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Digital Thing: Quora has a blog on Slate

Apr 16, ’12 8:04 PM

Ain’t that a trip?

Quora. A Q&A site. Has a blog on Slate.com. I don’t know about you, but something that is ostensibly a startup having a blog outside of its own media ecosystem more than caught my eye.

But get this: it’s not authored by some expert at Quora. The three posts (this is a new effort, it seems) are written by Quora users. As in, unpaid people who contribute content to the site. And Quora’s ToS allows them to make money off their content, no matter where they put it. Say, on a major digital media property. From the ToS:

You agree that this license includes the right for other users of the Service to modify your Content, and for Quora to make your Content available to others for the publication, distribution, syndication, or broadcast of such Content on other media and services, subject to our terms and conditions for such Content use. Such additional uses by Quora or others may be made with no compensation paid to you with respect to the Content that you submit, post, transmit or otherwise make available through the Service.

Know what that’s called? Zero content costs. Which is boss if you’re a magazine, and shit if you’re an author. If you’re an author on Slate’s “Explainer” column (one of my favorites), you might be bummed to find out that a human-powered free content machine is taking your place.

Here’s an example. Some guy called Garrick answered a question on Quora, and now it’s been posted on Slate.

It’s been edited (I checked with QuickDiff and found that Slate prefers double spaces after full stops) minimally. Just a bit of punctuation. No major edits.

Anyway. Fascinating. And more proof of two things that I believe:

  1. If you’re a magazine, being in the editorial business on the internet is a bad idea; you don’t want to compete for ad dollars with companies that get their content for free. (Be Instructables, don’t be Popular Mechanics.)
  2. If you’re an author of content, you need to know your rights, know why you’re posting what where, and realize that getting famous under your own name is probably your best bet to make a buck. (Be Grantland, don’t be Bill Simmons, columnist, ESPN.)
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Herald the Comfort Wipe

Jun 15, ’09 10:46 AM

Thank you, Telebrands, for bringing us two amazing things: a great new product (the Comfort Wipe) and this most excellent infomercial. Let it be known that I’m a sucker for DRTV.

A few highlights:

  1. Microsoft Impact: an underrated font choice.
  2. The release button on the end of the wand: definitely looks durable. That should last
  3. The lack of discussion of the wand being easy to clean is probably a good choice.
  4. Is it me, or is the TP attaching to the wrong side of the wand? I feel like it would be better on the other side.
  5. Until I saw this spot, I had no idea that (a) being a big guy had its advantages and that (b) one of the disadvantages of extra male mass is difficulty with wiping. But I guess that makes sense.
  6. The old lady looks like she’s trying to seduce me while talking about her dignity. Not cool, old lady. Should we talk regularity next? That should lighten the mood.
  7. As Brow Beat suggests, this is hardly the first innovation to the TP world since 1880. Charmin and Cottonelle both offer moistened, flushable wipes. And can I get some respect for quilted tissues?
  8. NUDITY WATCH: There’s some near-nudity happening at 1:31. My slow-motion analysis reveals no substantive evidence of nudity here, but it’s darn close.

So, Telebrands, can I re-do your site?

And Charmin and/or Cottonelle, can we launch a line of moistened wipes that target guys? I think that would be a winner. It seems ridiculous to me that most people stick with dry paper for this task. I don’t see dog owners reaching for 80lb bond to clean up pet messes around the home.

While we’re on the topic, why don’t we try other fabric types? I suggest a seersucker texture, for sanitation during the summer months.

That is all.

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