10-07-2010, 06:00 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 431
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I am going to risk a pause to this bash-fest, which is just all too common on tech blogs these days. The tech blogosphere is rapidly developing the infamous mindset of the Washington beltway which is forever pronouncing what the conventional wisdom is and is forever completely wrong.
The danger is tech bloggers and their faithful commenters become an echo chamber where they post what one another are saying about a topic (in this case, the very fate of Microsoft) rather than doing any original thinking on their own.
By far the champions of this is ZD Net. Because of the size of its stable of columnists, it easily becomes its own echo chamber, but it also spills out into the rest of the tech press world.
Added to the heard mentality that is an easy trap for any group of reporters or commentators to fall into is a special, additional, burden for tech bloggers: the inexplicable emotional attachment that humans develop for their purchase decisions, be it gadgets, computer operating systems, cars, or what-have-you.
My point here is not to insult anyone, but just to ask that we take a step back and do some self-evaluation every once in a while. There are some truths that we need to recognize:
- Just because I don't like a feature on a smartphone doesn't mean the phone will fail in the marketplace.
- Just because I think the privacy policies of a particular company are evil, doesn't mean the company will not be successful.
- Just because tech firms often display a swagger and arrogance about their latest software and/or gadget, doesn't mean it is really anything more than just more software and another gadget.
- Just because people buy 1 million of something in XX days or download 1 million copies of something in XX days, it really doesn't mean that it is all that important in a nation of 310 million people and a world of 6 billion.
I try to live and comment by these and similar truths. The bad news is: I'm human and sometimes fail to live up to my expectations. The good news is: I try. Jason runs the best tech blogs on the net in terms of the quality of the commentary. It is always a pleasure to visit, even when I think the echos are getting a little loud.
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