The Awl http://www.theawl.com/ Be Less Stupid Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:50:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.2 Chris Anderson Has A Divine New Idea In FREE Housing For Humans! http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-has-a-divine-new-idea-in-free-housing-for-humans http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-has-a-divine-new-idea-in-free-housing-for-humans#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:50:38 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-has-a-divine-new-idea-in-free-housing-for-humans ADVICE FROM CHRIS ANDERSONA helpful recession tip from the Twitter of Wired editor (and author of Free) Chris Anderson! Oh, let's click through! First sentence: "DANIEL SUELO LIVES IN A CAVE."

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]]> ADVICE FROM CHRIS ANDERSONA helpful recession tip from the Twitter of Wired editor (and author of Free) Chris Anderson! Oh, let's click through! First sentence: "DANIEL SUELO LIVES IN A CAVE."

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-has-a-divine-new-idea-in-free-housing-for-humans/feed 3 Chris Anderson's 'Free' Anecdote Comes To Life, Calls Chris Anderson Wrong http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-andersons-free-anecdote-comes-to-life-calls-chris-anderson-wrong http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-andersons-free-anecdote-comes-to-life-calls-chris-anderson-wrong#comments Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:26:24 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-andersons-free-anecdote-comes-to-life-calls-chris-anderson-wrong Muller, MullingAirport book writers have always loved their anecdotes. But sometimes the anecdotes do not enjoy being such! Particularly when the events of their anecdotage are totally misconstrued. The anecdote in this case is the career of UC Berkeley professor Richard A. Muller. In Wired editor Chris Anderson's Free, Anderson says that, because Muller put his physic lectures on YouTube and got lots of attention, he got a book deal and sold more books. In the actual world, however, Muller sold his ninth book to an editor he'd worked with before. And when the book came out, he emailed everyone who'd written in about his YouTube videos, and found "no discernible increase" in sales from doing so-though he got bumps in sales from doing NPR and appearing in newspapers. Neither of which are Free™ to produce, by the way! The best part is the end of the article that explains all this, when Chris Anderson comes in and says that the professor is WRONG about his experience and life and should get back in the anecdote box.

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]]> Muller, MullingAirport book writers have always loved their anecdotes. But sometimes the anecdotes do not enjoy being such! Particularly when the events of their anecdotage are totally misconstrued. The anecdote in this case is the career of UC Berkeley professor Richard A. Muller. In Wired editor Chris Anderson's Free, Anderson says that, because Muller put his physic lectures on YouTube and got lots of attention, he got a book deal and sold more books. In the actual world, however, Muller sold his ninth book to an editor he'd worked with before. And when the book came out, he emailed everyone who'd written in about his YouTube videos, and found "no discernible increase" in sales from doing so-though he got bumps in sales from doing NPR and appearing in newspapers. Neither of which are Free™ to produce, by the way! The best part is the end of the article that explains all this, when Chris Anderson comes in and says that the professor is WRONG about his experience and life and should get back in the anecdote box.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-andersons-free-anecdote-comes-to-life-calls-chris-anderson-wrong/feed 7 What Are the Right and Wrong Ways to Get Access to the Washington Post? http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/what-are-the-right-and-wrong-ways-to-get-access-to-the-washington-post http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/what-are-the-right-and-wrong-ways-to-get-access-to-the-washington-post#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:37:26 +0000 Tom Scocca http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/what-are-the-right-and-wrong-ways-to-get-access-to-the-washington-post The Shadow EditorsesTom Scocca: Even if you set aside the money. Which is hard to do! But set aside the money. Why is a newspaper offering to grease the way to backroom meetings between people who want policy and people who make policy?

Choire Sicha: Is the answer "the confusion of influence and influence-peddling"?

Tom Scocca: Here are three editorials from Thursday's paper, from the page that has Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth's name on it.

1.

...Congress did not legislate transparency for its own members' manipulation of the bailout fund.....Members of Congress must avoid even the appearance of manipulating TARP for the benefit of favored constituents, much less themselves. So far, their efforts have been transparently insufficient.

Choire Sicha: Stupid Congress!

Tom Scocca: 2.

Judge Hogan wrote...'Providing the public with access to the charges levied against these detainees...ensures greater oversight of the detentions and these proceedings. As long as public access does not come at the expense of the litigation interest of [the detainees] of national security, the Court believes the public has a...right to access the returns.' Perfectly put.

3.

The real issue is the council's ill-advised effort to stop the recording of a public meeting from being aired. Even more troubling is that a council whose members are so obtuse about what the public is entitled to know will now apparently have total control of a public access channel.

