Business 2.0 - publishing 1.0 = 0

If there ever was a magazine that should have been primarily online and primarily a community, it was Business 2.0. But no, it’s dead now. And that’s a shame.

Why the hell it didn’t start online or transition to online is beyond me. Business 2.0 should not have been a product but a community; it could have been the magazine that shows how that’s done. It even had a community on Facebook eager to save it. But, sadly, this magazine was made by a 1.0 company that just didn’t understand how to think like a place instead of a thing.

This being a product of Time Inc., I suspect that politics also played a role. (That’s on my mind as I teach my CUNY course in entrepreneurial journalism and for the first class, I took the students through the saga of starting Entertainment Weekly.) Time Inc. refused to sell Business 2.0 to Mansueto Ventures, publisher of Fast Company and Inc., which are competitive. And Fortune, inside Time Inc., is also competitive. So out went the baby with the bathwater. Too bad.

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12 Responses to “Business 2.0 - publishing 1.0 = 0”

  1. Get A New Browser » Blog Archive » RIP Business 2.0 Says:

    [...] know who is to blame don’t you? The internet. Jarvis says it’s because the magazine was made by a “1.0 [...]

  2. Will Pollard Says:

    Jeff,

    I followed the CUNY link but there is still no info on the conference Oct 10th that you otherwise assume is known when you mention it.

    Anyone else know a link?

    Will

  3. rajendran sambandam Says:

    hi
    the cuny link doesnt work for me
    i would be happy to get another link for it
    thanks

  4. Transnets » Blog Archive » Assistez à Office 2.0 Says:

    [...] est toujours une triste nouvelle pour un journaliste, mais j’apprécie particulièrement le commentaire de Jeff Jarvis . Ça aurait dû être online et pas sur [...]

  5. afsd Says:

    i subscribed till 2009.

    i don’t trust aol time warner anymore.

    big freaking billion dollar company can’t send paper to half a million
    people.

  6. Hoover’s Business Insight Zone » R.I.P., Business 2.0 - Hoover's Says:

    [...] Jarvis shares some short but apt thoughts on B2.0’s demise. Key excerpt: Business 2.0 should not have been a product but a community; [...]

  7. Matt Keegan Says:

    Man, what a bummer. I had recently referenced a “fun to read” article from that magazine, but now it will cease publication after the October 2007 issue.

    Business 2.0 was a good read, much more interesting than Fortune and highly relevant to today’s business. I wonder if Time will fold the mag into Fortune?

  8. Sean Schroeder Says:

    This is truly a bummer…I LOVED Business 2.0 and looked forward to every issue. I have to agree with Jeff’s analysis, they totally 1.0′d it. Fast company would have been a great fit for them, too bad that wasn’t an option. I’m gonna miss it.

  9. Serge Lescouarnec Says:

    Jeff

    I wonder if the (ugly to my taste) redesign of the magazine hurt it as well, at least its image.

    I did like the stories though.

    Has their demise got to do with being a monthly?

    Serge
    ‘The French Guy from New Jersey’
    Blog
    http://www.sergetheconcierge.com

  10. Agel Says:

    Business 2.0 was a good read, much more interesting than Fortune and highly relevant to today’s business. I wonder if Time will fold the mag into Fortune?

  11. KoopTech » Medien » Business 2.0 - vom Magazin zur Community? Says:

    [...] Ähnlich sieht das auch Jeff Jarvis, der schrieb: [...]

  12. Sans Internet, la presse meure » Adverbe.com - Ecrire pour le Web, formation, travail en réseau à distance, conseil éditorial, rédaction Says:

    [...] est un non sens pour un magazine comme le rappelle Alexis qui nous a traduit l’opinion de Jeff Jarvis sur ce décès prématuré :  ” Pourquoi diable [Business 2.0] n’a pas commencé ou [...]

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