MacRumorsLive, SMS, and Spoiler Free Feedback

[arn]

Hey guys,

I think our coverage was a big success this run through. We tried to improve on previous criticisms. Text updates tried to be more coherent, less short blurbs, but we do what we can. Images were enlarged. and we improved our apparent speed with "continuous" updates.

Thanks to everyone involved... it was a remarkably coordinated effort on the parts of a lot of people.

Now with it fresh on your minds, I'd like feedback on the system. Also, for the first time we did SMS updates and the spoiler free mailing list.

A few issues with these

- SMS updates were delayed - that was a side effect of Twitter handling so many messages, but they were delivered in the end I believe
- Forums had issues, but that was something we can improve on, mostly a technical issue.

Thoughts?
arn

[Luis]

Spoiler free worked flawlessly, new experience for me watching it that way, thanks for the service!

[mrkramer]

I thought that you all did a great job, and I enjoyed reading the updates.

[irmongoose]

Spoiler-free worked like a charm. Continued from last time around, it's a great way of seeing all the new stuff - straight from good old Steve. Thanks - I'm already looking forward to MWSF.



irmongoose

[TheAnswer]

It was an awesome show Arn (and the rest of the gang). You guys really out did yourselves this time around.

Now, that said...when do we get an optional CoverFlow view for the Forum Spy? :D :D

[EricNau]

My only suggestion (believe me, that's really good ;) )...

In more than a few cases, there were near duplicate photos.

For example, the first photo would be of a slide with 3 bullet points, and the second photo was of the same slide, only completed with all 5 bullet points. ...Essentially, the first photo isn't necessary (esp. considering that both photos were posted at the same time).

Other than that (and a few typos, which can be expected), the coverage was flawless.

Kudos (and thanks) to the MacRumors team!


PS: Next time, you may want to publish a Digg link a little earlier; we got smoked by Gizmodo. :o
...and actually, had we had one Digg link instead of two for the same story, we might have faired a little bit better.

[Chaszmyr]

I didn't get the email for the spoiler free notification until about an hour after MR updated the website to say the keynote had gone live.

[lancestraz]

When the keynote first started I had four different websites open. All tuned to WWDC.
But the MacRumorsLive coverage was so comprehensive I closed them all a few minutes into the keynote!

Actually, I did keep engadget open because they had better pics (better quality and shot selection).

[TheAnswer]

PS: Next time, you may want to publish a Digg link a little earlier; we got smoked by Gizmodo. :o
...and actually, had we had one Digg link instead of two for the same story, we might have faired a little bit better.

I noticed the same thing with Engadget's page...which I suspect got dugg so high just because they told everyone to bookmark it late last week.

I digg solely to increase this site's visibility, so anything that helps with digging (such as digg links in the first post of news threads), I'm all for.

[Zwhaler]

I was a little dissapointed with spoiler free, I heard that the keynote was put up to Apples website a little more than 2 hours earlier than was sent out in the spoiler free keynote link in the email. I was hasty and spoiled myself :p at about 5 PST I found the keynote and 2 hours later I got the email. Its ok though, I enjoyed it thoroughly :)

[EricNau]

I noticed the same thing with Engadget's page...which I suspect got dugg so high just because they told everyone to bookmark it late last week.

I digg solely to increase this site's visibility, so anything that helps with digging (such as digg links in the first post of news threads), I'm all for.
Same here. I can't say I love the users of digg, but the site is a great concept, and it's a great method of free advertising for MacRumors, so I'm all for it.

...I don't know why so many people at MR are against it, or just can't be bothered to click the Digg link. After all, look how many people rate the stories: digging is not any harder.

[arn]

I was a little dissapointed with spoiler free, I heard that the keynote was put up to Apples website a little more than 2 hours earlier than was sent out in the spoiler free keynote link in the email. I was hasty and spoiled myself :p at about 5 PST I found the keynote and 2 hours later I got the email. Its ok though, I enjoyed it thoroughly :)

Yeah... the emails took longer to send out than I expected. The emails went out relatively soon after it was posted, but took 1 hr and 20 minutes to get all of them out (8000+).

arn

[pknz]

Worked a charm from here

What I noticed:

IRC was slightly quicker than macrumorslive
Engadget had better pictures and the details seemed more accurate.

[TheAnswer]

Same here. I can't say I love the users of digg, but the site is a great concept, and it's a great method of free advertising for MacRumors, so I'm all for it.

...I don't know why so many people at MR are against it, or just can't be bothered to click the Digg link. After all, look how many people rate the stories: digging is not any harder.

I wasn't gung-ho about it at first, until Arn and the gang explained the reasoning behind it. I'm still hoping for digg links in the RSS feeds and in the first posts of news story forum threads...just because I think many regular users head straight to the forums while others might only get the front page via RSS viewers.

[Markleshark]

MRL was perfect this year folks. Not having to wait a minute was fantastic. Again, Uber Kudos to the team. :D

[bartelby]

The SMS wasn't too bad. I was in IKEA at the time so I was glad for the updates!:)

Nice job Arn and Twitter!

[tritonus]

Thanks so much for your spoiler-free service!
Keynote was rather disappointing though...

[Mykbibby]

Great job with the spoiler-free, although it came late that's Apple's fault, not yours. Too bad the keynote couldn't have lived up to the hype!