First off, thanks to all the people who have subscribed to this newsletter experiment so far! Second, in my years doing content, I’ve always found Fridays to be frustrating. Namely because people are (understandably) getting ready (either mentally, physically, or both) for the weekend, and so I’ve found that basically no one reads anything after around noon, local time. Hence, why the Friday Afternoon News Dump™ exists!
Anyway, figured I’d use Fridays from time to time to ask for thoughts/feedback here. Seems like a good use case for Substack’s “Threads” feature, if nothing else. 🍻
I like the added photos. I like the increased frequency. It’s short enough that I get through it each time I read it. I’ll add my vote that I like the preamble, but I can see how it can get tricky not to go too long and turn into a 500ish post. I think I like the more varied topics vs one singular topic for the links. Always enjoy your writing and insights!
Yeah, as you know, been playing around with the photo aspect. I think I like the every-other-link style to try to keep things tighter, but will keep playing around with it and, of course, open to other ideas!
Yeah, I like the every other link style. One thought that came to mind to "keep things tighter" is to use the slim format for all of your images like you did for the header images in the earlier versions of the new 5ish (i.e. top image of "Optimus Prime").
Hi MG like the new 5ish format. Enjoyed the old format as well, but this new one reminds me of another favorite site, daring fireball. Love the brevity of the approach and like that it lands in my inbox. It’s there for me to go through; there is no way to forget it. It usually takes me less than 10 minutes to go through. Perfect for checking on the go. I usually don’t follow the links but gat all my info from your takes. I dislike the interruption of moving away from mail to another app, it disrupts my flow. Please continue the great work 👍
The context and commentary is always a highlight for me. I don’t always click through but I read every highlight and commentary every email. Only other digest I do that with is Farnam Street.
Happy Friday, M.G.! For what it’s worth, I like the newsletter preamble. It’s the beginning of a conversation, like friends talking over beers. The “how’s it going?” before diving into deeper topics. It’s what makes your writing, well, uniquely M.G. And, I suspect, one of the reasons so many of us continue to read your stuff over the years. Have a great weekend🍻
Much appreciated, Keith. And yeah, I like that as well -- that was always a key high-level intention in doing a newsletter: a way to have a more informal conversation with a more direct connection. I felt like it was getting a bit too formal over time -- again, more like a full-on post (often well over 500 words!). So that's very helpful to hear that. 🍻
I mostly miss that really sweet 80's-inspired header logo from First Draught. But, as always, the content is on point. I don't mind the new format, although I did really like the longer intro (totally get that this is super time-consuming!).
I'm enjoying the Substack format. While I don't think it's necessary to kill all images, I do like more of a text focus. Think Gruber with Daringfireball, he uses zero images. Though, don't think you need to throw out the baby with the bath water in that regard. With respect to the commentary, that's why I follow you. :) If it were just links with excerpts, I would find that much less interesting. Finally, about frequency, I may be a minority but I prefer less. It's partially self serving, I just don't want more email. But also, I think it'll tighten the quality of the links when you do share. There's a lot out there this is just semi-interesting. By focusing on less, the best of what you uncover/think about should naturally rise to the top. Like a couple times per month frequency is perfect for me.
Ha! This obviously seems like a make-or-break year for Harbaugh at Michigan. The offensive issues seem addressed, he has the QBs he wants, and the schedule is a bit more favorable. And, of course, OSU has a new coach. But UM obviously lost a ton to the NFL, so it won't be easy. I have faith though, I think they win the Big Ten this year. *Finally*.
Voting for more parenting content in your newsletter. As a new-ish parent, that would be insightful to me. Apart from all the other regularly scheduled programming.
MG, I'm a *big* fan of your writing. So, I'd read wherever you'd write. I like the Substack product, platform, and ethos. That said, I miss *going* to your website. My guess is Substack will help you build a custom one later, so we are back to Medium 2014 days again, but this time with a creator-business model built in. One thing Substack could do is to limit the characters of your post (and of comments) so that the discussion is focused and threaded on a particular topic. This would turn it into what a Quora thread should've been, which has longer-standing value.
