More Klosterman Wisdom.

I first encountered Chuck Klosterman on a bookstand at Cincinnati airport where his collection of pop culture analysis "Sex, Drugs, And Cocoa Puffs" jumped out at me. He makes me laugh, he makes me think and he sometimes endorses my own thinking. Which is nice.

In a blistering attack on the open-source aspect of Snakes On A Plane he wrote,

"I worked in newspapers for eight years, right when that industry was starting to disintegrate. As such, we spent a lot of time talking with focus groups, forever trying to figure out what readers wanted. And here is what they wanted: everything. They wanted shorter stories, but also longer stories. They wanted more international news, but also more local news. And more in-depth reporting. And more playful arts coverage. And less sports. And more sports. And maybe some sports on the front page.

When it comes to mass media, it's useless to ask people what they want; nobody knows what they want until they have it"

Wise words which personally I think apply to every non-essential product and service.