An iWatch??? Oooooh shiny! I wish that I had an iWatch prototype so that I knew exactly when 2359 hrs rolls around on Feb. 8, and I can leave this inglorious Beta disaster once the week-long "slashcot" begins. There might not be much point in waiting for the trainwreck to begin; it's already in progress, and we're all starring in it. Dunno if I can masochistically "tough out" this entirely needless murder of my favorite discussion forum. I very rarely post, but I read a great deal of it and am always entertained, challenged, and (most of all) educated by the entire Slashdot experience.
Fuck Dice. Fuck 'em right in the wallet; fuck 'em in the share price; fuck 'em in the investment portfolio and cut the strings on everyone's golden parachutes. :P
Anyone at Dice who cheerfully refers one more time to us as a motherfucking "audience" is a complete smeg-head.
I'm not sure I want to stick around and watch Dice's inept version of Mount St. Helens erupt in slow-motion destruction. Seeing it deserted en masse in coming months due to the Beta's inevitable victory, and having it start resembling something like sad old deserted kuro5hin, is probably too much for me.
In the big feedback thread, Soulskill's oozed forth nothing but laughably transparent management-speak platitudes that are devoid of any actual understanding of, let alone respect FOR, the community that comprises Slashdot. if he doesn't get it, or is studiously AVOIDING getting-it, then i'm sure his Chad Lumbergh superiors at Dice Central Command sure as hell don't get it. Tonight's presently-in-progress Beta feedback thread is pointless 'cos the suits really have no intention of switching gears, and the usability-destroying "OMG Ponies!"-ization of ye olde 'dot is a solid certainty.
Up until this moment the whole thing made me rage, but now I'm just feeling a bit more sad than angry. Yeah, we're being sold out. I'm not going to pretend I'm not pissed-off and unhappy about that.
Stick a fork in ye olde 'dot, folks; it's done. Last one out, please turn off the hot-grits spigot.
I look forward to some other new site/wiki/blog/Fuhrerbunker/casino where I can digitally rub shoulders with y'all in the VERY near future. There are already several posts in other current threads about a possible Altslashdot.org; who knows what other new purpose-built destinations might come to be? But I truly have very little further hope for this fascinating & enlightening place that I've been visiting since before 9/11. It's a place that I miss already, if you know what I mean.
But then again, Dice's chronic greedy misunderstandings about that are a huge part of this needless mess, hey? This crufty ol' comment-friendly website, as a place, does not matter. Why?
Because we're Slashdot.
Our community transcends any mere "place".
Together, we can exist anywhere we choose.
~JPE