Well, you could always visit 5ish.org ;) But I hear you. And, as noted previously, I have a longer-term plan content-wise -- this is just step one (or maybe step two, depending on what you consider 500ish to be) of a multi-step and multi-year plan. It's sort of like the Marvel Cinematic Universe "Phases", basically :)
Interesting that you bring up character-limits/threads, as that seems to be exactly what Substack is going for with this type of post. That said, threads *below* each link/commentary area in a "regular" post is a thought-provoking concept, for sure.
Hello! I was going to mention something similar... If you write a longer form piece (500ish), could you please link in the 5ish email? Cross-pollination baby!
Hi MG, greetings from Istanbul! Love your writings and reading them for a few years as someone working in tech industry. Just realized you've moved to Substack from Revue and love to hear your comments and reasons about these products and moving journey so far. Otherwise, just love reading.
And one other thing, I was available to respond writers by just replying the newsletter, however Substack isn't allowing that :) This was one thing I've faced after your last newsletter.
I'm just always keen to try new things, and so was curious to see how some of Substack's tools worked with that I've been thinking about with newsletters. This Threads element right here is pretty compelling!
Weird that you couldn't respond to the newsletter -- I assume you mean by simply replying to the email? Or do you mean a comment below the content on the site? I know a few people had that issue because it's a feature Substack reserves for paying members -- and since I don't have any paying members (as I'm not accepting paying members :) ) that's not enabled for anyone. At least not yet!
Hi again, thanks for the response! I like your point of view and just wanted to hear your ideas about both two products. As you know, newsletters are new sexy for a while.
And yes, I had simply tried to reply the e-mail, but it stayed in my outbox. It's probably related with your membership status as you said. Anyway, thanks for the response and cheers!
Hey MG - I'd be interested to understand your view on what a link blog is / should do. In January in 'Tumblr Too' you wrote "f you wanted to start something as simple as a link blog these days, there’s no good way to do it." Then, a few months later beginning of July in 'Hello, I must be going' you wrote "I miss having a link blog. But since Tumblr has all but died, there’s no great home for those anymore." I use Tumblr since 9 years now but never considered it a link blog in the first place. What would you ask a simple link blog to do for you primarily?
Just a super simple way to share links in one place. Per a comment below (or above, actually not sure how these are displayed), Daring Fireball is one of the great examples, of course. But perhaps what I'm doing here with Substack, which is then posted to the web, is enough!
Very interesting - thanks for your answer and taking the time. Still wrapping my head around the link blog approach.
Would you be interested to unbundle posts from editions and instead bundle them in topic streams where you add new posts whenever you have something ready. An example for these topic streams: MG’s thoughts on Apple...or on movies/comics...or on politics...or tech products you’d like to try. Users could pick those topics they’re interested and subscribe those.
Another question (which is very much against the 500ish concept, I know), can you imagine sharing links w/o a comment/quote (additional to 500ish posts) or do you prefer writing 500 word commentaries to it all the time? As if we would be able to follow your bookmarks on top of existing posts...
Have definitely thought about grouping links by topic -- and have done that from time-to-time in older variations of the newsletter. In terms of sharing links without quotes/commentary, also something I think about and I think it makes sense for certain types of links...
MG, As Devon commented, it would be great to cross-pollinate links to your 500ish articles.
Like Sean mentioned about current apps, services and stuff you are using, you could do an MG-version of Tim Ferris’s 5 Bullet Friday format.
As Deb mentioned, Friday’s are a good place for weekend or backlog reads. Brian on the Tech Meme Ride Home podcast does this. Dave Pell on Next Draft usually does a “what to read/watch/bing/book” etc on a Friday which is great!
I agree with Andrej that images are not such a big deal - Ben Evans’s newsletter is a good example. I do love the “.gif to go” at the end though! That is a great touch and is unique to you amongst the newsletters I read.
Are you still doing the mention of the beer you are drinking? Friday-beer-mentions work!
Haha thanks for the Giphy To Go shout out -- I was still planning to do that, but the formatting isn't great for it with Substack. But I'll work on it. Beers will get shout outs from time to time still, not to worry 🍻
I'm seeing Substack mentioned a lot online lately – a couple other email newsletters I subscribe to have switched in the past few weeks. My impression though is that it's designed to let writers charge for subscriptions. Are you thinking about creating a paid subscription?
