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Coming soon: WorldTechTribune
World Tech Tribune looks at the year ahead |
By Scott McCollum
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Many readers have noticed the usual high tech commentary and analysis seen here at the World Tribune has been on hold for Christmas. I figure, why weigh people down with heavy subjects during the holidays? Well, that and I always have a busy time with tech gift duties this time of year. Anyone that has bought a new electronic gadget or personal computer for a less-than-technical relative knows EXACTLY what IÕm talking about.
The year is almost over (for those of you reading in Australia it already is 2002) and it has been an interesting one for the tech industry. The World TribuneÕs Tech section has been steadily turning out analyses for the last third of 2001 and there are plans to expand this section into the ÒWorld Tech TribuneÓ in 2002. This nascent web-based publication will bring news, analysis and opinion covering the people, politics and progression of the international high tech industry. It is the hope of all of us here at the World Tribune that you will read World Tech Tribune for balanced, worldwide coverage of todayÕs technology.
My colleagues on both the journalism and IT industry sides have asked what readers should expect from World Tech Tribune. I hoped the sound bite answer of Òbalanced, worldwide coverage of todayÕs technologyÓ would be enough. Sound bite answers are short and catchy, but both journalists and techies are advocates of the VLA (Very Long Answer). IÕm ambivalent about the VLA because I see how it turns off a lot of the folks who want to know more about technology. Nothing is worse than asking a simple question and getting a VLA on the subject. Sometimes when talking to engineers, IÕm on the receiving end of the VLA and I feel like Bill listening to Hillary when she starts talking about cattle futures or real estate deals. The VLA is the bane of the neophyte tech. Yet I also know that when used for good rather than evil, the VLA automatically gives you credibility in the tech world among academics, journalists and techies alike.
Fortunately, engineers and laymen alike donÕt need the VLA to understand what the new World Tech Tribune will offer. HereÕs a rundown of what to expect from the new World Tech Tribune coming in 2002:
- World Tech Tribune will feature technology news from an international perspective. If thereÕs a war between India and Pakistan in 2002, youÕll find out how IndiaÕs software development and burgeoning high tech customer service outsourcing industry will be affected at World Tech Tribune. If jealous European competitors to Microsoft or AOL-Time Warner haul these major players into court, World Tech Tribune will cover the story. If new WTO members Taiwan and China have breakthrough products on their way to Western shores, you can find out about it at World Tech Tribune.
- Readers of World Tech Tribune will enjoy the same unique analyses of the high technology industry seen since August here at World Tribune. From the economic to the political, all aspects of the international tech industry will be dissected at World Tech Tribune. World Tech Tribune will offer what is so badly needed in the tech press: Balance. There are few tech media outlets that report the facts about tech industry politics and economics without biases. Innovators are often ignorant of the simplest of economic realities, just as many businessmen wouldnÕt know innovation if it sailed next to their yachts and asked for a spare jar of Dijon mustard. Most tech media outlets have a leftist anti-business bias because they purport to speak to and for the innovators. On the other hand, many conservative business publicationsÕ tech coverage is produced via ÒsynergiesÓ with these elite left-leaning tech media outlets, giving only one side of the story. World Tech Tribune is balance, not bias.
- There will be a level of interactivity on World Tech Tribune. The full scope of this interactivity with readers has yet to be finalized, but World Tech Tribune will offer readers opportunities to vent frustrations and lavish praise.
- DonÕt expect flashy cartoon pop-ups, annoying animated cursors, streaming video interviews with industry luminaries, huge color photos or other high-bandwidth clutter at World Tech Tribune. Although we have the talent and technical resources to do all of these things, we recognize that the majority of Internet users (unless youÕre reading from South Korea, where about half the web surfers have broadband access via cable modems) are stuck with a 56K modem hooked into an analog phone line. World Tech Tribune will be clean and easy to navigate no matter what kind of connection you have.
- Most importantly, World Tech Tribune will be for everyone. World Tech Tribune will cover tech subjects, but will keep the content accessible to everyone from lawyers, doctors, journalists, sales professionals, gardeners, retirees, educators and CEOs to academics, engineers, software developers, computer enthusiasts, network administrators, gadget heads, geeks, hackers, tweakers and gamers. I know for a fact that all of the aforementioned groups read the existing Tech section of the World Tribune because it gives them a view of the tech world that does not require a PhD in computer science and never talks down to those with such a degree. World Tech Tribune will continue to be written with a broad audience in mind, while still appealing to tech industry insiders.
Have a safe, happy and prosperous 2002 to all of our readers around the world.
Scott McCollum
Technology Editor
World Tech Tribune
scott@worldtechtribune.com
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