Mar 112013
 

sxsw

Never mind Al Gore, Neil Gaiman, or Elon Musk, all of whom spoke at SXSW over the last few days. It’s Grumpy Cat that has been on everyone’s lips. Whether for good — after all, who doesn’t love a sweet kitty, even with a taciturn expression? — or for bad (the poor kitty has had to deal with an unbelievable number of people pawing at her), it would be hard to find a bigger story here this week.

This cannot be good for SXSW.

Over the years, this interactive festival has been the launching pad for some pretty amazing technology. Twitter exploded here in 2007, and Foursquare launched here in 2009. GroupMe had its public coming-out at SXSW, and so did people discovery apps like Highlight.

This year, no one really expected any new apps to break out, or for there to be any real big news or controversy. But I’m willing to bet that no one expected that the biggest story of all would be a small cat with a grumpy face.

For several days now, tens of thousands of people have been prowling around the streets of downtown Austin, attending a billion panels, keynotes, featured sessions, parties, meetups, and so forth. Many of the smartest people in the industry have shared their wisdom, and thousands have happily listened during an impressive selection of talks available to badge-holders.

But ask any veteran SXSW attendee, and I’m willing to bet that you’ll hear a similar story: the energy level has been low. There’s no buzz about anything. There’s a few interesting new apps — Takes and MessageMe come to mind — but in general, there hasn’t been much worth talking about, at least among companies that had yet to be in the public conversation.

READ MORE:  If Grumpy Cat is the biggest news of all, is SXSW in trouble? | SXSW – CNET News.

 

 


 

Feb 192013
 

mailonline

WITH ITS FOUR-FOOT-LONG HOME PAGES AND HUNDREDS OF SIDEBAR IMAGES, THE MAIL ONLINE BREAKS EVERY RULE OF WEB DESIGN. IT’S ALSO WINNING THE WEB AND DESIGN AWARDS.

During the average workday, I allow myself to take a couple “Internet breaks,” little bursts of Tumblr and Gawker and other forms of web candy that tug at my attention span like a needy kid. There’s one web threshold I never step over on a weekday, though: the Mail Online. The online outlet of the British tabloid is a one-way ticket to an hours-long surfing spree of celebrity gossip and moral outrage. It’s not web candy–this is web crack.

And it’s not just me. The Mail Online now outperforms The New York Times, The Guardian, and pretty much every other online news property in terms of unique visitors. It generated almost $40 million last year, an increase of 500% since 2008. I’ve always wondered at the remarkable magnetic pull of the website, which isn’t particularly beautiful and isn’t known for its in-depth reportage. “Mail Online breaks just about every web design rule in the book,” Jakob Nielsen yes, that Nielsen has said of the site. Yet, as Nielsen adds, “the traffic figures speak for themselves.” What keeps so many of us coming back for more heaping servings of non-stories, even when we know that’s what we’re getting?

MORE:  4 Lessons From The Web’s Most Ruthlessly Addictive Site