Hi M.G.! Been waiting for a way to comment. I noticed below you addressed the issue of commenting by subscribing/member. I recieved a notice from technical support one day when I was trying to contact you that I had to pau to comment. I argued your newsletter was free, but that didn't help. So I went the email root.
This thread system works though which is strange. Revue could use this. It's the one thing I miss posting there. Very few comment even with just clicking a thumbs up or down. I have a rough time. I thought of trying to add Disqus commenting somehow to the newsletter, but that causes issues also.
As always love the newsletter and the new style. MOst of the time I believe less is more and am thinking of switching CM that way at some point. People just don't have the time to read it all.
A podcast is a rgeat idea also. I am trying it out now on Anchor. I need to refine it and test some new content startegies to make it listenable.
Hi MG, here is a fan for your Newsletter from KSA. To me, the best time to receive and read the newsletter on Saturday or Sunday (BTW, in Saudi Arabia weekend days are Friday and Saturday) so consider this as suggestions days to send the newsletter.
Next suggestion, add a recommendation section for tv or movies (old or new) shows.
Finally, Substack does not support RTL languages; this way, we can not use the service here :(. We need help from you to convince Substack to support the RTL languages.
Thanks for the feedback. Will try to come up with ways to work in TV/Movie recs from time to time. Also, hopefully the Substack folks see this feedback here re: language support. I know they're here, lurking :)
Glad to see that there is a comment ability, it is the only thing lacking from the previous newsletter. Your topics remain relevant and interesting to me and you always manage to codify thoughts that seem to be in the fringes of my thinking but never fully formed. I am always learning from your posts and appreciate you sharing your thoughts so openly. Keep going!
Hey MG! Big fan here, love all your writing. Would love to see more 1) top picks of things you're into lately - restaurants, apps, books, whatever! You seem to be very dialed in to the latest and greatest and I think a lot of us would really enjoy hearing your take, and 2) a podcast! Knowing your affinity for audio, why not put out something with low-stakes 1-2x a month? Anyway, thanks for all the great writing/content.
Thanks, Sean! I hear you, re: top picks -- one reason for changing things up to a more simple link format was hopefully do be able to do more along those lines (links to new apps, etc). Regarding a podcast, yeah, that has long been top of mind, as well. There are a few things to explore here, the only inhibiting factor is the ultimate one: time. But I'm very much thinking about it, and your encouragement is most welcomed :)
Hi M.G. - have loved your writing and unique perspectives since TC days. I really like that you are continually working to better your “content and distribution platform “, for lack of a better name.
Given how much amazing stuff their is out their to read - having reading time for links posted and a good description is key. My only other newsletter I subscribe to and read regularly (I am not counting Medium and their update emails) is Dan Lewis with Now I Know. His weekday newsletters focus on amazing stories but Friday he sends out the Weekender - with links to great longer read articles from around the web. He also encourages readers to let him know if they come across a great long read to include. What is great is these aren’t always “current “ - sometimes you run across a great story from several years ago that is still amazing and relevant.
It might be useful for your format to segregate story length sometimes, grouping longer reads together accordingly. I have several of Dan’s emails flagged that have stories that are 20plus minute reads - and will pull them up when I am in a waiting room, or waiting for a late friend.
Other than that - I think the format is great and the content as well.
Thanks, Deb -- lots of good thoughts here! I'm a big fan of revealing article length (glad Pocket and Instapaper now do this), so I'll think about that; maybe it makes sense to reveal per link, or maybe it makes sense to group them in some way, as you note.
I also have long loved the notion of sharing older articles, that may not be current but are no less great. I've always been fascinated by our obsession with only sharing the latest and greatest articles, because nothing about that freshness is tied to how good they are, of course. As a result, written content has such a short shelf life. So there's something more I can do there, I'm sure. Thx much for the kind words!
Long time listener, first time caller! I love your writing and follow you across various channels, including 5ish. I like your intro and don’t think it even has to be related to the 5ish links—if you want, look at The Verge’s ‘Trailers to Watch This Week’ series to see what I mean. The move to Substack is interesting and has actually gotten me to sign up as well. I look forward to being along for the ride as you sort this and yourself. But please, keep it up!
