What are some good, general tech news sites?

February 3, 2004 11:05 AM

I'm looking for some good, general tech news sites...something like Wired used to be before they were bought out. Any ideas?
posted by JoanArkham to computers & internet (11 comments total)

I use Daily Rotation to read headlines from many tech news sites on one portal page. It's easily configurable and gives me lots of news at one glance.
posted by kickerofelves at 11:14 AM on February 3, 2004

SciTech Daily is very good, as is Slashdot.
posted by bshort at 11:28 AM on February 3, 2004

I look at Slashdot, Arstechnica, and Wired daily. Popsci.com has some cool stuff once in a while too.
posted by banished at 11:44 AM on February 3, 2004

FreshNews.
posted by Smart Dalek at 11:47 AM on February 3, 2004

More suggestions: Betanews, Freshmeat, Infoanarchy, the Risks digest, Politechbot, Tomalak's Realm.
posted by rjs at 12:13 PM on February 3, 2004

TechDirt.
posted by cowboy at 12:14 PM on February 3, 2004

I think there's something of a trend—away from "everything" tech news sites like Wired News and c|net news.com(.com.com.com)—toward more domain-specific outlets. Gizmodo is an excellent example. (Side note: The dividing line between "blog" and "news site" seems to blur as a news site becomes more focused on a smaller range of topics, and consequently attracts a tighter community of readers. Is Gizmodo a blog or a news site? Does it matter?)
posted by dsandl at 12:20 PM on February 3, 2004

Ars Technica used to be pretty good for general tech news, but it's gone downhill lately. For more of an IT look at things The Inquirer is OK, run by the "reputable" -- though I use the term generously -- former half of el Reg. It's like a Register without Orlowski leaving his little steamy piles on it, heavy on the silicon wars.

Alterslash transmogrifies Slashdot into a passably interesting read, but doesn't fix the basic editorial problems that have plagued the place for the last couple of years.

Most of the big technology news sites -- Wired, news.com.com.com and the rest of the Empire of Tech Journo Mediocrity -- aren't bringing nearly enough interesting reportage to the table to merit regular attention. Find somewhere with consistently good links instead.
posted by majick at 1:30 PM on February 3, 2004

Oh, and I mustn't forget Need to Know, which is entertaining and informative utterly in spite of its heavy emphasis on UK news. The reviews of snack foods I've never heard of and will never see on the market make it worth the weekly read, let alone the technical stuff.
posted by majick at 1:37 PM on February 3, 2004

X-Bit Labs (or just the news from X-Bit)

ZDnet headlines only link

OSNews
posted by NortonDC at 7:12 PM on February 3, 2004

Sorry for the self-link, but I really did build this site to solve the exact same problem: better tech news, sooner than /. et al and also broader. It's not limited to tech, but it does tech best.
posted by costas at 9:56 PM on February 3, 2004