Choire Sicha: Stupid courts, stupid councils!

Tom Scocca: Secrecy! Hidden dealing! Suppression of information! If only Senator Inouye had invited his bank and the bank regulators over to Katharine Weymouth's place for brunch.

Choire Sicha: Well, fortunately, the marketing department of the Washington Post had an interest in transparency!

Tom Scocca: Maybe they should just give the marketing guy $3 million in hush money, like Brauchli got from Murdoch when he left the Journal.

Choire Sicha: Oh boy.

Tom Scocca: I like how Howie Kurtz compared it to the New Yorker Festival.

A number of media companies charge substantial fees for conferences with big-name executives and government officials, but in many cases the sessions are open for news coverage.

[Atlantic Media, Wall Street Journal, blah blah conferences blah...] The New Yorker hosts an annual festival in Manhattan featuring its editors and writers along with other journalists, authors and entertainers. The gathering planned for October is sponsored by American Airlines, Delta, Westin Hotels and Banana Republic.

Uh and the New York Observer has a softball team. That's not apples and oranges, that's apples and Tang. Is this where I disclose that I have unsuccessfully sought editing employment at Brauchli's Post?

Choire Sicha: I bet you were making a secret arrangement in which you exchanged MONEY for ACCESS.

Tom Scocca: Maybe if I'd stapled a $20 to my application letter....

Choire Sicha: That seems... low. Dollar-wise, I mean.

Tom Scocca: Well, people with money don't need to apply for jobs. Maybe we should start having brunches.

Choire Sicha: Sort of like the Laurel Touby Mediabistro model? Wherein freelancers pay to mingle with editors and advertising people?

Tom Scocca: How much did her site sell for?

Choire Sicha: Oh, well, she sort of sold herself into long-term slavery for some unspecified unclear small millions, which probably in the end works out to about $60K in her pocket.

Tom Scocca: Not bad!

[Some time passes.]

Tom Scocca: Yeah, not so persuasive, the publisher's note.

Choire Sicha: But there is however a great Joyce Wadler story in the Times!

Tom Scocca: Ha, wow.

12:49 Tom Scocca:came back
1:04 You have disconnected
9:12 Monday, July 6, 2009
You have connected

Tom Scocca: So the Katharine Weymouth letter was not especially soothing. Although who can't but enjoy a "Dear Reader:" salutation?

Choire Sicha: Oh brother.

Tom Scocca: K. Weymouth seemed undecided, however, as to whether she was addressing a dear singular reader or all the readers at once.

"I apologize to our readers for the mistakes I made in this case. We remain committed to you, our readers....I hope that we can continue to count you as a reader..."

Choire Sicha: Well you know: who was going to edit her?

Tom Scocca: That is always the problem. And it needed an edit. It needed the sort of edit in which the editor asks the writer questions about what the writer is trying to say. E.g. "The flier was not the only problem. Our mistake was to plan and organize an off-the-record dinner with journalists and power brokers paid for by a sponsor. We will not organize such events."

Tom Scocca: As a reader–a dear reader–I am not quite able to understand what is going on in the second sentence there. There are three components listed.

Tom Scocca: [Off the record] + [with journalists and power brokers] + [paid for by a sponsor]. Is it the presence of all three parts in concert that made this wrong? Would a sponsor-funded on-the-record meeting of journalists and power brokers be OK?

Choire Sicha: Actually, it might be!

Tom Scocca: Possibly! What about a non-funded off-the-record meeting of journalists and power brokers?

Choire Sicha: Well. Corporate communications are intended to persuade and obscure simultaneously. That is why they are both specific and sweeping.

Tom Scocca: What is a "power broker," exactly? Does that go on someone's business card?

Choire Sicha: I'm considering it.

Tom Scocca: "Assistant Deputy Power Broker." But wait, I got so tangled up in the internal logic of that second sentence that I didn't even get to the confusing relationship between the second sentence and the third.

Tom Scocca: "We did this. We will not do this." Nor does it get much clearer when she elaborates lower down:

While I do believe there is a legitimate way to hold such events, to the extent that we hold events in the future, large or small, we will review the guidelines for them with The Post's top editors and make sure those guidelines are strictly followed. Further, any conferences or similar events The Post sponsors will be on the record.
Again, I'm losing track of what "such events" means, if it doesn't mean such events.

Choire Sicha: Right? These events are like those events. Except not scandalous.

Tom Scocca: The unhelpful framing is:

Like other media companies, The Post hosts conferences and live events that bring together journalists, government officials and other leaders for discussions of importance.... We had planned to extend this business to include smaller gatherings, a practice that has become common at other media companies.
Which other media companies? Is she blaming it on the New Yorker Festival too, like Howie Kurtz?

