Any Tech Sites that don't always talk about Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft? | Hacker News Reader

Any Tech Sites that don't always talk about Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft?

67 pointskwestro26 comments

My feedly account is always filled with the same top tech companies. Sites like The Verge, Mashable, Engadget, ReadWriteWeb, Ars Technica, The Next Web, etc seem to copy each other's topics all the time. . I need some variety. Google, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, are not the only tech companies I want to know about.

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http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/

"Low-tech Magazine refuses to assume that every problem has a high-tech solution. A simple, sensible, but nevertheless controversial message; high-tech has become the idol of our society.

Instead, Low-tech Magazine talks about the potential of past and often forgotten knowledge and technologies when it comes to designing a sustainable society. Sometimes, these low-tech solutions could be copied without any changes. More often, interesting possibilities arise when you combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials, or when you apply old concepts and traditional knowledge to modern technology. We also keep an eye on what is happening in the developing world, where resource constraints often lead to inventive, low-tech solutions."

Excellent link. I like it. However, there's an immediate example that feels to me a bit antithetical to their mission:

"Heat Your Clothes, Not Your House" ... "...electrically heated clothes..."

I guess it depends on the definition of "high-tech"; batteries and heating elements have been around long enough I suppose.

Low-tech doesn't mean necessarily mean "old".

A good way to avoid articles on those big companies is to start reading "region specific" startup blogs or "topic specific" startup blogs. Some of the blogs I follow:

by region

Arctic Startups (Scandinavia) http://www.arcticstartup.com/

Rude Baguette (France) http://www.rudebaguette.com/

Silicon Allee (Berlin) http://siliconallee.com/

by topic

Tnooz (Travel)http://www.tnooz.com/

Search Engine Land http://searchengineland.com/

3D Printing Industry http://3dprintingindustry.com/

techvibes.com (Canada)

ArabCrunch covers Arab tech startups and tech industry there http://arabcrunch.com also http://techinasia.com

Thanks, ArabG. I'll go ahead and give those sites a look.

welcome :)

I was going to mention OSNews, but then I realized it's been a while I didn't visit so I went to check it:

And this is the current frontpage: Sony, Samsung, QNX, Valve, Microsoft, Linux, Google, Microsoft, Google, Valve, OpenBSD, Apple, Apple/Microsoft, Apple/Microsoft/Google, Apple, Google, Cisco, Motorola, Nokia, Apple.

My memory was that it was more of a site about alternative OSes and the like...

OS news used to be full of Apple love and hate.

OSNews was my second to-go place after slashdot like 7 years ago. Thanks for bringing it back to my attention :)

The alternative OS scene isn't what it once was, so they made a conscious decision to change the focus of the website.

I'm the publisher of OSNews. We would still like to cover the hobbyist and alternative scene more, but indeed it's not as vibrant as it used to be. And of course, over the past 6-7 years, we're covering mobile a lot more. We always covered mobile OSes, but of late the mobile OS world has been more interesting than the desktop OS world, which is becoming a little ossified.

To be honest, desktop OSes are getting boring because they're all so good now. Even Windows 8, for all its goofy UI is really a respectable OS now. (And of course there are no upstarts challenging Mac, Windows, and Linux).

But back to alternative OSes. We could use a shot in the arm. If there's anyone out there that's interested in lesser-known OSes and would be willing to do a little bit of reporting on it at OSNews, we'd love to have you. Send me an email.

Could be a good idea and call it NoGASM. :P

jokes. lol

I walked into the trap and checked out the domain name. It's... taken.

http://thetechblock.com

There's definitely a good bit of Apple, Google, Microsoft stuff on there, but a lot of the Features come from sources outside of the big blogs. Not all, but quite a few.

I use a heavily personalized Google News - you can always create a custom section starting with "Technology" (can also specify which region), and then apply filter with "-Google -Apple -XYZ".

That way, you are not limited by just one blog or site, while also keeping it free from the latest trends of reporting only on big companies.

(While I am at that, I also make sure I filter out pretty much all of ZDNet, CNet, InformationWeek and the ilk).

Hacker News

Maybe you can try looking for sites that cover your local region's tech scene, so long as your local region isn't Silicon Valley.

If data and trends on emerging industries, companies, investors is of interest, check us out at CB Insights (www.cbinsights.com/blog or twitter.com/cbinsights)

Also check out Quibb, blog of Benedict Evans, Dan Primack's Term Sheet Newsletter

I use newsblur and filter out the names of the companies I do not care about from those feeds, it's still far from ideal but nobody has cracked personalized filtering yet (whoever does will have my money, if I don't end up doing it myself first).

http://redferret.net ?

Trying to buzz one up : http://www.bizappsbuzz.com

Well, aren't you the bizzy buzzer?

Wait. You mean "technology" isn't synonymous with "latest consumer gadget"?

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