Don't forget genuine analysis, especially in the sense of placing things in context, historically speaking.
That's something that's hugely missing from the "tech reporting" (ha) of today. Almost no one considers the things that came before.
For example, I saw no one else comparing Google Wave to OpenDoc... or even remarking on the old command-line tool, talk/ytalk. Both of which are extremely relevant to Wave as a product.
Is a newspaper full of what's new, or is it news because it's in the paper?
Most of the front-page articles on HN are not news, they are recycled anti-business school puff pieces. And yet, this is Hacker News.
If Google releases a product that looks suspiciously like Apple's failed OpenDoc initiative from, oh, 12 years ago, that's news. If they're focusing on a communication medium style that totally existed before, but which was largely abandoned because it was incredibly annoying, that's news, too. Those who don't learn, doomed repeat, etc., etc.
That's something that's hugely missing from the "tech reporting" (ha) of today. Almost no one considers the things that came before.
For example, I saw no one else comparing Google Wave to OpenDoc... or even remarking on the old command-line tool, talk/ytalk. Both of which are extremely relevant to Wave as a product.
Shame.