Good tip, will check out "Trailers to Watch" (aside: waaayyy back in the day, I used to run a blog called "Trashing Trailers" which seemed similar in nature). I see it on the site, but is that a part of the "Command Line" newsletter as well? Thx much!
Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s in the newsletter. I read most of my news via RSS because I still find it generally better for my needs. It’s just a series every week I make sure to read in my queue of Verge stuff.
So there are comments on each newsletter BUT I *think* they're only enabled for "Subscribers" which is a confusing term, but I believe is a different level beyond simply subscribing to the newsletter -- seems to be more a "Member"-level thing, meaning for people who *pay*. I, of course, don't have a paid tier, so I'll check with Substack if I can just enable it for all -- comments reborn! :)
Exactly, “comments reborn!” As a young kind of techie but definitely always reading about the business of tech, your writings and musings are the best. A place to discuss the ideas with a niche group of followers is a dream!
Hi Steve! Been a long time. It's a good question about focus as I definitely agree with you that verticalized content tends to work best for newsletters (and podcasts, for that matter). That said, I don't *think* I'll go down that path for this particular newsletter, simply because I'm viewing this as more of a link-blog-style thing for me. That is, finding interesting things to link to across a wide swath of categories. The risk is that some people won't be interested in some topics (and may even hate them -- politics and sports come to mind!) but hopefully the sum is greater than any individual part in the end.
As for a "tech lens", I have other ideas on/for that, down the road. Thanks for the thoughts!
FIRST!
I like the added photos. I like the increased frequency. It’s short enough that I get through it each time I read it. I’ll add my vote that I like the preamble, but I can see how it can get tricky not to go too long and turn into a 500ish post. I think I like the more varied topics vs one singular topic for the links. Always enjoy your writing and insights!
Yeah, as you know, been playing around with the photo aspect. I think I like the every-other-link style to try to keep things tighter, but will keep playing around with it and, of course, open to other ideas!
Yeah, I like the every other link style. One thought that came to mind to "keep things tighter" is to use the slim format for all of your images like you did for the header images in the earlier versions of the new 5ish (i.e. top image of "Optimus Prime").
I have thought about this as well! Great minds... 🧠
Always a pleasure to read your writing. Whatever gets you to write more and give your opinion, I’m all for. Enjoying this new format and frequency.
This is a very cool feature in Substack, thanks MG
Just subscribed few days ago, so far so good :)
Hi MG like the new 5ish format. Enjoyed the old format as well, but this new one reminds me of another favorite site, daring fireball. Love the brevity of the approach and like that it lands in my inbox. It’s there for me to go through; there is no way to forget it. It usually takes me less than 10 minutes to go through. Perfect for checking on the go. I usually don’t follow the links but gat all my info from your takes. I dislike the interruption of moving away from mail to another app, it disrupts my flow. Please continue the great work 👍
The context and commentary is always a highlight for me. I don’t always click through but I read every highlight and commentary every email. Only other digest I do that with is Farnam Street.
Love your iPad stories just don’t stop that content.
1:12pm on the EST, always have time for updates and informative, thought provoking rabble..... even on Fridays
Thank you
SECOND! :) I like it so far - a little context/thoughts with the links is I think very welcome
second. Good mix of tech insight with humor - well done
Happy Friday, M.G.! For what it’s worth, I like the newsletter preamble. It’s the beginning of a conversation, like friends talking over beers. The “how’s it going?” before diving into deeper topics. It’s what makes your writing, well, uniquely M.G. And, I suspect, one of the reasons so many of us continue to read your stuff over the years. Have a great weekend🍻
Much appreciated, Keith. And yeah, I like that as well -- that was always a key high-level intention in doing a newsletter: a way to have a more informal conversation with a more direct connection. I felt like it was getting a bit too formal over time -- again, more like a full-on post (often well over 500 words!). So that's very helpful to hear that. 🍻
I mostly miss that really sweet 80's-inspired header logo from First Draught. But, as always, the content is on point. I don't mind the new format, although I did really like the longer intro (totally get that this is super time-consuming!).