Choire Sicha: Well that is a shameless gathering of old ladies and Malcolm Gladwell, so, as well she might! Talk about access-trading.

Tom Scocca: Yeah, it's rife with conflicts. I don't get it. Is she going to sell tickets to brunch at her house? That is, to the general public, and for less than $25,000?

Choire Sicha: That'd be genius.

Tom Scocca: "And while we will continue to pursue new lines of business, we will never allow those new avenues to compromise our integrity." "Never" reads a little funny there. Perhaps a "never again" would fit better, in context. Because your integrity done been compromised, lady. I can't really accept a "we'll never do these things" from someone who did this thing.

Choire Sicha: Also the specter of "new lines of business" seems super-funky. I hadn't thought of these pay-per-views as a "line of business" per se?

Tom Scocca: Seriously. Stick to selling test prep to rich kids who are too dumb to get into college without it, Washington Post Company.

Tom Scocca: Anyway, at the risk of getting a tendentious bullet-pointed letter of lawyerly jibber-jabber: isn't this more or less Dan Abrams' business model, in this new thing that Howie Kurtz got an "exclusive peek" at?

Choire Sicha: Eh.

Tom Scocca: Consult with journalists!

Choire Sicha: Well, you know, I've sort of finally figured out the obvious?

Tom Scocca: Share! I am very slow on the uptake.

Choire Sicha: If you don't know anyone who's consulting for Abrams Research Whatever, and I don't know anyone who's consulting for Abrams Thinktank Hoo-Ha.... then is it not obvious that The Abrams Society Consultants Inc. is actually just pimping out a lot of unemployed j-school grads and hacky Mediabistro freelancers and having them "consult" even though they do not know anything?

Tom Scocca: So it's only unethical in the standard way that all consulting is unethical?

Choire Sicha: Sure! Or you know: enrichening. But you know: who's the sucker? A: The dumb client? B: The knowledge-less consultant? C: All of the above.

Tom Scocca: Gosh, remember when our whole economy worked like that?

Choire Sicha: DO I.

Tom Scocca: Does that mean we don't have to read Mediaite? I can't even pronounce "Mediaite." It's like one of those words that you reread until it loses all meaning and just becomes a wobbling string of letters, except it's pre-repeated for you. It falls apart before you even get to the end of it once. Mediaiaieiaiedaieadissippinanaaeititicacaieaea... It's like "mediate" by way of "Inglourious."

Choire Sicha: Oh gosh.

Tom Scocca: See also: Dilbert.

Tom Scocca: There's the business model.

Choire Sicha: How is THAT Free™?

Tom Scocca: It's free for the boss.

Tom Scocca: Oh, FUCK YEAH!

Choire Sicha: OH. Your BETE NOIRE!

Tom Scocca: Incandescents forever, man!



Previously: Malcolm Gladwell on Chris Anderson's 'Free'

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]]> The Shadow EditorsesTom Scocca: Even if you set aside the money. Which is hard to do! But set aside the money. Why is a newspaper offering to grease the way to backroom meetings between people who want policy and people who make policy?

Choire Sicha: Is the answer "the confusion of influence and influence-peddling"?

Tom Scocca: Here are three editorials from Thursday's paper, from the page that has Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth's name on it.

1.

...Congress did not legislate transparency for its own members' manipulation of the bailout fund.....Members of Congress must avoid even the appearance of manipulating TARP for the benefit of favored constituents, much less themselves. So far, their efforts have been transparently insufficient.

Choire Sicha: Stupid Congress!

Tom Scocca: 2.

Judge Hogan wrote...'Providing the public with access to the charges levied against these detainees...ensures greater oversight of the detentions and these proceedings. As long as public access does not come at the expense of the litigation interest of [the detainees] of national security, the Court believes the public has a...right to access the returns.' Perfectly put.

3.

The real issue is the council's ill-advised effort to stop the recording of a public meeting from being aired. Even more troubling is that a council whose members are so obtuse about what the public is entitled to know will now apparently have total control of a public access channel.

Choire Sicha: Stupid courts, stupid councils!

Tom Scocca: Secrecy! Hidden dealing! Suppression of information! If only Senator Inouye had invited his bank and the bank regulators over to Katharine Weymouth's place for brunch.

Choire Sicha: Well, fortunately, the marketing department of the Washington Post had an interest in transparency!

Tom Scocca: Maybe they should just give the marketing guy $3 million in hush money, like Brauchli got from Murdoch when he left the Journal.

