Actually, Jake, I find Scoble pretty easy to ignore. Robert Scoble is to Jon Udell as Chris Matthews is to Jim Lehrer. As far as I can see, the only quality that separates him from a typical Engadget contributing author is Paris Hilton-like fame.
I'm sorry if that comes across as overly harsh, but the guy just doesn't light my fire.
Dave
· 1 year ago
I'm not a big fan of Scoble.. I heard about him but didn't follow any of his stuff until his Kindle review (video). I found it to be pretty unprofessional and most of his critiques were pretty foolish and unrealistic...
Jake
· 1 year ago
The guy gets roundly pummeled for his work, but he sticks around and doesn't seem to care. I respect that, even if I don't care for what he says.
I have never met Scoble personally, but I've had some (positive) exchanges with him on his blog and on Twitter.
One thing that you can say for him, and for many other people interested in social media, is that they have a willingness to explore. Many of these explorers try out Gmail, or FriendFeed, or Google Reader, or whatever, just to see how they work. What's more, many of them set up their own admittedly silly services, such as Club140 and Atlocals, because they can.
In one sense it's silly, but on the other hand it gives people ideas that can be applied to sites such as Oracle Mix.
Voyagerfan5761
· 1 year ago
Don't worry, I wasn't having a laugh. I've heard the name everywhere on the Web, but never really figured out who he is. Now I at least have an idea. :-)
Voyagerfan5761
· 1 year ago
Hmph, wish more blogging platforms had editable comments. (Though my own doesn't, so who am I to talk?) Anyway, I think I should talk a little more about this subject.
I have a sort of bubble, too, just like Jake. In my bubble, people like Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia), Kevin Fox (former <acronym title="User Interface">UI</acronym> designer at Google), and Paul Buchheit (the original developer of Gmail) are small-time celebrities, and a lot of people I talk to don't know who they are at all. It's only natural, I guess, that someday, someone would talk about someone I've never really understood all the hype about. Scoble has been that person for me, and Jake was the one who mentioned him.
On the plus side of this, I now know something about who Robert Scoble is.
Jake
· 1 year ago
@Voyagerfan5761: I can edit your comments :) Hey, I'm digging FriendFeed, so I know who Paul is.
Reputation and influence are funny things. Someone should write an algorithm that calculates the relative value of any give keyword . . .
Oh.
Voyagerfan5761
· 1 year ago
@Jake: lol! Google! :D
Jake
· 1 year ago
@OE: I didn't miss Scoble's switch to GMail. It's referenced in the post, i.e. maybe GMail will finally exit beta now that Scoble is giving it a good beating.
You make a good point about how Scoble's curiosity drives him to check out all kinds of new stuff. This is a hallmark trait of a geek. Plus, it's nice to have someone working out the kinks first.
Voyagerfan5761
· 1 year ago
@Jake: Does that mean I'm a geek? I keep signing up for new services, too. Hmm...
Jake
· 1 year ago
@Voyagerfan5761: I believe you qualify if only for your Wikipedia edits.
All Comments
I'm sorry if that comes across as overly harsh, but the guy just doesn't light my fire.
Obviously you missed one of Scoble's more recent posts, "Switching to Gmail." :)
I have never met Scoble personally, but I've had some (positive) exchanges with him on his blog and on Twitter.
One thing that you can say for him, and for many other people interested in social media, is that they have a willingness to explore. Many of these explorers try out Gmail, or FriendFeed, or Google Reader, or whatever, just to see how they work. What's more, many of them set up their own admittedly silly services, such as Club140 and Atlocals, because they can.
In one sense it's silly, but on the other hand it gives people ideas that can be applied to sites such as Oracle Mix.
I have a sort of bubble, too, just like Jake. In my bubble, people like Jimmy Wales (founder of Wikipedia), Kevin Fox (former <acronym title="User Interface">UI</acronym> designer at Google), and Paul Buchheit (the original developer of Gmail) are small-time celebrities, and a lot of people I talk to don't know who they are at all. It's only natural, I guess, that someday, someone would talk about someone I've never really understood all the hype about. Scoble has been that person for me, and Jake was the one who mentioned him.
On the plus side of this, I now know something about who Robert Scoble is.
Reputation and influence are funny things. Someone should write an algorithm that calculates the relative value of any give keyword . . .
Oh.
You make a good point about how Scoble's curiosity drives him to check out all kinds of new stuff. This is a hallmark trait of a geek. Plus, it's nice to have someone working out the kinks first.