Haha, it literally was the *best* part of the old newsletter. And very hard to part ways with :)
I'm enjoying the Substack format. While I don't think it's necessary to kill all images, I do like more of a text focus. Think Gruber with Daringfireball, he uses zero images. Though, don't think you need to throw out the baby with the bath water in that regard. With respect to the commentary, that's why I follow you. :) If it were just links with excerpts, I would find that much less interesting. Finally, about frequency, I may be a minority but I prefer less. It's partially self serving, I just don't want more email. But also, I think it'll tighten the quality of the links when you do share. There's a lot out there this is just semi-interesting. By focusing on less, the best of what you uncover/think about should naturally rise to the top. Like a couple times per month frequency is perfect for me.
Good thoughts on all counts. I think less will happen naturally just due to time-constraints. This week has just been more of a trial run for more :)
Predictions for Michigan football and big ten this year?
Ha! This obviously seems like a make-or-break year for Harbaugh at Michigan. The offensive issues seem addressed, he has the QBs he wants, and the schedule is a bit more favorable. And, of course, OSU has a new coach. But UM obviously lost a ton to the NFL, so it won't be easy. I have faith though, I think they win the Big Ten this year. *Finally*.
Voting for more parenting content in your newsletter. As a new-ish parent, that would be insightful to me. Apart from all the other regularly scheduled programming.
Good to hear and congrats yourself, Rahul. I'm sure more of that will naturally work itself in here as it's such a part of daily life, as you know.
MG, I'm a *big* fan of your writing. So, I'd read wherever you'd write. I like the Substack product, platform, and ethos. That said, I miss *going* to your website. My guess is Substack will help you build a custom one later, so we are back to Medium 2014 days again, but this time with a creator-business model built in. One thing Substack could do is to limit the characters of your post (and of comments) so that the discussion is focused and threaded on a particular topic. This would turn it into what a Quora thread should've been, which has longer-standing value.
Well, you could always visit 5ish.org ;) But I hear you. And, as noted previously, I have a longer-term plan content-wise -- this is just step one (or maybe step two, depending on what you consider 500ish to be) of a multi-step and multi-year plan. It's sort of like the Marvel Cinematic Universe "Phases", basically :)
Interesting that you bring up character-limits/threads, as that seems to be exactly what Substack is going for with this type of post. That said, threads *below* each link/commentary area in a "regular" post is a thought-provoking concept, for sure.
Hello! I was going to mention something similar... If you write a longer form piece (500ish), could you please link in the 5ish email? Cross-pollination baby!
Yes, that's the plan!
Hi MG, greetings from Istanbul! Love your writings and reading them for a few years as someone working in tech industry. Just realized you've moved to Substack from Revue and love to hear your comments and reasons about these products and moving journey so far. Otherwise, just love reading.
And one other thing, I was available to respond writers by just replying the newsletter, however Substack isn't allowing that :) This was one thing I've faced after your last newsletter.
Cheers,
Mert.
I'm just always keen to try new things, and so was curious to see how some of Substack's tools worked with that I've been thinking about with newsletters. This Threads element right here is pretty compelling!
Weird that you couldn't respond to the newsletter -- I assume you mean by simply replying to the email? Or do you mean a comment below the content on the site? I know a few people had that issue because it's a feature Substack reserves for paying members -- and since I don't have any paying members (as I'm not accepting paying members :) ) that's not enabled for anyone. At least not yet!
Hi again, thanks for the response! I like your point of view and just wanted to hear your ideas about both two products. As you know, newsletters are new sexy for a while.
And yes, I had simply tried to reply the e-mail, but it stayed in my outbox. It's probably related with your membership status as you said. Anyway, thanks for the response and cheers!
Weird, you *should* be able to reply, I'll flag it for them...
Hey MG - I'd be interested to understand your view on what a link blog is / should do. In January in 'Tumblr Too' you wrote "f you wanted to start something as simple as a link blog these days, there’s no good way to do it." Then, a few months later beginning of July in 'Hello, I must be going' you wrote "I miss having a link blog. But since Tumblr has all but died, there’s no great home for those anymore." I use Tumblr since 9 years now but never considered it a link blog in the first place. What would you ask a simple link blog to do for you primarily?
Just a super simple way to share links in one place. Per a comment below (or above, actually not sure how these are displayed), Daring Fireball is one of the great examples, of course. But perhaps what I'm doing here with Substack, which is then posted to the web, is enough!
