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And in the "if you can't beat 'em, buy them" dept.
« Reply #10 on: November 24, 2009, 12:47:00 PM »
I completely agree, I was just looking at the problem from a different perspective. My real point is, no one is willing to pay for something when the identical thing is free. I always thought the way to make money was to provide something which people are more than happy to pay for. Sounds like he'd like the government to provide him a profit so he doesn't really have to compete or provide something worth paying for. dntknw.gif

I really don't mind him getting Google to de-list the company's 'products.' And I'm even willing to let M$ throw their cash at him! laughhard.gif But, to be legal, I would think that the products should be available for sale to any search engine that wanted to pay, even if some couldn't come up with the price. May not sound "fair," but "news" is, so far, not a controlled commodity. The "owner" can set whatever price he wants. dntknw.gif If that means dragging MS down with him, I have no problem with it. tiphat.gif

I wonder if they shred/burn all hard copies of their printed work? Paranoid.gif You wouldn't want any 'dumpster divers' gathering their news! nono.gif smile.gif

As an aside, but related, a good friend of ours decided not to renew his subscription to the only local paper. They "discovered" this and called asking why he didn't renew. "Local news and Editorials are slanted in their reporting." The paper asked if they gave him a significant discount, would he re-consider subscribing. He simply asked, "Would that change the slant?" End of phone call...
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THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
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