I went to CNET today and was sent to the CNET beta site. A couple of things hit me. They've changed their tag line from "Tech News First" to "News of Change". I guess it is no longer possible in a world of blogs and specialty tech websites for CNET to deliver "Tech News First".
The new site design also emphasizes audience participation. The middle column features "Readers' Choice" based on the most discussed stories, followed by the "Most Popular" stories. Their old site has these lists, but the beta features them much more prominently. The third column is called "My News", and gives the reader the ability to create story lists based on keywords.
It also appears, based on the tag line change and new design, that CNET is increasing the amount of tech news synthesis and interpretation they do.
These are big changes. Should be interesting to watch.
Steve
Steve, thanks for posting your thoughts, and I look forward to any other feedback you might have.
No one at CNET News.com is giving up being both credible AND timely.
Cheers,
John Roberts
CNET News.com product development
Posted by: John Roberts | September 25, 2005 at 10:11 PM