Choire Sicha: Oh boy.

Tom Scocca: I like how Howie Kurtz compared it to the New Yorker Festival.

A number of media companies charge substantial fees for conferences with big-name executives and government officials, but in many cases the sessions are open for news coverage.

[Atlantic Media, Wall Street Journal, blah blah conferences blah...] The New Yorker hosts an annual festival in Manhattan featuring its editors and writers along with other journalists, authors and entertainers. The gathering planned for October is sponsored by American Airlines, Delta, Westin Hotels and Banana Republic.

Uh and the New York Observer has a softball team. That's not apples and oranges, that's apples and Tang. Is this where I disclose that I have unsuccessfully sought editing employment at Brauchli's Post?

Choire Sicha: I bet you were making a secret arrangement in which you exchanged MONEY for ACCESS.

Tom Scocca: Maybe if I'd stapled a $20 to my application letter....

Choire Sicha: That seems... low. Dollar-wise, I mean.

Tom Scocca: Well, people with money don't need to apply for jobs. Maybe we should start having brunches.

Choire Sicha: Sort of like the Laurel Touby Mediabistro model? Wherein freelancers pay to mingle with editors and advertising people?

Tom Scocca: How much did her site sell for?

Choire Sicha: Oh, well, she sort of sold herself into long-term slavery for some unspecified unclear small millions, which probably in the end works out to about $60K in her pocket.

Tom Scocca: Not bad!

[Some time passes.]

Tom Scocca: Yeah, not so persuasive, the publisher's note.

Choire Sicha: But there is however a great Joyce Wadler story in the Times!

Tom Scocca: Ha, wow.

12:49 Tom Scocca:came back
1:04 You have disconnected
9:12 Monday, July 6, 2009
You have connected

Tom Scocca: So the Katharine Weymouth letter was not especially soothing. Although who can't but enjoy a "Dear Reader:" salutation?

Choire Sicha: Oh brother.

Tom Scocca: K. Weymouth seemed undecided, however, as to whether she was addressing a dear singular reader or all the readers at once.

"I apologize to our readers for the mistakes I made in this case. We remain committed to you, our readers....I hope that we can continue to count you as a reader..."

Choire Sicha: Well you know: who was going to edit her?

Tom Scocca: That is always the problem. And it needed an edit. It needed the sort of edit in which the editor asks the writer questions about what the writer is trying to say. E.g. "The flier was not the only problem. Our mistake was to plan and organize an off-the-record dinner with journalists and power brokers paid for by a sponsor. We will not organize such events."

Tom Scocca: As a reader–a dear reader–I am not quite able to understand what is going on in the second sentence there. There are three components listed.

Tom Scocca: [Off the record] + [with journalists and power brokers] + [paid for by a sponsor]. Is it the presence of all three parts in concert that made this wrong? Would a sponsor-funded on-the-record meeting of journalists and power brokers be OK?

Choire Sicha: Actually, it might be!

Tom Scocca: Possibly! What about a non-funded off-the-record meeting of journalists and power brokers?

Choire Sicha: Well. Corporate communications are intended to persuade and obscure simultaneously. That is why they are both specific and sweeping.

Tom Scocca: What is a "power broker," exactly? Does that go on someone's business card?

Choire Sicha: I'm considering it.

Tom Scocca: "Assistant Deputy Power Broker." But wait, I got so tangled up in the internal logic of that second sentence that I didn't even get to the confusing relationship between the second sentence and the third.

Tom Scocca: "We did this. We will not do this." Nor does it get much clearer when she elaborates lower down:

While I do believe there is a legitimate way to hold such events, to the extent that we hold events in the future, large or small, we will review the guidelines for them with The Post's top editors and make sure those guidelines are strictly followed. Further, any conferences or similar events The Post sponsors will be on the record.
Again, I'm losing track of what "such events" means, if it doesn't mean such events.

Choire Sicha: Right? These events are like those events. Except not scandalous.

Tom Scocca: The unhelpful framing is:

Like other media companies, The Post hosts conferences and live events that bring together journalists, government officials and other leaders for discussions of importance.... We had planned to extend this business to include smaller gatherings, a practice that has become common at other media companies.
Which other media companies? Is she blaming it on the New Yorker Festival too, like Howie Kurtz?

Choire Sicha: Well that is a shameless gathering of old ladies and Malcolm Gladwell, so, as well she might! Talk about access-trading.

Tom Scocca: Yeah, it's rife with conflicts. I don't get it. Is she going to sell tickets to brunch at her house? That is, to the general public, and for less than $25,000?