Very interesting - thanks for your answer and taking the time. Still wrapping my head around the link blog approach.
Would you be interested to unbundle posts from editions and instead bundle them in topic streams where you add new posts whenever you have something ready. An example for these topic streams: MG’s thoughts on Apple...or on movies/comics...or on politics...or tech products you’d like to try. Users could pick those topics they’re interested and subscribe those.
Another question (which is very much against the 500ish concept, I know), can you imagine sharing links w/o a comment/quote (additional to 500ish posts) or do you prefer writing 500 word commentaries to it all the time? As if we would be able to follow your bookmarks on top of existing posts...
Have definitely thought about grouping links by topic -- and have done that from time-to-time in older variations of the newsletter. In terms of sharing links without quotes/commentary, also something I think about and I think it makes sense for certain types of links...
Thanks a lot for your answers, MG. Btw, just saw you're also in the Pioneer livestream, hope you enjoy the presenations.
MG, As Devon commented, it would be great to cross-pollinate links to your 500ish articles.
Like Sean mentioned about current apps, services and stuff you are using, you could do an MG-version of Tim Ferris’s 5 Bullet Friday format.
As Deb mentioned, Friday’s are a good place for weekend or backlog reads. Brian on the Tech Meme Ride Home podcast does this. Dave Pell on Next Draft usually does a “what to read/watch/bing/book” etc on a Friday which is great!
I agree with Andrej that images are not such a big deal - Ben Evans’s newsletter is a good example. I do love the “.gif to go” at the end though! That is a great touch and is unique to you amongst the newsletters I read.
Are you still doing the mention of the beer you are drinking? Friday-beer-mentions work!
Haha thanks for the Giphy To Go shout out -- I was still planning to do that, but the formatting isn't great for it with Substack. But I'll work on it. Beers will get shout outs from time to time still, not to worry 🍻
I'm seeing Substack mentioned a lot online lately – a couple other email newsletters I subscribe to have switched in the past few weeks. My impression though is that it's designed to let writers charge for subscriptions. Are you thinking about creating a paid subscription?
No current plans, but yes, it's obviously a great tool/service for that use case!
Hi M.G.! Been waiting for a way to comment. I noticed below you addressed the issue of commenting by subscribing/member. I recieved a notice from technical support one day when I was trying to contact you that I had to pau to comment. I argued your newsletter was free, but that didn't help. So I went the email root.
This thread system works though which is strange. Revue could use this. It's the one thing I miss posting there. Very few comment even with just clicking a thumbs up or down. I have a rough time. I thought of trying to add Disqus commenting somehow to the newsletter, but that causes issues also.
As always love the newsletter and the new style. MOst of the time I believe less is more and am thinking of switching CM that way at some point. People just don't have the time to read it all.
A podcast is a rgeat idea also. I am trying it out now on Anchor. I need to refine it and test some new content startegies to make it listenable.
Keep up the great work! My best always!
Yep, Mark -- glad you saw the back-and-forth here, as I was looking into it a bit after your email. Thanks, as always, for the readership. 👍
Hi MG, here is a fan for your Newsletter from KSA. To me, the best time to receive and read the newsletter on Saturday or Sunday (BTW, in Saudi Arabia weekend days are Friday and Saturday) so consider this as suggestions days to send the newsletter.
Next suggestion, add a recommendation section for tv or movies (old or new) shows.
Finally, Substack does not support RTL languages; this way, we can not use the service here :(. We need help from you to convince Substack to support the RTL languages.
Thanks for the feedback. Will try to come up with ways to work in TV/Movie recs from time to time. Also, hopefully the Substack folks see this feedback here re: language support. I know they're here, lurking :)
Glad to see that there is a comment ability, it is the only thing lacking from the previous newsletter. Your topics remain relevant and interesting to me and you always manage to codify thoughts that seem to be in the fringes of my thinking but never fully formed. I am always learning from your posts and appreciate you sharing your thoughts so openly. Keep going!
Now all that's missing is GIF responses :) Thanks much, JB.
