Sunday, January 29, 2006

Rant: theINQUIRER is a sold out!

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine who frequently visit the site and a fellow fanboy, sent me an SMS (Short Message Service or Text Message) inquiring (pun intended) why I haven't posted the news about theINQUIRER. No, not the news posted on their website, but about their website.

Well, I said I don't really care about the status since I don't value the articles posted there. But then again, after giving it a thought, I ponder why I don't like the site in the first place, why I treat most if not all, of their articles trash, why I don't get excited by their news postings.

So looking back, and checking the site again, I tried to refresh my memory, of what really makes me look at that site the way I "look" at it: a so-so site. True, the site might have millions of hits, visitors, members, and what nots. But gaming site, porn site and torrents site might be the same, or even getting more hits. So I don't value the site by the number of hits, that's for sure. Sometimes, first impression do last, and while I have forgotten the true cause of my dislike for the site, I somehow have mentally condition myself to dislike the site without actually having to remember what made me dislike it in the first place because of my first impression.

After a brief tour back to the site, and reading some of the articles, I vividly remember the reason. No, it's not the blandness of the site layout and design. The site is full of rumors. Rumors, rumors, rumors. Well, rumors doesn't make the site bad and this doesn't make me look at that site as "so so". But it's the combination of rumors and hard facts. Seems ironic eh? But really, the site posts rumors, and at the same time, hard facts. In some cases, rumors and facts are posted in a single article, and if you are a weak minded reader, you will not know how to separate facts from fiction, how to separate downright fanboyism to valid criticsm. Well, I guess that's why there's a 'fricition' portion on their war cry tag line, sort of a disclaimer but not really.

With my faith and reason known, I did thought of what might happen to the site. Maybe the acquisition may turn out to be good, thought about what will they become. The team up may even cause better news story telling, and article postings. Maybe the rumors will still linger, but confine them to a single article not mixing with facts. Why, well they are now under a big umbrella of a "known" business publications, being more careful of news posting and be more exact to article posting should be improved, or they risk tainting the credibility of the whole network that composed of Computing, IT Week and CRN in Business Technology Group of VNU.

This year, 2006, has brought many changes: Intel® announced their new identity, Dell™ released a true gaming machine, Apple® showcased the fruit of the parnership with Chipzilla, and many more. Maybe, there's something to be excited with theINQUIRER after all, maybe it's time for me to have a change of heart and look at the site differently, maybe the sold out web site will not change after all, maybe...
VNU Business Publications Ltd, the London-based publishing arm of VNU Business Media Europe (BME), has purchased The Inquirer, www.theinquirer.net, one of the leading technology news sites. The investment is part of VNU’s ongoing strategy to enhance its online portfolio and transform its business into a fully cross-media content publishing organisation.

Source:theINQUIRER

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