Choire Sicha: That'd be genius.

Tom Scocca: "And while we will continue to pursue new lines of business, we will never allow those new avenues to compromise our integrity." "Never" reads a little funny there. Perhaps a "never again" would fit better, in context. Because your integrity done been compromised, lady. I can't really accept a "we'll never do these things" from someone who did this thing.

Choire Sicha: Also the specter of "new lines of business" seems super-funky. I hadn't thought of these pay-per-views as a "line of business" per se?

Tom Scocca: Seriously. Stick to selling test prep to rich kids who are too dumb to get into college without it, Washington Post Company.

Tom Scocca: Anyway, at the risk of getting a tendentious bullet-pointed letter of lawyerly jibber-jabber: isn't this more or less Dan Abrams' business model, in this new thing that Howie Kurtz got an "exclusive peek" at?

Choire Sicha: Eh.

Tom Scocca: Consult with journalists!

Choire Sicha: Well, you know, I've sort of finally figured out the obvious?

Tom Scocca: Share! I am very slow on the uptake.

Choire Sicha: If you don't know anyone who's consulting for Abrams Research Whatever, and I don't know anyone who's consulting for Abrams Thinktank Hoo-Ha.... then is it not obvious that The Abrams Society Consultants Inc. is actually just pimping out a lot of unemployed j-school grads and hacky Mediabistro freelancers and having them "consult" even though they do not know anything?

Tom Scocca: So it's only unethical in the standard way that all consulting is unethical?

Choire Sicha: Sure! Or you know: enrichening. But you know: who's the sucker? A: The dumb client? B: The knowledge-less consultant? C: All of the above.

Tom Scocca: Gosh, remember when our whole economy worked like that?

Choire Sicha: DO I.

Tom Scocca: Does that mean we don't have to read Mediaite? I can't even pronounce "Mediaite." It's like one of those words that you reread until it loses all meaning and just becomes a wobbling string of letters, except it's pre-repeated for you. It falls apart before you even get to the end of it once. Mediaiaieiaiedaieadissippinanaaeititicacaieaea... It's like "mediate" by way of "Inglourious."

Choire Sicha: Oh gosh.

Tom Scocca: See also: Dilbert.

Tom Scocca: There's the business model.

Choire Sicha: How is THAT Free™?

Tom Scocca: It's free for the boss.

Tom Scocca: Oh, FUCK YEAH!

Choire Sicha: OH. Your BETE NOIRE!

Tom Scocca: Incandescents forever, man!



Previously: Malcolm Gladwell on Chris Anderson's 'Free'

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/what-are-the-right-and-wrong-ways-to-get-access-to-the-washington-post/feed 3 Chris Anderson: "Crass, Reckless And Lazy"??? http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-crass-reckless-and-lazy http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-crass-reckless-and-lazy#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:47:22 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-crass-reckless-and-lazy I was going to spend the weekend reading Wired editor Chris Anderson's hot new airport tome Free, so as to go deeper into his explications of the future of business. I might learn something! (Sincerely.) But I did not! Instead I spent the weekend exchanging sums of money for products and services. But Janet Maslin at the Times has read it for me (us) and has come away unhappy.

Here is what he means by "Free": If you want to know what he really thinks, you're going to have to pay for more than his book. He acknowledges that he is giving his book away online, as well as selling it at the not-free price of $26.99, so he can be hired for much more lucrative speaking and consulting jobs.

"I've got a lot of kids, and college isn't getting any cheaper," he writes. He is sufficiently crass, reckless and lazy to have had someone else read the science-fiction books he uses to illustrate the perils of scarcity and abundance.

Still, Mr. Anderson has come up with a lively conversation piece....But after beating the drum for giveaways throughout most of his book, Mr. Anderson eventually acknowledges that his idea is in fact not viable. Such are the perils of his sloppily constructed sweeping argument.

Looking forward to seeing which fallacious bit of snark he uses to brush this one off on his Twitter. I'd go look now, but I unsubscribed, permanently, because it was making the internet a worse place for me.

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]]> I was going to spend the weekend reading Wired editor Chris Anderson's hot new airport tome Free, so as to go deeper into his explications of the future of business. I might learn something! (Sincerely.) But I did not! Instead I spent the weekend exchanging sums of money for products and services. But Janet Maslin at the Times has read it for me (us) and has come away unhappy.

Here is what he means by "Free": If you want to know what he really thinks, you're going to have to pay for more than his book. He acknowledges that he is giving his book away online, as well as selling it at the not-free price of $26.99, so he can be hired for much more lucrative speaking and consulting jobs.