Hey MG! Big fan here, love all your writing. Would love to see more 1) top picks of things you're into lately - restaurants, apps, books, whatever! You seem to be very dialed in to the latest and greatest and I think a lot of us would really enjoy hearing your take, and 2) a podcast! Knowing your affinity for audio, why not put out something with low-stakes 1-2x a month? Anyway, thanks for all the great writing/content.
-Sean
PS. What does Paris Lemon actually mean??
Thanks, Sean! I hear you, re: top picks -- one reason for changing things up to a more simple link format was hopefully do be able to do more along those lines (links to new apps, etc). Regarding a podcast, yeah, that has long been top of mind, as well. There are a few things to explore here, the only inhibiting factor is the ultimate one: time. But I'm very much thinking about it, and your encouragement is most welcomed :)
As for ParisLemon, I get this a lot, obviously :) https://500ish.com/he-wore-lemon-9739fa63b5e6
Hi M.G. - have loved your writing and unique perspectives since TC days. I really like that you are continually working to better your “content and distribution platform “, for lack of a better name.
Given how much amazing stuff their is out their to read - having reading time for links posted and a good description is key. My only other newsletter I subscribe to and read regularly (I am not counting Medium and their update emails) is Dan Lewis with Now I Know. His weekday newsletters focus on amazing stories but Friday he sends out the Weekender - with links to great longer read articles from around the web. He also encourages readers to let him know if they come across a great long read to include. What is great is these aren’t always “current “ - sometimes you run across a great story from several years ago that is still amazing and relevant.
It might be useful for your format to segregate story length sometimes, grouping longer reads together accordingly. I have several of Dan’s emails flagged that have stories that are 20plus minute reads - and will pull them up when I am in a waiting room, or waiting for a late friend.
Other than that - I think the format is great and the content as well.
Looking forward to seeing how things develop!
Thanks, Deb -- lots of good thoughts here! I'm a big fan of revealing article length (glad Pocket and Instapaper now do this), so I'll think about that; maybe it makes sense to reveal per link, or maybe it makes sense to group them in some way, as you note.
I also have long loved the notion of sharing older articles, that may not be current but are no less great. I've always been fascinated by our obsession with only sharing the latest and greatest articles, because nothing about that freshness is tied to how good they are, of course. As a result, written content has such a short shelf life. So there's something more I can do there, I'm sure. Thx much for the kind words!
Long time listener, first time caller! I love your writing and follow you across various channels, including 5ish. I like your intro and don’t think it even has to be related to the 5ish links—if you want, look at The Verge’s ‘Trailers to Watch This Week’ series to see what I mean. The move to Substack is interesting and has actually gotten me to sign up as well. I look forward to being along for the ride as you sort this and yourself. But please, keep it up!
Good tip, will check out "Trailers to Watch" (aside: waaayyy back in the day, I used to run a blog called "Trashing Trailers" which seemed similar in nature). I see it on the site, but is that a part of the "Command Line" newsletter as well? Thx much!
Honestly, I’m not sure if it’s in the newsletter. I read most of my news via RSS because I still find it generally better for my needs. It’s just a series every week I make sure to read in my queue of Verge stuff.
And are threads only able to be created per email or what? Like, could these threads happen for each link or email? Idk but this is a cool feature.
So there are comments on each newsletter BUT I *think* they're only enabled for "Subscribers" which is a confusing term, but I believe is a different level beyond simply subscribing to the newsletter -- seems to be more a "Member"-level thing, meaning for people who *pay*. I, of course, don't have a paid tier, so I'll check with Substack if I can just enable it for all -- comments reborn! :)
Exactly, “comments reborn!” As a young kind of techie but definitely always reading about the business of tech, your writings and musings are the best. A place to discuss the ideas with a niche group of followers is a dream!
Hi Steve! Been a long time. It's a good question about focus as I definitely agree with you that verticalized content tends to work best for newsletters (and podcasts, for that matter). That said, I don't *think* I'll go down that path for this particular newsletter, simply because I'm viewing this as more of a link-blog-style thing for me. That is, finding interesting things to link to across a wide swath of categories. The risk is that some people won't be interested in some topics (and may even hate them -- politics and sports come to mind!) but hopefully the sum is greater than any individual part in the end.
As for a "tech lens", I have other ideas on/for that, down the road. Thanks for the thoughts!