Top 10 web design mistakes of 2003

Jakob N's annual whinge -- always worth reading.
(From UseIt.com)

XPress 6.1 nearing release

According to Think Secret we are just days away from a dot upgrade to QuarkXPress 6. If so we would have the astonishing scenario of Quark upgrading a product in something approaching the timescale they originally suggested. In November Quark indicated the XPress 6.1 would be available "in the near future". If it comes out in the next couple of weeks it's pretty much on time in my book...
(From Think Secret)

"Apple's come a long way; so can we"

I was bound to like this one. After lauding Apple's successful "high spirit" and risk-taking, Chris Heisel says: "Everyone says the end of newspapers is near. We’re antiquated, we can’t do anything right. We’ve got quality issues and a dwindling audience. They said the same thing about Apple ... I challenge the newspaper industry — let’s be Apple, not Dell." His recipe for 2004: 1, Take risks ("innovate, not duplicate"); 2, Focus on quality ("make quality out value proposition and our product differential"); 3, Make money, the right way ("no one said being a good company and making money are mutually exclusive").
(From Heisel.org)

ABC to begin digital edition testing

Following last week's decision to list digital edition readership figures, the UK Audit Bureau of Circulation is to undertake a programme of digital edition user testing with various magazine groups in early 2004. The aim is to test the similarity between print and digital editions. The move is seen as aa step towards persuading advertisers that digital edition readers should be included in headline circulation counts.
(From New Media Age)

Our readers are our readers

Think piece from Dave Morgan of "audience management company" Tacoda repeating the argument that news organisations should try harder to recognise that their readership in different media as being a single target, "the enterprises's total marketable audience". "Just as important as understanding how news site audiences differ (between print and web etc) is to understand how they are similar so that they can be sold as a larger package to advertisers."
(From Editor & Publisher)

OJR's 2003 roundup

Mark Glaser does a pundit poll assessing online journalism's big themes of 2003 -- inclufing blogs. Iraq, broadband, paid content, and advertising -- and giving predictions for 2004 -- more blogs, participatory journalism, politics, RSS, and more paid content.
(From Online Journalism Review)

Vin Crosbie has seen the future ...

Allegedly. And it's full of definite articles.
(From Digital Deliverance)

BlackBerry by AirPort

BlackBerry users: RIM are planning to have wi-fi capabilities of the product in place by early next year.
(From CNET News)

New middlebrow Sunday

Via the Observer, news of a new Sunday paper scheduled for launch next year. Life On Sunday aims for an initial circulation of 150,000. If the paper remains in profit after four or five years, the holding company, Life Newspaper, claims that further profits will be given to charitable causes.
(From MediaGuardian)

Tabloidisation update: IHT on Times

The IHT's take on the Times's tabloid move. A couple of quotes: "The move by the left-leaning Independent, meanwhile, could put pressure on its main broadsheet rival, the much bigger Guardian, which says it is also considering a tabloid. 'Obviously, all options are open, and we're watching with interest,' said Shaun Williams, director of corporate affairs for GNL" ... "Fifteen to 20 extra journalists were working to put out the compact Times".
(From International Herald Tribune)

"Intent over content"

Rafat Ali's recent speech (PowerPoint) on key trends in digital media.
(From Paid Content)

Indy circulation soars to 240,000

The Independent's circulation bosst since it went tabloid seems to be gaining ground rather than dropping away after a honeymoon period. It has added a further 5,000 readers to its circulation in the past month. The gains made by the tabloid Times (believed to be 20,000 a day so far and rising) haven't yet made it into the ABC figures. The Times has almost doubled its print run of tabloid copies from 80,000 to 150,000.
(From MediaGuardian.co.uk)

Phone barcode readers

The trouble with those consumer barcode readers (for printed media consumers to access web material) was that (a) you had to supply them to your customers and (b) you had to expect them to have them with them all the time. But you don't have to worry about that with mobile phones. And mobies with cameras can do the job of reading barcodes now. The Semacode Project aims to allow phone users to "scan" printed material in the real world and then to have the phone's browser taken to the URL. Neomedia's Paperclick applications do something similar. Now, with a bit of bluetooth or infrared you should be able to transfer the URLs to view on a desktop computer if you want to.
(From E-Media Tidbits)

Free digital NYT in Mickey D's

More from Digital Deliverance: in a cross-promotion between wifi supplier Wayport, the New York Times and NewsStand, copies of the NYT will be made available for download in 800 Wayport wifi sites including 680 hotels and 100-odd McDonald's restaurants in the United States. Given the (terrifyingly massive) size of NewsStand downloads it's a pretty good deal for the venues.
(From Digital Deliverance)

Paid content update: Irish Times

Digital Deliverance notes Ireland.com's gradual retreat from a 100% paid content model. Their 1 per cent subscription takeup doesn't make up for the loss of advertising revenue caused by the huge drop in readership, so more content is going free. Similarly the Jersulam Post is freeing up more content.
(From Digital Deliverance)