Interview with Josh Rubin, Editor of Coolhunting

We took Josh Rubin, Coolhunting Editor-in-Chief, to task about his site and his views on the world wide web.
How long has Coolhunting.com been going?
We launched in February 2003 so 6.5 years.
How many people does it employ?
There are four editors and 25 contributors around the world.
Where are you based?
New York City
How often is it updated?
We post 5 - 7 stories on weekdays and air one new, original video per week.

How does the web format suit what you cover and the way you cover it?
Our readers are always looking for something new, fresh or innovative so the immediacy of online publishing allows us to reach them in a timely manner.
Have you always worked online?
Yes.
How have people in your industry’s attitudes changed towards the internet since you’ve been working in it?
I started making web sites in 1994 so I’ve seen many shifts in attitude toward the internet. Specific to media, most recently we’re seeing a shift in advertising interest from print to digital largely because it’s much easier to target ads
What other websites do you check regularly?
Using RSS I keep an eye on over 300 sites a day. Some favorites include:
kitsunenoir.com, freshcreation.com, nerdcore.de/wp, todayandtomorrow.net, mashable.com, refinery29.com, tuaw.com

What do you think is the best thing about the internet?
The ability for people to create, connect and share on a global scale is incredible.

What’s the worst thing about the internet?
There’s a lot of noise in the form of spam, scams and general trash so filtering that out can sometimes be complicated.
Do you think it’s a mistake that the vast majority of the internet is free?
No way! Making information free is appropriately egalitarian.
How do you think the web will develop in the future?
The next big wave has been building for almost a decade but has finally started to hit—location. Products, content and services are being build and optimized for the knowledge of where someone is in the physical world when they are accessing the internet.
There’s a belief that the speed of the web and glut of information we have available at our fingertips is fundamentally changing the way humans learn and disseminate knowledge and we’re all turning into short term transmitters – we don’t learn or remember anything for any length of time anymore. Do you agree with this?
Partially, yes. Our devices and access to information make it much easier to answer questions on the fly and much less important to remember details. It’s still up to our brains to be curious and inquisitive, though.
People blame the internet for our obsession with news and newness – is the best website the one that delivers something first?
No. With all of this information overload the best website is the one that culls through the information and delivers a curation relevant to its readers.

If the internet didn’t exist, what would you be doing instead?
Taking photographs.