"I've got a lot of kids, and college isn't getting any cheaper," he writes. He is sufficiently crass, reckless and lazy to have had someone else read the science-fiction books he uses to illustrate the perils of scarcity and abundance.

Still, Mr. Anderson has come up with a lively conversation piece....But after beating the drum for giveaways throughout most of his book, Mr. Anderson eventually acknowledges that his idea is in fact not viable. Such are the perils of his sloppily constructed sweeping argument.

Looking forward to seeing which fallacious bit of snark he uses to brush this one off on his Twitter. I'd go look now, but I unsubscribed, permanently, because it was making the internet a worse place for me.

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2 comments

]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/07/chris-anderson-crass-reckless-and-lazy/feed 2 States Lost A Quarter Of Income Tax This Year http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/states-lost-a-quarter-of-income-tax-this-year http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/states-lost-a-quarter-of-income-tax-this-year#comments Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:56:32 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/states-lost-a-quarter-of-income-tax-this-year "Personal income-tax collections, which account for about 36% of state revenues, dropped 26% in this year's January-April period." Hence in part why some of the ten states that must finish their budgets tonight may not. Ha, well, I didn't pay mine!

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]]> "Personal income-tax collections, which account for about 36% of state revenues, dropped 26% in this year's January-April period." Hence in part why some of the ten states that must finish their budgets tonight may not. Ha, well, I didn't pay mine!

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/states-lost-a-quarter-of-income-tax-this-year/feed 5 Malcolm Gladwell on Chris Anderson's "Free" http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-shadow-editors-malcolm-gladwell-on-chris-andersons-free http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-shadow-editors-malcolm-gladwell-on-chris-andersons-free#comments Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:14:33 +0000 Tom Scocca http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-shadow-editors-malcolm-gladwell-on-chris-andersons-free The Shadow EditorsesChoire Sicha: Do not miss how amusing it is to have Malcolm Gladwell review Chris Anderson in the New Yorker.
Tom Scocca: Wha-
Tom Scocca: Zhu-
Tom Scocca: Huff?
Choire Sicha: So, yes, for starters? Gladwell finally makes the point that "approaching zero" is nowhere the same as zero.
Tom Scocca: That's how Richard Pryor's embezzlement scheme worked in Superman III.
Tom Scocca: The fact that he heavily plagiarized to write the book is way too great.
Tom Scocca: It is like when Todd Marinovich became a dope fiend.
Choire Sicha: I do not know what your sports reference means but still I will agree with you. This review is sort of like one digital avatar space-battling another, also.
Choire Sicha: It's like War of the Speaker's Bureaus.
Tom Scocca: Right? MOTHRA V. MOTHRA.
Tom Scocca: "That said, it is not entirely clear what distinction is being marked between 'paying people to get other people to write' and paying people to write."
Tom Scocca: NOW it is!
Tom Scocca: "Free (Anderson honors it with a capital)"
Tom Scocca: Malcolm Gladwell is the last person on the planet who should be busting anybody's chops for jargony capitalizations.
Choire Sicha: You will see shortly that Gladwell demolishes Anderson's YouTube argument.
Tom Scocca: Yes. Gladwell is much better as a destroyer than as a creator!
Choire Sicha: This morning, Chris Anderson wrote this (on his Twitter, natch): "Malcolm Gladwell New Yorker review of Free now out. You can read it for free; I guess he wouldn't approve." Which is a hilarious and sad little snipe. Because, in fact, the cost of the New Yorker is not free! The New Yorker is a money-losing business.
Tom Scocca: Is it losing money now?
Choire Sicha: That is the word. Perhaps not! I am not privy to their balance sheets!
Tom Scocca:
Posner: A way to save newspapers is to outlaw linking
Becker-Posner Blog
Richard Posner suggests expanding copyright law to bar online access to copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent.

