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Sunday, August 10, 2003 |
 Rush Limbaugh attempts to poo poo weblogs.
A friend of mine defined the term, derived from "web log," as "a nerd with a journalist degree and no social life who spends most days and all nights writing e-mails to himself and his friends in hopes of attracting attention from traditional media outlets.
I think he is off the mark by a long measure. Most webloggers really don't care about getting quoted in traditional media. I don't. This is a conversation among webloggers and readers of weblogs that is growing at a blistering rate. This is a direct connect and doesn't require intermediation.
Production quality, entertainment value, solid research, and bonding with the audience can be done via a weblog as it is done with talk radio. Further, I think it can be done in ways that far outstrip the capabilities of talk radio.
10:24:20 PM 
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With all due respect to the Bloggercon folks, a $500 entrance fee is a lot of money. Paying the frieght of prosperous speakers and Ivy League students isn't really that attractive. Space, A/V equipment, etc is already available at the school. Also, I have been to Harvard conferences before and never paid a dime.
6:30:18 PM
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I suspect over the next couple of years we are going to see a couple of webloggers rise to the level of the major talk radio hosts. I haven't seen anyone of that capacity yet, but it is clearly going to happen. When they do, almost everything outlined in this post will happen. Can the weblog world survive sites that have audiences of millions? Of course. We all have a voice in the weblog world. There is no enforced silence. We can all can publish to our audiences. In aggregate we have a voice. The big money weblog productions can't swamp us or deny us the ability to connect. However, the threat is real. I do hope the signal we can hear over the white noise of the digital global town hall is: a need for equanimous consensus.
6:16:15 PM
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 Seattle Times (thanks Rajesh). Introducing the Tango. Electric. Top speed of 130 mph. 0-60 mph in 4 seconds. 80 mi per charge. 3 hr recharge. Mass produced at ~$20k.
Engineers and executives at GM's Research and Technology Division, ecstatic when they first saw the Tango, tentatively offered parts at cost, distribution through a GM dealer network and $5 million to get started, pending a solid business plan and market survey. Backing the Tango could have given GM credits under a California state law requiring 10 percent of cars sold by major automakers to meet zero-emission standards. But they rescinded the offer this past spring. GM's lawyers are suing California over the 10 percent rule.
The three things that are exciting about this vehicle are: 1) 3-4x angled parking spaces in place of parallel parking for a single normal size car (that is attractive), 2) more flexible parking at home (a single car garage would do for 2 Tangos), and 3) 2x lanes on major highways (although the benefit of that would be years and years away and would require wide adoption -- I wonder if a portion of breakdown lanes could be converted). A major problem with all electric cars (and laptops) like this one is battery life. 80 mi isn't a long distance. Another great idea that probably won't see the light of day despite the benefits.
2:31:32 PM
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© Copyright 2004 John Robb.
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