Month: May 2013

Techmeme Part-time Editor: “To apply: Send a single email to jobs@techmeme.com, briefly introducing yourself and describing your motivations for seeking this job. Use the subject line “[Name] (@[TwitterID]) – Techmeme Part-time Editor”, and include a resume, either as a link, an attachment, or pasted to the end of your email. In addition, please provide numbered responses to the following questions, answering each succinctly, in four or fewer sentences:
1. What were Facebook’s most significant product launches for mobile devices in 2013 and how were they received in the marketplace?
2. Explain why Yahoo bought Tumblr from the perspective of the two companies.
3. What are the factors believed to have contributed to Apple’s slide in the stock market over the past three quarters?
4. Recent hacking episodes of note have involved defaced websites and reports of stolen data. How are companies and governments responding?
5. Contrast the 4 publications featured most often on Techmeme with respect to what they bring to Techmeme’s coverage.
Finally, suggest two pieces that you think would make Techmeme better if they were posted as headlines (at the time you emailed us). Just give the urls, and number them S1 and S2. No additional words or sentences needed for this one.”

I thought it would be fun to answer their questions without applying for the job. So, here goes.

1. I’m not a Facebook user, but if you didn’t hear about Facebook Home you were probably unconscious or you disconnected yourself from the Internet. The product got a lot of press but the reception from uses has been luke warm at best. Hardcore Android fan boys didn’t like that it took over their springboard experience and hid often used applications. The reception for the HTC First was even worse, carriers lowered the price to $99.00 shortly after it was announced.
2. Yahoo has been around for a long time and is a valuable internet property, but they’ve been stagnant for far too long. They needed something to attract younger users, Tumblr is that something. On the flip side Tumblr hasn’t figured out how to make money, Yahoo should be able to fix that with years of experience in this area, if they don’t screw it up.
3. I think it’s simple. There’s some strange force field surrounding Wall Street that makes people believe a company that is super successful and making billions of dollars is somehow doomed because their UI isn’t flat. I can’t figure these people out. Your guess is as good as mine.
4. Yeah, you lost me there. I haven’t paid much attention to this.
5. Write some real stories. Forget about the cheap tabloid type material, everybody is covering that crap. Go long!