Choire Sicha: Wow, that is so sufficiently idiotic that it might actually undo anything right that Richard Posner has ever accidentally thought.
Tom Scocca: Has he ever accidentally thought anything right?
Choire Sicha: I don't know but wow, that is AMAZING.
Tom Scocca: It's classic Posner, because he's one of those assholes who thinks the superior force of his reasoning allows him to get to the essence of any topic better than the poor dimwits who actually think about it. So he's like, after consideration and analysis, I have concluded that newspapers need to force people to pay for online content. Problem solved!
Choire Sicha: Also to.... make it illegal... to notify online readers that something exists?
Tom Scocca: The idea of outlawing paraphrase is unbelievable.
Tom Scocca: I mean, I actually cannot believe it.
Tom Scocca: And I say this as someone who thinks HuffPo is a nest of thieves.
Choire Sicha: Chris Anderson would have a hard time believing it, since chunks of his book are badly paraphrased rewrites of Wikipedia.
Tom Scocca: Why does that story not have legs? It seems unambiguous.
Choire Sicha: Say you were the editor of Wired. And one of your reporters filed a story that had chunks of barely-rewritten Wikipedia. What would you do?
Choire Sicha: Would you, A, accept their apology?
Choire Sicha: Or, you know, B, ANYTHING ELSE.
Tom Scocca: Hm? Sorry, I started imagining and then I was imagining using my imaginary paycheck as imaginary editor of Wired to pay my bills.
Choire Sicha: Oh that sounds fun. But really it's not the editorship that pays the bills; it's book advances and speaking fees.
Tom Scocca: Yeah, I'd fire somebody. Why doesn't he speak for free?
Choire Sicha: I believe he does sometimes. But you see his speaker's fee APPROACHES zero. Slowly approaches. But compared to Bill Clinton? Definitely closer to zero.
Tom Scocca: And as long as the book's for sale, I think he doesn't have much room to tee-hee about a negative review being posted online for free.
Choire Sicha: I think you can get a free ebook of Free! Which you can download onto your free iPhone! (You got your iPhone for free, right?)
Tom Scocca: My iPhone?
Choire Sicha: Yes, those tin cans with a sticker from an actual Granny Smith on them?
Tom Scocca: I seem to have misplaced my iPhone. I think I left it in my weekend house.
Choire Sicha: Your weekend house that costs something approaching zero?
Tom Scocca: Oh, wait, I don't have a house.
Choire Sicha: Oh well. You should give more speeches. For money.
Tom Scocca: I should! They would be dynamic.

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]]> The Shadow EditorsesChoire Sicha: Do not miss how amusing it is to have Malcolm Gladwell review Chris Anderson in the New Yorker.
Tom Scocca: Wha-
Tom Scocca: Zhu-
Tom Scocca: Huff?
Choire Sicha: So, yes, for starters? Gladwell finally makes the point that "approaching zero" is nowhere the same as zero.
Tom Scocca: That's how Richard Pryor's embezzlement scheme worked in Superman III.
Tom Scocca: The fact that he heavily plagiarized to write the book is way too great.
Tom Scocca: It is like when Todd Marinovich became a dope fiend.
Choire Sicha: I do not know what your sports reference means but still I will agree with you. This review is sort of like one digital avatar space-battling another, also.
Choire Sicha: It's like War of the Speaker's Bureaus.
Tom Scocca: Right? MOTHRA V. MOTHRA.
Tom Scocca: "That said, it is not entirely clear what distinction is being marked between 'paying people to get other people to write' and paying people to write."
Tom Scocca: NOW it is!
Tom Scocca: "Free (Anderson honors it with a capital)"
Tom Scocca: Malcolm Gladwell is the last person on the planet who should be busting anybody's chops for jargony capitalizations.
Choire Sicha: You will see shortly that Gladwell demolishes Anderson's YouTube argument.
Tom Scocca: Yes. Gladwell is much better as a destroyer than as a creator!
Choire Sicha: This morning, Chris Anderson wrote this (on his Twitter, natch): "Malcolm Gladwell New Yorker review of Free now out. You can read it for free; I guess he wouldn't approve." Which is a hilarious and sad little snipe. Because, in fact, the cost of the New Yorker is not free! The New Yorker is a money-losing business.
Tom Scocca: Is it losing money now?
Choire Sicha: That is the word. Perhaps not! I am not privy to their balance sheets!
Tom Scocca:
Posner: A way to save newspapers is to outlaw linking
Becker-Posner Blog
Richard Posner suggests expanding copyright law to bar online access to copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent, or to bar linking to or paraphrasing copyrighted materials without the copyright holder's consent.

