ZDNet – Not Shrinking, Repurposing!

When, a couple of weeks ago, the ExtremeTech site announced it would no longer be a functional site, but simply an archive of old stuff, I was thinking that Ziff Davis was on the shrink, due to the recession. I was sure that this was another company that was slowly but surely dying away, from lack of interest.

Well, those of us who are on the mailing list for any of the Z-D sites got an e-mail a couple of days ago, announcing the new site that the company is offering. It is called smartplanet, and though I’m not certain what my opinion is just yet, I do know it is a step in the right direction.

Though I seem to be in the minority of those who write about these things, I enjoy lots of company among the silent readers of the world. ExtremeTech should have been a combination of the spirit of Byte magazine, with the in-depth technical reviews of AnandTech, and the writing quality of Newsweek.

Well, it started out strong, but never quite achieved that; in the end, it was a self-indulgent space that allowed its contributors to build toys and have fun, with little in the way of depth of information.

That era appears to be over.

Smartplanet looks as though it is geared toward new and ecologically-responsible technology, which is the direction of the country, led by the current administration. It is also geared toward business, but seems as though it will be friendly enough for anyone to peruse without getting scared off. Information gleaned from the site will be usable to almost anyone, and what the site needs is a wide audience if it is to succeed.

Many of the contributors will be familiar to you if you frequent the ZDNet site, and others are also familiar if you read tech sites in general. The site is sponsored by IBM, among others, and should be a good read for quite some time. I really like the new, less busy feel, and the lack of angry fruit salad color scheme.

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everyone is thinking about the ecology, these days, including the post office

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