There are a few net innovations that have far greater ramifications than you would, at first hearing, expect them to. Napster, at heart just IRC with a UI, was one. Google News is another.
In its first day, I’ve already noticed:
- The front page changes its editorial stance depending on where the earth’s terminator is. So in the evening on the West Coast, Google News is lead by the South China Morning Post, and various Asian english-language papers. By the late evening, the BBC and European papers are kicking in.
- The site may be created by algorithms – but what about the choice of sites? The most arbitrary dividing line I see in Google’s coverage is what is a news site, and what isn’t. Slashdot is, for instance, as well as some very obscure newspapers. What about Blues News or Scripting News, though?
- Big companies spend mucho money paying “clipping services” that send them copies of any press coverage they receive. Clipping services are going to have to find some added value, very very quickly.