Years ago when I was in college, I took a class on the philosophy of technology. This was back in the first half of the 90’s when we were just getting a glimpse of how the internet might change the world. One thing that stuck with me was the thought that the internet would make data/information cheap and easy to find.
One thing I don’t recall people foreseeing was that as the cost of information went from expensive (press rooms, verified sources, editors, print) to cheap (a blogger with gossip and a laptop in a coffee shop), the amount of resources dedicated to verifying truthfulness also would trend towards zero.
Info like the kind outlined in this story that isn’t verified with an on the record source is valueless and no better than gossip. It’s great that The Verge won’t use sources like this in the future but you have to wonder why they did previously?
