I'm finding that there is a great deal of blogging about ... blogging. In fact, this self-inspective navel gazing is getting almost as much play as the actual contents that many key bloggers were trying to get around when they put their fingers to laptops around the world - whether they were telling a unique story, or acting as news feeds and commentary for technology, sports, politics or special interests. The Washington Post, after a thorough survey, found that the "typical" blogger was under the age of 30, had a hard time convincing more than friends or family to visit their site, and very few expect to make money from it. That's probably fairly accurate. Like almost any venture, a very small percentage of businesses or sites will make it, while the majority will fail - or become non-profits.Following Apple's big quarterly announcements yesterday, it's no surprise that a fair number of Apple detractors are trying to find a way to poke holes in the computer/iPod maker's story. Robert Scoble, formerly of Microsoft, and now spinning podcasts at PodTech, says that MP3-capable cellphones are eating into the iPod's market share. Funny thing is, I've never, ever, seen anybody walk around listening to songs on their cell phone, but we can't go a few feet on a crowded sidewalk without seeing white earbuds. Meanwhile, Scoble himself is going to work on podcasts at PodTech, that without the iPod, either wouldn't exist, or would be named something completely different. Amusing.
And do you remember in the late 1990s when two companies would say they had a partnership, even if it were just on paper, and both stocks would jump? And then, do you remember when that all looked a bit silly? Well, Steve Rubel says the "I love you, you love me" releases are coming back, baby!
In case you thought I had missed it, rarely does a tech update go through without discussing Google - the biggest brand out there right now. But if you think about it, and Henry Blodget does on Internet Outsider, less than a decade ago, Google didn't exist, and it wasn't until a few years ago that they figured out how to make money. Somewhere, somebody in a garage is thinking about the next big thing. Or maybe it's taking a medium-sized company just a little bit longer to get there. But Google has accomplished some amazing things in a very short time, and as he writes, that can't be disregarded.
Listening to ''Warung Beach'', by John Digweed (Play Count: 4)