Automatic Media is gone
June 8, 2001 12:05 PM Subscribe
Automatic Media is gone Confirming earlier speculation: Automatic Media's homepage announces that "AS OF JUNE 8, 2001, Automatic Media, Inc. has ceased operations due to an inability to secure additional financing." What does this mean for all the Automatic Media sites? Will Suck's vacation be permanent? Thoughts?
Suck will only come back if they can find a buyer. There's a business plan out there and tens of thousands of loyal readers. Any takers?
posted by josholalia at 12:17 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by josholalia at 12:17 PM on June 8, 2001
I do get a kick out of the fact that MetaFilter scooped Plastic on this. And yes, I will also miss Feed and Suck.
posted by trox at 12:43 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by trox at 12:43 PM on June 8, 2001
I occasionally check out FuckedCompany and was wondering when I was going to read about a Web site that I really enjoyed and cared about shutting down. Today is the day, I guess. I'll miss Feed; Suck I stopped reading a couple of years ago, but I think of them as real Web media and will miss them. What a sad twelve months it has been. I hope Salon, The WELL, and Wired.com can survive.
Time to fire up Offline Explorer.
posted by tranquileye at 12:54 PM on June 8, 2001
Time to fire up Offline Explorer.
posted by tranquileye at 12:54 PM on June 8, 2001
from the Automatic Media press page:
"This may, at last, be a content model that works purely on the Web."
--Inside Magazine
considering Inside's problems...that is some heavy irony. I first caught a glimpse of the problems on josholalia's blog...been worried about this for a few days.
Suck has survived several transitions...it is my sincere hope they can survive this one....but if they don't i'll always be a suckster regardless. Think they will give away any swag? I sent them an email but my mail server--Really--just made some Loud popping sounds and Died, so i don't know if they will get it. Didn't know computers could even make sounds like that.
posted by th3ph17 at 12:55 PM on June 8, 2001
"This may, at last, be a content model that works purely on the Web."
--Inside Magazine
considering Inside's problems...that is some heavy irony. I first caught a glimpse of the problems on josholalia's blog...been worried about this for a few days.
Suck has survived several transitions...it is my sincere hope they can survive this one....but if they don't i'll always be a suckster regardless. Think they will give away any swag? I sent them an email but my mail server--Really--just made some Loud popping sounds and Died, so i don't know if they will get it. Didn't know computers could even make sounds like that.
posted by th3ph17 at 12:55 PM on June 8, 2001
Well, Suck has a chance to make some money by selling its entire archives on CD, rather than have people sucking them down the (I assume, very expensive) T1 from New York.
posted by holgate at 1:02 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by holgate at 1:02 PM on June 8, 2001
forego the cd-rom, just buy the book! suck: worst-case scenarios in media, culture, advertising and the internet is available from amazon.com for the low, low price of $14.36, and it usually ships within 24 hours.
order today!
posted by msippey at 1:05 PM on June 8, 2001
order today!
posted by msippey at 1:05 PM on June 8, 2001
But it's not the same, Michael. You don't get the links. Or many of the good bits. Generally.
posted by holgate at 1:09 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by holgate at 1:09 PM on June 8, 2001
Jed: "In all honesty, I never really liked Plastic, which struck me as a fairly useless attempt at creating a community without any content."
Isn't Metafilter a community without any content, insofar as not calling discussion content? (which isn't something I agree with, but still)
posted by adrianhon at 1:57 PM on June 8, 2001
Isn't Metafilter a community without any content, insofar as not calling discussion content? (which isn't something I agree with, but still)
posted by adrianhon at 1:57 PM on June 8, 2001
I think MetaFilter and Plastic developed in completely different ways. MetaFilter grew slowly and gradually at first, arguably from an already existing community of the early weblog-keepers. Plastic's initial growth seems to have been a lot more forced, trying to draw in as many users as possible as quickly possible, without as much commonality among the initial users.
posted by harmful at 2:11 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by harmful at 2:11 PM on June 8, 2001
But it's not the same, Michael. You don't get the links. Or many of the good bits. Generally.
Screw that! Buy the books so MSippey can get his cut!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888869275/statingtheobviouA/
posted by crunchland at 2:17 PM on June 8, 2001
Screw that! Buy the books so MSippey can get his cut!
