Brian Boyko from Network Performance Daily sez, "We spoke to the creator and editor of Slashdot, Rob Malda, about Slashdot's past and its future as Slashdot hits its 10th anniversary."
NPD: What will Slashdot look like in 2017?
RM: If I win, hopefully mostly the same, except maybe a little more interactive and comprehensive. I hope that we're talking about the same types of things, but 10 years more advanced. I hope that the same level of conversation is taking place. And I hope that they keep letting me do it.
NPD: What do you mean by "win", what happens if you "lose", and if so, do you think you'd just start over again with a new site?
RM: Well, my job is often balancing the economic realities with the desires of the users. There's a lot to that- advertisers want X, sales/marketing wants Y, readers want Z, and I have a certain budget, a certain number of engineer man hours, and only so many clock cycles of DB time.
If I lose, it means Slashdot no longer is able to be an independent voice on the Internet, and it is instead overrun by commercial interests. And at that point I'd probably leave. I don't know if I'd consider starting over again. It's a lot of work, and to have done this at the level I have, it would be anti-climactic personally to start over at zero unless I could find something worth doing it. Like a truckload of cash, or some sort of really interesting challenge to make it mentally worth trying. But quite honestly, Slashdot is interesting and on most days satisfying — starting over again would suuuuck. The first time around was 20-hour days for many years!
(Thanks, Brian!)
