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POPSCheckbook Journalism 2.0 It's an open secret that some news outlets (not this one) will pay for tips. Insidery gossip blog Gawker just went one better: they'll pay you based on the traffic your tips generate. The move is Gawker Publisher Nick Denton at his best: mischievous, subversive, and very, very smart.
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POPSAmazon Launches Software Download Service Now this could come in handy around tax time, for customers who don't have time to wait for TurboTax to arrive in the mail. Efforts like Valve's Steam and Gametap show broadband penetration may be high enough to give downloadable software sales some legs now.
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POPSThe Kindle Is No iPod Silicon Alley Insider's Peter Kafka takes apart the suggestion that Amazon's electronic book reader is the "iPod of reading"
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POPSWhy The iPhone, Not Amazon.com's Kindle, Is The Future Nice get by Newsweek’s Steven Levy on Amazon.com’s e-book effort, dubbed Kindle. Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos has found a reason to switch from bound paper to bits: a wireless connection that allows readers to browse for new information or download new books – any new book -- on the go. Smart. Two problems: 1) Price: at $400 bucks it’s not cheap enough to compete with books – or even cheap laptops; 2) Fees: It charges subscriptions for blogs and newspapers – uh, I can get those for free, online. The real challenge here isn’t replacing the book. It’s competing with the Internet and the devices used to connect to it: the content available online is growing too fast, and the devices for accessing the Net are getting better and cheaper too quickly. The result will be devices that are about being connected to people, information, and services -- not just consuming information. Such a device is already here. It’s called the iPhone.