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1888869275/statingtheobviouA/
posted by crunchland at 2:17 PM on June 8, 2001
According to a Silicon Alley News article, Automatic Media was founded in July 2000 with $4 million raised from Advance Publications, Lycos and the Paladin venture capital group. Considering that, I'm pessimistic about the possibility that some other company is going to step up and buy Suck or Feed in this climate. Suck.Com is probably worth more as a domain name to pornographers than it is as one of the Net's most well-regarded online sites.
posted by rcade at 2:30 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by rcade at 2:30 PM on June 8, 2001
indeed -- buy the book so i can get a cut of the sale! i'm not ashamed of being one of those damned dot-Com people trying to sully the purity of personal publishing.
posted by msippey at 2:55 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by msippey at 2:55 PM on June 8, 2001
Isn't it interesting that Metafilter reported the closing before Plastic. Now, Plastic is linking back to Metafilter as the source of the story. Media on media on media... Douglas Rushkoff would be proud.
posted by drezdn at 3:40 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by drezdn at 3:40 PM on June 8, 2001
Douglas Rushkoff just wrote an article mentioning MetaFilter. The mind reels at the size of the circle jerking going on.
posted by mathowie at 3:46 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by mathowie at 3:46 PM on June 8, 2001
"The company is now seriously considering selling all four sites, including Plastic, and spinning off Automatic as a software consulting firm that would sell the engine behind Plastic’s reader community. "
I realize they made sizeable code changes to Slash but enough to turn around and sell the code?
posted by perplexed at 4:51 PM on June 8, 2001
I realize they made sizeable code changes to Slash but enough to turn around and sell the code?
posted by perplexed at 4:51 PM on June 8, 2001
If Slash is GPL'd then they can sell it as much as they like as long as they release it under the GPL. The GPL isn't about stopping people selling software, it's about making sure the buyer can modify it and distribute those modifications.
posted by davidgentle at 5:23 PM on June 8, 2001
posted by davidgentle at 5:23 PM on June 8, 2001
Of course, it's still costing them money to run Plastic even if it does "almost run itself" and the rest is done volunteer. There's still electricity to pay for and non-trivial bandwidth expenses. If they can't find a buyer, even this will eventually end.
And Slashdot is being paid for by VA Linux, which has been bleeding money as long as it has existed. When it bites the big one, Slashdot will die, too.
Of course, MeFi almost bit it when Pyra collapsed. If Jason Levine ever does an IPO, we'll all be in trouble. (Anyone want to buy stock in a pediatrician?)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 5:43 PM on June 8, 2001
And Slashdot is being paid for by VA Linux, which has been bleeding money as long as it has existed. When it bites the big one, Slashdot will die, too.
Of course, MeFi almost bit it when Pyra collapsed. If Jason Levine ever does an IPO, we'll all be in trouble. (Anyone want to buy stock in a pediatrician?)
posted by Steven Den Beste at 5:43 PM on June 8, 2001
It's my impression that Slashdot is profitable for VA Linux, so I think it could survive the collapse of the parent company.
How much could Plastic cost to run at this point, absent any employees on the payroll? I'd be surprised if the bandwidth cost was more than $200 a month.
posted by rcade at 5:44 AM on June 9, 2001
How much could Plastic cost to run at this point, absent any employees on the payroll? I'd be surprised if the bandwidth cost was more than $200 a month.
posted by rcade at 5:44 AM on June 9, 2001
From the most recent VA Linux Form 10-Q filed with the SEC:
"With the acquisition of Andover.Net in June 2000 and in conjunction with our other Open Source websites, we established the Open Source Development Network, which supplies Open Source information to a wide audience. OSDN helps people develop Open Source software with tools like SourceForge.net, distribute their work through Freshmeat.net and other websites, and discuss Open Source development on Slashdot.org and many of our other sites. Although web revenues have not been material to date, we are aggressively marketing these services, and we expect these revenues to account for a more significant portion of revenues in the future. "
In other words, they're not making any revenue from Slashdot at all; but maybe if they're lucky they will someday.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 6:50 AM on June 9, 2001
"With the acquisition of Andover.Net in June 2000 and in conjunction with our other Open Source websites, we established the Open Source Development Network, which supplies Open Source information to a wide audience. OSDN helps people develop Open Source software with tools like SourceForge.net, distribute their work through Freshmeat.net and other websites, and discuss Open Source development on Slashdot.org and many of our other sites. Although web revenues have not been material to date, we are aggressively marketing these services, and we expect these revenues to account for a more significant portion of revenues in the future. "
In other words, they're not making any revenue from Slashdot at all; but maybe if they're lucky they will someday.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 6:50 AM on June 9, 2001
From May 25, 2000: "There is a dirty little secret about content companies: popular, scaled-down sites like Suck, CapitolHillBlue, and TheSmokingGun all make money, as in that stuff left over after the bills are paid. Meanwhile, heavily staffed, venture-backed heavyweights like Salon, TheStreet.com, and APBNews are bleeding money like hemophiliacs. Internet advertising is quietly tripling every year, providing a perfectly reasonable means for smaller operations to cover their costs. Meanwhile, the funding bubble for money-losing content companies is probably over. "
Oops...
