Caveman Code
An early (1978) FORTRAN program that was written on 80 column computer punch cards.
In my first career, I was a professional programmer for about four decades, so I’ve been around a lot of systems over the years. I’ve watched the improvements in information processing and technology proceed at a breakneck pace. After using the new Mountain-Ear website, I am blown away by the beautiful design of the new site and the improvements over the previous one. It’s a marvel for readers right now, and will grow in scope as staff get familiar with how to build sophisticated content with this new tool.
The Mountain-Ear launched their new website (themtnear.com) on October 1, 2024, with free access to it for an introductory period so area readers can check out the new site and see all the new features. The website is part of a new content management system (CMS) from Creative Circle Media Solutions (creativecirclemedia.com) whose headquarters is in East Providence, Rhode Island.
The Mountain-Ear purchased this new CMS system to enhance the reader/subscriber/advertiser experience of local community journalism. The website is intended to be the flagship going forward of Mountain-Ear offerings, with multi-media presentations, an easy-to-use interface, and a comprehensive search engine with which to peruse past editions. The print edition will continue to be published to the highest quality standard possible but a lot more things can be done online than on a two-dimensional printed page.
This website is the result of generations of change in hardware, software, operating systems, and applications. We’ve gone from massive mainframes to tiny tablets. The once ubiquitous green screen has been replaced by densely pixelated screens with almost unlimited shades of color. We went from DOS to Windows and from AOL dial-up to Google with high-speed internet.
User interfaces have also improved over time. The mousepad was a monumental step forward along with voice actuated commands. Users have also become more sophisticated as to how they use applications. Some are concerned that we spend too much time looking at our screens, but all those hours reading and playing games have resulted in a savvy audience that expect quality presentations to catch their attention.
The interface is what makes the new website so exciting. It is easy to use, and the search engine has about 15 different ways you can filter for articles so even the most complicated search is possible.
All the links in an online article are hot now so you can click on a link and immediately drill down to the detailed reference. It is then a simple back up click to keep reading the original article.
The new site is also linked to a set of prior Mountain-Ear editions, so it acts as a searchable repository and archive. The goal is to have the entire history of The Mountain-Ear online and available in the near term.
The new site also offers advertisers potential new ways to market their products and services to a broader audience, since there are subscribers who don’t take the print edition. Online options for creating captivating advertising messages abound.
Furthermore, the ability to provide videos of local community events is another huge opportunity for Mountain-Ear staff to practice community journalism in the 21st century. It might even be possible to set it up so that subscribers can submit videos as Letters to the Editor and have them available online for public review. The possibilities are immense for using videos to tell the stories of our communities.
The menu bar at the top of the home page offers a wide assortment of topics and features. The Send your news tab has a way to leave hot tips on breaking stories. It also provides the ability to upload photos and letters to the editor.
Like Netflix, The Mountain-Ear needs to charge for their work, but it is a very reasonable price, and the portal will always be filled with current, interesting, and entertaining content.
An online subscription costs $40/year or about $3.35/month (cheaper than Netflix). Anyone who buys the print subscription ($75/year/local or $6.25/month (still cheaper)) also gets a subscription to the online portal.
Although we are pushing forward with our new information and technology systems, our values and ethics remain the same. We continue to be committed to reporting community events in a timely and accurate fashion.
We continue to be a place for public discourse where all perspectives are welcome as long as they are in compliance with our civility standards.
We don't try to tell you how to vote or what to think. It is not our mission to be influencers or shapers of public opinion. We want to provide you with accurate information and honest opinions so that you can make up your own mind over matters of local interest.
Email Barbara Hardt at info@themountainear.com for more information about The Mountain-Ear or to report problems with the new website. After this introductory period, the website will revert to a paywall for most content for our active subscribers. Take a test drive and let us know what you think of our new home on the web (themtnear.com).
