Last week, while everyone was watching CBS purchase CNET, Condé Nast bought Ars Technica, a small influential Web tech site; Webmonkey, a site for Web developers and Hot Wired, the brand
that ran the first ever banner ad.
With its "fat, luscious magazines" Condé Nast would seem the antithesis of "the sneaker-wearing run-and-gun aesthetic" of the Web. Not so. The
fashion empire wants to be a digital player and is committed to constructing a viable digital business.