I think the slider has it's place but that place isn't everywhere. When you want to bring exclusives, features, or trending news to the attention of the reader above the most recent stories, it's hard to beat a slider. The problem is, it's really only effective if the image is certain to grab attention to it's headline. A celebrity, a disaster, a 'hero shot'...these things always grab my attention on a slider. A Google logo, a physical product (unless it's like a 'WTF is that?') a picture of some random startup founder I'd only recognize by name, these things fail in the slider.