Choire Sicha: Wow, that is so sufficiently idiotic that it might actually undo anything right that Richard Posner has ever accidentally thought.
Tom Scocca: Has he ever accidentally thought anything right?
Choire Sicha: I don't know but wow, that is AMAZING.
Tom Scocca: It's classic Posner, because he's one of those assholes who thinks the superior force of his reasoning allows him to get to the essence of any topic better than the poor dimwits who actually think about it. So he's like, after consideration and analysis, I have concluded that newspapers need to force people to pay for online content. Problem solved!
Choire Sicha: Also to.... make it illegal... to notify online readers that something exists?
Tom Scocca: The idea of outlawing paraphrase is unbelievable.
Tom Scocca: I mean, I actually cannot believe it.
Tom Scocca: And I say this as someone who thinks HuffPo is a nest of thieves.
Choire Sicha: Chris Anderson would have a hard time believing it, since chunks of his book are badly paraphrased rewrites of Wikipedia.
Tom Scocca: Why does that story not have legs? It seems unambiguous.
Choire Sicha: Say you were the editor of Wired. And one of your reporters filed a story that had chunks of barely-rewritten Wikipedia. What would you do?
Choire Sicha: Would you, A, accept their apology?
Choire Sicha: Or, you know, B, ANYTHING ELSE.
Tom Scocca: Hm? Sorry, I started imagining and then I was imagining using my imaginary paycheck as imaginary editor of Wired to pay my bills.
Choire Sicha: Oh that sounds fun. But really it's not the editorship that pays the bills; it's book advances and speaking fees.
Tom Scocca: Yeah, I'd fire somebody. Why doesn't he speak for free?
Choire Sicha: I believe he does sometimes. But you see his speaker's fee APPROACHES zero. Slowly approaches. But compared to Bill Clinton? Definitely closer to zero.
Tom Scocca: And as long as the book's for sale, I think he doesn't have much room to tee-hee about a negative review being posted online for free.
Choire Sicha: I think you can get a free ebook of Free! Which you can download onto your free iPhone! (You got your iPhone for free, right?)
Tom Scocca: My iPhone?
Choire Sicha: Yes, those tin cans with a sticker from an actual Granny Smith on them?
Tom Scocca: I seem to have misplaced my iPhone. I think I left it in my weekend house.
Choire Sicha: Your weekend house that costs something approaching zero?
Tom Scocca: Oh, wait, I don't have a house.
Choire Sicha: Oh well. You should give more speeches. For money.
Tom Scocca: I should! They would be dynamic.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/the-shadow-editors-malcolm-gladwell-on-chris-andersons-free/feed 14 Impress Chris Anderson With Your "Awesome" Friends, Get Free Copies of "Free" http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/impress-chris-anderson-with-your-awesome-friends-get-free-copies-of-free http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/impress-chris-anderson-with-your-awesome-friends-get-free-copies-of-free#comments Tue, 16 Jun 2009 10:18:57 +0000 Choire Sicha http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/impress-chris-anderson-with-your-awesome-friends-get-free-copies-of-free OH THIS SHIT IS FREEWired editor Chris Anderson is giving away 200 free copies of his book, Free! (Pause for light laughter.) There are two ways to get a free copy of the book, he blogs. One is: "Impress us with your cool friends (you get FOUR books!)" Can't pull that off? "Impress us with your social media skillz (you get one book)." Wow. It gets... I guess the word is "grosser"?

Here is his application process:

Do have friends in high places? Or low, but very cool, places? Maybe kinda inbetween places but big in Japan? Just know awesome people?
Yes? Excellent. We'd like you to send them the book yourself. Here's how:
Send us an email to freethebook@gmail.com with the following:
Subject: Four books please!
I'm _____ and I actually know __[impressive person 1]__, __[less impressive person 2]___ and __[impressive to me even if you've never heard of them person 3]___. In fact, I know them so well that I know where they live! (Or at least I can ask them for their mailing address). Send me four signed books, and I'll keep one and send the other three along with a personal note from me.

Genius marketing? Totally horrible? ONLY THE MARKET CAN DECIDE.

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]]> OH THIS SHIT IS FREEWired editor Chris Anderson is giving away 200 free copies of his book, Free! (Pause for light laughter.) There are two ways to get a free copy of the book, he blogs. One is: "Impress us with your cool friends (you get FOUR books!)" Can't pull that off? "Impress us with your social media skillz (you get one book)." Wow. It gets... I guess the word is "grosser"?

Here is his application process:

Do have friends in high places? Or low, but very cool, places? Maybe kinda inbetween places but big in Japan? Just know awesome people?
Yes? Excellent. We'd like you to send them the book yourself. Here's how:
Send us an email to freethebook@gmail.com with the following:
Subject: Four books please!
I'm _____ and I actually know __[impressive person 1]__, __[less impressive person 2]___ and __[impressive to me even if you've never heard of them person 3]___. In fact, I know them so well that I know where they live! (Or at least I can ask them for their mailing address). Send me four signed books, and I'll keep one and send the other three along with a personal note from me.

Genius marketing? Totally horrible? ONLY THE MARKET CAN DECIDE.

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]]> http://www.theawl.com/2009/06/impress-chris-anderson-with-your-awesome-friends-get-free-copies-of-free/feed 7