Mediagazer: Walt Mossberg's 22-year mission to make computers easier to use (Quartz)

10:10 AM ET, September 20, 2013

Top News:

How Can You Miss Us if We Won't Go Away? — First things first: We're keeping the Steelcase hot-seat red chairs. Forever. In fact, we own quite a few now. — And we'll still be scooping and reviewing all things digital right here, at this Web address, for a few more months.

Discussion: New York Times, The Wrap, @waltmossberg, @starfire2258, @danielabarbosa, @felixsalmon and @monkbent

Kevin J. Delaney / Quartz:

AllThingsD founders are in talks to value their new venture at up to $40 million — Preparing to part ways with News Corp, the founders of All Things Digital are looking for investments to reboot their technology news site and events business under a new name, sources say.

Discussion: PandoDaily, @rafat, Talking Biz News and Fortune

Quartz:

Walt Mossberg's 22-year mission to make computers easier to use — “Personal computers are just too hard to use, and it isn't your fault,” is how Walt Mossberg began his first column for the Wall Street Journal on October 17, 1991. More than two decades later, computing is certainly easier …

Discussion: @rafat, @zseward and Digits

Dow Jones:
Dow Jones confirms split with Mossberg and Swisher, plans to launch new tech conference

Discussion: GigaOM, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Folio, The Wrap, AdAge, Forbes, Bloomberg, @edmundlee, Talking Biz News, Mashable, @jbflint, @obrien, @blam, @edmundlee, LA Observed, @vrajeshio, @joepompeo, @sonadelite, @tomgara, @danprimack, @rafat, @cdixon, @edbott, @obrien, Gawker, The Verge, Mashable, Deadline.com, TechCrunch, @suanzes, Variety, CNET, Poynter, @amir, @jhlava, Adweek, Business Insider, @panzer, @dcseifert, @triciad, Hollywood Reporter, Talking New Media, @tim_stevens, @edwardroussel, @wblau and Wall Street Journal

Christine Haughney / New York Times:

New York Times Company to Start Paying Dividend — The New York Times Company announced on Thursday that it would pay a dividend to its shareholders for the first time in five years. — After a meeting of its board, the company said the board had voted to approve a dividend of four cents per share …

Discussion: International Business Times, Bloomberg, Poynter, @edmundlee, @nycjim, @chcktylr, Tech Trader Daily, 4-traders.com and Politico

Ryan Chittum / Columbia Journalism Review:

The NYT's new dividend is unwise — Keeping Wall Street—and Sulzberger trust funders—happy — Does The New York Times Company have $24 million a year to spare? — Apparently its executives—and more to the point, its Wall Street analysts and its Sulzberger trust fund kids—think it does.

Hadas Gold / Politico:

What really happened to ‘Reuters Next’ — On Wednesday Thompson Reuters' new CEO Andrew Rashbass announced the company was canceling the ambitious new digital news product Reuters Next. — Conversations with several Reuters insiders and people with knowledge of the situation show Rashbass …

Discussion: @dylanbyers, @jbenton, @kirabind and Big News Network.com

Jeff Bercovici / Forbes:
Reuters Next: Anatomy Of A Multi-Million-Dollar Misfire

Discussion: New York Post, Talking Biz News, @forbes, @forbestech, @jeffbercovici and FishbowlNY

Justin Ellis / Nieman Journalism Lab:
Reuters nixes Next: Failed redesigns and the challenge of expanding a digital audience

Discussion: eMedia Vitals, @antderosa, FishbowlDC, Talking Biz News, @jbenton, @felixsalmon, @jayrosen_nyu and BuzzFeed

Elizabeth Mendes / Gallup:

In U.S., Trust in Media Recovers Slightly From All-Time Low — More Americans say media are too liberal than too conservative — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' confidence in the accuracy of the mass media has improved slightly after falling to an all-time low last year.

Discussion: Poynter and Erik Wemple

Steve Outing / Media Disruptus:

Disaster news coverage will be much better in a few years — Boulder, Colorado, and surrounding towns were hit recently with days of record rainfall, history-making flooding, and epic damage. The destruction covered larger towns like Boulder and Longmont, and was truly horrific in mountain towns like Jamestown and Lyons.

George Mills / The Local:

Spain clamps down on ‘rampant’ internet piracy — Tough new rules on internet piracy are one of the key features of Spain's new penal code to be approved in the country's parliament on Friday. — The new rules mean possible sentences of six years in prison for people link to ‘pirated’ material …

Discussion: Tumbit

PJ Vogt / On The Media:

Upworthy Co-Founder Eli Pariser Explains What Upworthy's Doing and Why it Annoys Me So Much — Last week, Upworthy, the website built for viral progressive political content, secured $8 million in funding. I wrote a piece about how annoying I find it. I compared it to San Francisco …

Discussion: @niemanlab, @pjvogt, @1uigi and @onthemedia

Lauren Hockenson / GigaOM:

4Chan has rules now, apparently — Did anyone else know that 4Chan had rules? — Apparently they've been given a massive overhaul by its creator, Christopher “moot” Poole. Detailed in a blog post, the otaku thread-turned internet blender will have some pretty strict rules, and concrete consequences.

Discussion: The Atlantic Wire

Simon Houpt / Globe and Mail:

Gawker's John Cook talks traffic, Rob Ford and ethics — It was a cross-border bombshell: Last May, John Cook, the editor of New York-based Gawker, reported that he had seen a video that appeared to show Toronto mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. In the tumult that followed …

Discussion: FishbowlNY

Wall Street Journal:

China Intensifies Social-Media Crackdown — Campaign Takes Toll on Public Debate, Popular Platform … BEIJING—A forceful campaign of intimidation against China's most influential Internet users has cast a chill over public debate in the country and called into question the long-term viability …

Discussion: Quartz and Business Insider