Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Simsbury, CT
Posts: 40

goodthatway.com

Moderators, if this isn't allowed, please accept my apologies and delete it. I wanted to advertise my new web site (http://goodthatway.com). It covers all manner of gadgets and technology including, but not limited to, smartphones and PDAs. Being brand spanking new, there's only a few news items and not much activity in the forums, but I welcome one and all to come check it out and participate and/or give me your feedback.

As Treo owners, you may also be interested in checking out the mobile-friendly version of the site (which includes the forums, BTW) at http://goodthatway.com/mobile . I haven't linked to the mobile version on my front page because I wanted to tweak it some more. Please give me your feedback regarding ways that the mobile version can be improved.

Thanks,

Scott

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http://goodthatway.com
- news and commentary on the tech industry -

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 734

For what it's worth, I don't like the tone you take with your site.

"Lazy Americans rediscover the outdoors"
"Get $50 For Trading Your Fat, Ugly PPC For A Palm"
"Independent Study Verifies Palms Rule, PPCs Drool"

I don't like.

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<a href="http://www.kurtramsauer.com">KurtRamsauer.com</a>

Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Simsbury, CT
Posts: 40

Kurt, thanks for the feedback. Until the site has been around for a while, it's probably difficult to understand the "feel" I'm going for, though it's certainly possible that I could be headed down the wrong path altogether. In a nutshell, my site is about the technology industry, gadgets, and even about the "geek" community itself. But as someone who is very interested in the issues of usability, value, and consumer-advocacy, I'm also hoping to serve people who are interested in technology but aren't "geeks." It's a difficult balance to report on the latest and greatest technology but also be honest (based on my personal opinions) about whether some of these things are really worth the money. I'm also hoping to shine a light on some questionable behavior by manufacturers, and encourage discussion about it, so you can expect to see me discuss hardware/software problems which go ignored by the manufacturers as well as some of the "spin" they put on things.

The other thing I'm going for is trying to make it all a bit humorous. Rather than dryly report the news, I'm going for a similar feel to "The Register"s headlines and one-liners. So, these headlines are definitely meant to have a tongue-in-cheek feel. In the case of some of the Palm vs. PPC news items, for example, I'm essentially taking the otherwise boring (to non-geek's at least) marketing spin and re-phrasing it in a more sensational manner. These headlines should not be interpreted as if they are my personal opinions (e.g. - I don't think Palms rule and PPCs drool ). In order to get a feel for what my personal views are, you need to read the full articles/news items, rather than just the headlines (the sensationalized headlines are meant to draw you in). That said, based on two of the anonymous postings I've gotten on my forums, there will still be some who don't "get it."

In short, I'm trying to be a little different than the average technology news site and a little more fun. The tongue-in-cheek headlines don't come as easy as I'd like and I'm trying to perfect the art of saying something clever while not being offensive.

Scott

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http://goodthatway.com
- news and commentary on the tech industry -

Registered: Oct 2001
Location: Simsbury, CT
Posts: 40

By the way, one of the things I haven't adjusted to is the idea of publishing something and letting it be final. I've been breaking one of the cardinal rules this week and re-working some of my articles (and the headlines and one-liners) even after I've officially "published" them. I won't be able to get away with this if/when I get more visitors to my site, but since I'm still getting the hang of it, I'm allowing myself a little extra leeway there. So, for example, one of the headlines you mentioned is a little different now.

Instead of:

Amazon Starts Shipping Segway
-Lazy Americans rediscover the outdoors

...it now reads:

Amazon Starts Shipping Segway
-Geeks to venture outdoors this Memorial Day

Not sure if that one's any funnier and/or less offensive. I'll probably think up something I like even better later but I have to let go sometime.

Scott

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http://goodthatway.com
- news and commentary on the tech industry -