Hi, a couple thoughts here. First, thanks to timothy for reaching out like this - it's the result of the #fuckbeta protest, so good job to everybody. But if we have a better avenue for communicating our concerns then we can tone down the protesting I think. At least maybe not destroy the comment threads any more.
My biggest concern for the beta is it seems to destroy the tools needed for a robust commenting and conversation, including notification of new posts, easy ways to quote prior posts, easy way to lin
My biggest concern is that frankly, the beta just plain sucks. It sucks in every single possible way. I get that they're saying it isn't ready, but the concern for many of us isn't just that the beta is just bloody horrible now, but that the direction its going suggests that it will never be an adequate replacement for the current "classic" Slashdot.
I wouldn't say it sucks in EVERY way. It does seem to work better on my tablet, except for when I login and have to expand every single comment to read it. Hence the reason I am posting anonymously, I wouldn't be able to read the comments if I logged in.
Change for the sake of change is of no benefit to the user. UI designers don't seem to get that. Slashdot is not Facebook, it's not Twitter, it's not even Usenet. Its job is to present the reader with a headline, a story, and an ability to read comments and post comments. The mod system works fairly well to curtail the worst abuses, and it's quick, easy, and intuitive to use.
Dice would do well to heed the lessons that Microsoft is learning now, the hard way. For MS, Windows 8 has proven to be a huge
Change for the sake of change is of no benefit to the user.
True that. Unfortunately, this seems to be what they teach in MBA programs these days. Everything needs to be periodically "refreshed" or "updated"; even if everything is going exactly how it should and you're #1 in your niche, there's this (horribly mistaken, IMO) impression that your product will magically get better if you change it.
Many times, these changes are merely cosmetic and everyone gives a collective meh. Rarely have I seen these sorts of changes lead to measurable improvements. I have, however,
Unfortunately, this seems to be what they teach in MBA programs these days. Everything needs to be periodically "refreshed" or "updated"; even if everything is going exactly how it should and you're #1 in your niche, there's this (horribly mistaken, IMO) impression that your product will magically get better if you change it.
Well they teach that for good reason. If you rest upon your laurels for a long time, then a startup will come from nowhere with a better product that you couldn't even dream of and your userbase will drop you like a sack of potatoes. Microsoft was owning the browser "market" until Mozilla came along, now Chrome is owning the mobile market. Yahoo! was the search engine of choice until Google made them completely irrelevant. Hotmail was looking pretty good too, until Gmail came along. The list goes on and on.
Well they teach that for good reason. If you rest upon your laurels for a long time, then a startup will come from nowhere with a better product that you couldn't even dream of and your userbase will drop you like a sack of potatoes.
Except the cases where such a thing has happened over a _UI_ change are few and far between. In the case of Mozilla, the browser was offering new useful features (namely Extensions/Add-Ons) -- the interface/UI for the most part was identical to IE (I'm sure that was intentional to win over IE users).
Why? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Cue the flood of flame . . .
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Hi, a couple thoughts here. First, thanks to timothy for reaching out like this - it's the result of the #fuckbeta protest, so good job to everybody. But if we have a better avenue for communicating our concerns then we can tone down the protesting I think. At least maybe not destroy the comment threads any more.
My biggest concern for the beta is it seems to destroy the tools needed for a robust commenting and conversation, including notification of new posts, easy ways to quote prior posts, easy way to lin
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
My biggest concern is that frankly, the beta just plain sucks. It sucks in every single possible way. I get that they're saying it isn't ready, but the concern for many of us isn't just that the beta is just bloody horrible now, but that the direction its going suggests that it will never be an adequate replacement for the current "classic" Slashdot.
Re: Why? (Score:5, Informative)
I wouldn't say it sucks in EVERY way. It does seem to work better on my tablet, except for when I login and have to expand every single comment to read it. Hence the reason I am posting anonymously, I wouldn't be able to read the comments if I logged in.
That said, I do think it sucks overall.
BoogeyOfTheMan
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Dice would do well to heed the lessons that Microsoft is learning now, the hard way. For MS, Windows 8 has proven to be a huge
Re: (Score:5, Insightful)
Change for the sake of change is of no benefit to the user.
True that. Unfortunately, this seems to be what they teach in MBA programs these days. Everything needs to be periodically "refreshed" or "updated"; even if everything is going exactly how it should and you're #1 in your niche, there's this (horribly mistaken, IMO) impression that your product will magically get better if you change it.
Many times, these changes are merely cosmetic and everyone gives a collective meh. Rarely have I seen these sorts of changes lead to measurable improvements. I have, however,
Re: (Score:2)
Unfortunately, this seems to be what they teach in MBA programs these days. Everything needs to be periodically "refreshed" or "updated"; even if everything is going exactly how it should and you're #1 in your niche, there's this (horribly mistaken, IMO) impression that your product will magically get better if you change it.
Well they teach that for good reason. If you rest upon your laurels for a long time, then a startup will come from nowhere with a better product that you couldn't even dream of and your userbase will drop you like a sack of potatoes. Microsoft was owning the browser "market" until Mozilla came along, now Chrome is owning the mobile market. Yahoo! was the search engine of choice until Google made them completely irrelevant. Hotmail was looking pretty good too, until Gmail came along. The list goes on and on.
Re: Why? (Score:2)
Except the cases where such a thing has happened over a _UI_ change are few and far between. In the case of Mozilla, the browser was offering new useful features (namely Extensions/Add-Ons) -- the interface/UI for the most part was identical to IE (I'm sure that was intentional to win over IE users).