Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Blogs....
Kate's blog had a link to a Wired News article a while back about blogs, and how most blogs aren't very interesting to read. Two blockquotes, the first from John Dvorak:
Further in the article is an extended quote from Dave Linabury, who "loves blogging" but said,
For me, both of these comments fit into the long tradition of journalistic idiocy and trying to force-fit a new medium into the patterns of an old one. Remember how the web was supposed to turn into television (i.e., huge one-way broadcasts with passive viewers) when the big media companies came in? Or how the web was going to turn into pay-per-view or how everything was going to be tiny bits of content in between huge banner ads? There are good reasons why none of these have come to pass, at least so far.
If Dvorak and Linabury think that blogs should be written to professional standards, they should hire and pay professional writers ;-). As it is, many people blog for many different reasons, and certainly I read different blogs for different reasons. I read jerrypournelle.com (which isn't a blog, but golly I wish he'd get some blog software) because I'm very interested in Dr. Pournelle's opinions on trends in space travel (and I have been for some decades). I read Jeffrey Zeldman's zeldman.com for ideas about how to make websites prettier while staying standards compliant. I read Dr. Jakob Nielsen's useit.com for ideas on how to make (and keep) my websites usable. (Again, useit isn't a true blog, and again I wish the author would make it one ;-). And I read Ignacio's blog and Kate's blog to keep track of what's up with them ;-).
As a closing comment, let me say that I write my blog not to impress anyone who wants professional writing (there are paying outlets for that sort of thing), but to have a little fun, and to record my time-stamped opinions of things that have caught my eye or tickled my fancy. I also post the odd reminder here (e.g., how to delete unwanted voice-mail without listening to it, which I got from another blog ;-). I've never kept a diary; this is sort of the closest I've gotten. If you find it dull, there are vast numbers of more interesting places on the web; google 'em up ;-).
In a column that was almost universally panned in weblog circles, John Dvorak of PC Magazine said that while a few blogs were insightful, many new webloggers were getting into blogging for all the wrong reasons. They were “wannabe writers” who were looking for “ego gratification,” Dvorak wrote.
Further in the article is an extended quote from Dave Linabury, who "loves blogging" but said,
One of the things I don't like is the blog where someone says something like, 'Today I had a cheese sandwich.' That's the kind of thing you see in most of these blogs. You know, fascinating. I don't give a flying ... whatever what you ate. Don't tell me you have a flat tire. And if this is how boring their writing is, I can't imagine how boring they must be to talk to in general.
For me, both of these comments fit into the long tradition of journalistic idiocy and trying to force-fit a new medium into the patterns of an old one. Remember how the web was supposed to turn into television (i.e., huge one-way broadcasts with passive viewers) when the big media companies came in? Or how the web was going to turn into pay-per-view or how everything was going to be tiny bits of content in between huge banner ads? There are good reasons why none of these have come to pass, at least so far.
If Dvorak and Linabury think that blogs should be written to professional standards, they should hire and pay professional writers ;-). As it is, many people blog for many different reasons, and certainly I read different blogs for different reasons. I read jerrypournelle.com (which isn't a blog, but golly I wish he'd get some blog software) because I'm very interested in Dr. Pournelle's opinions on trends in space travel (and I have been for some decades). I read Jeffrey Zeldman's zeldman.com for ideas about how to make websites prettier while staying standards compliant. I read Dr. Jakob Nielsen's useit.com for ideas on how to make (and keep) my websites usable. (Again, useit isn't a true blog, and again I wish the author would make it one ;-). And I read Ignacio's blog and Kate's blog to keep track of what's up with them ;-).
As a closing comment, let me say that I write my blog not to impress anyone who wants professional writing (there are paying outlets for that sort of thing), but to have a little fun, and to record my time-stamped opinions of things that have caught my eye or tickled my fancy. I also post the odd reminder here (e.g., how to delete unwanted voice-mail without listening to it, which I got from another blog ;-). I've never kept a diary; this is sort of the closest I've gotten. If you find it dull, there are vast numbers of more interesting places on the web; google 'em up ;-).