posted by Steven Den Beste at 7:56 AM on June 9, 2001
Oops...
posted by Steven Den Beste at 7:56 AM on June 9, 2001
Steven, I think Suck went down with the ship, didn't it?
posted by tranquileye at 12:08 PM on June 9, 2001
posted by tranquileye at 12:08 PM on June 9, 2001
Exactly so. That was the point of the quote. This guy's crystal ball has a big crack in it.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 1:54 PM on June 9, 2001
posted by Steven Den Beste at 1:54 PM on June 9, 2001
Based on the stats I'm seeing, Automatic wasn't exactly "scaled down".
posted by owillis at 1:57 PM on June 9, 2001
posted by owillis at 1:57 PM on June 9, 2001
Exactly so. That was the point of the quote. This guy's crystal ball has a big crack in it.
Suck wasn't owned by Automatic Media at the time he made that comment, Steven. Until Automatic made it a part of its new media startup in July 2000, Suck looked like the kind of lean online publisher that was in the best position to survive. Having $4 million in the bank was a double-edged sword for Suck and Feed, because the folks who put up that money aren't going to accept piddly profits.
posted by rcade at 9:45 PM on June 9, 2001
Suck wasn't owned by Automatic Media at the time he made that comment, Steven. Until Automatic made it a part of its new media startup in July 2000, Suck looked like the kind of lean online publisher that was in the best position to survive. Having $4 million in the bank was a double-edged sword for Suck and Feed, because the folks who put up that money aren't going to accept piddly profits.
posted by rcade at 9:45 PM on June 9, 2001
In other words, they're not making any revenue from Slashdot at all; but maybe if they're lucky they will someday.
If I understand the term "material" correctly, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no revenue coming from Slashdot and the other sites. It means that the revenue, if any, isn't high enough to make a significant impact on VA Linux's overall finances. I think Slashdot would survive the collapse of VA Linux, because the site's traffic is sizeable and the costs to run a weblog like that are pretty low.
However, it's certainly possible that Slashdot could not be extricated from the parent company, which probably has an inflated opinion of Slashdot's value after paying more than $300 million to acquire it and other Andover.Net properties. (One indicator of how crazy things were back in the Internet boom: At the time of the buyout, Slashdot was worth more than the New York Yankees.)
posted by rcade at 9:52 PM on June 9, 2001
If I understand the term "material" correctly, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no revenue coming from Slashdot and the other sites. It means that the revenue, if any, isn't high enough to make a significant impact on VA Linux's overall finances. I think Slashdot would survive the collapse of VA Linux, because the site's traffic is sizeable and the costs to run a weblog like that are pretty low.
However, it's certainly possible that Slashdot could not be extricated from the parent company, which probably has an inflated opinion of Slashdot's value after paying more than $300 million to acquire it and other Andover.Net properties. (One indicator of how crazy things were back in the Internet boom: At the time of the buyout, Slashdot was worth more than the New York Yankees.)
posted by rcade at 9:52 PM on June 9, 2001
Yeah, wasn't Taco in the running for Piazza?
Taco: "30 karma points, one anti-microsoft screed and a Katz article - that's my final offer"
Piazza's Agent: "Take away Katz and you got yourself a deal"
posted by owillis at 10:18 PM on June 9, 2001
Taco: "30 karma points, one anti-microsoft screed and a Katz article - that's my final offer"
Piazza's Agent: "Take away Katz and you got yourself a deal"
posted by owillis at 10:18 PM on June 9, 2001
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posted by jed at 12:10 PM on June 8, 2001