Wired and Feathered ☀
“Only programmers, customer service reps, and accounting staff work at craigslist. There is no business development, no human resources, no sales. As a result, there are no meetings.”— Why Craigslist Is Such a Mess
You can’t help but read this and realize how many people look at Craig Newmark and think he’s an alien.
While the Wired article is not as condescending as the title indicates (or the “Extreme Makeover: Craigslist Edition” sidebar inclusion), it’s irksome and just a regurgitation of the tired old criticisms of Craigslist levied from all comers, except for the site’s acutal users, who generally are pleased with the service the derided barebones designed web application provides.
Like Google (at least in the realm of search), the user interface is drop dead simple and serves up pages in bandwidth friendly fashion. This theme of bare, simple layouts succeeding whilst the flashy, snazzy lauded designed masterpieces sputter is a recurrent motif in the Age of the Interwebs.
The Craigslist enterprise has been far more successful than Conde Nast Wired which is destined for dodo fate, along with all the other glossy magazine publishers.
/sourgrapes
