Gary Short boogles at my ego

November 28, 2005 By

In the ‘better mail than jail’ department, Gary Short writes about me: “At the end of the day though, he’s not actually done anything useful, in short he’s a celeb. Famous only for being famous.”

Usually when I get posts like this it’s like an early warning system. So, I need to look back over my posts to see whether I’m getting off track. Indeed I am. Looking back I see my posting has been condescending, too challenging, and sometimes just mean sounding. Heck, even Dave Winer told me off.

Sorry, blame it on the jet lag.

Filed Under: Blog Tips
  • http://www.richbrownell.com/ Richard Brownell

    Heh, nice. Don’t incite the flamers, huh? I think my suggestion to enjoy some of Europe’s finer points was better, but Dave certainly got right to the point ;)

  • http://www.richbrownell.com Richard Brownell

    Heh, nice. Don’t incite the flamers, huh? I think my suggestion to enjoy some of Europe’s finer points was better, but Dave certainly got right to the point ;)

  • Christopher Coulter

    I just love how “don’t incite the flamers”, becomes refuse to discuss said topics with anyone not already in the groupthink. ;) . Anyone who expresses an opinion, and gasp, has a conversation, but yet still disagrees, gets tagged a “flamer”.

    Name-calling is so grade school.

  • Christopher Coulter

    I just love how “don’t incite the flamers”, becomes refuse to discuss said topics with anyone not already in the groupthink. ;) . Anyone who expresses an opinion, and gasp, has a conversation, but yet still disagrees, gets tagged a “flamer”.

    Name-calling is so grade school.

  • http://edico.blogspot.com/ Stefan Constantinescu

    I liked when you tried not to blog about GYM, your posts weren’t in the “echo chamber” that is the blogsphere.

  • http://edico.blogspot.com Stefan Constantinescu

    I liked when you tried not to blog about GYM, your posts weren’t in the “echo chamber” that is the blogsphere.

  • http://virtuallyshocking.com/ Brock Tice

    I was just thinking this morning as I read your feed that some of the posts were a little harsh and biting. Kudos for paying attention to criticism.

  • http://virtuallyshocking.com Brock Tice

    I was just thinking this morning as I read your feed that some of the posts were a little harsh and biting. Kudos for paying attention to criticism.

  • http://www.garyshort.org/ Gary Short

    Hi Robert, the quote from my post you used makes me sound a little harsh. :) The point I’m was making was a simple one. If you were famous for being a software engineer or program manager then devs might be right to listen to you when you bring focus to a feature of their code. But when you are “only” famous for being an evangelist, then they may well be right to ignore you and carry on along their project roadmap, though that might be difficult for a fledgling company.

    Anyhoo, hat tip to you for taking the point Dave and I were making, (though I’m sure that’s more to do with Dave than me )

  • http://www.garyshort.org Gary Short

    Hi Robert, the quote from my post you used makes me sound a little harsh. :) The point I’m was making was a simple one. If you were famous for being a software engineer or program manager then devs might be right to listen to you when you bring focus to a feature of their code. But when you are “only” famous for being an evangelist, then they may well be right to ignore you and carry on along their project roadmap, though that might be difficult for a fledgling company.

    Anyhoo, hat tip to you for taking the point Dave and I were making, (though I’m sure that’s more to do with Dave than me )

  • http://somethingthathappened.com/ Harold J. Johnson

    What do you mean, “even Dave Winer”? Heck, you know that Uncle Dave’s more likely to tell it like it is than just about anyone else around here - especially since he’s your friend. Just be authentic and everything else will fall into place. Love you, man.

  • http://somethingthathappened.com Harold J. Johnson

    What do you mean, “even Dave Winer”? Heck, you know that Uncle Dave’s more likely to tell it like it is than just about anyone else around here - especially since he’s your friend. Just be authentic and everything else will fall into place. Love you, man.

  • http://msftbagholder.blogspot.com/ MSFT Bagholder

    I actually wish you would post a little more about Microsoft. They, along w/Yahoo and Google, are a significant part of the web today. It’s silly pretending they don’t matter that much. You were weirdly silent when the 360 launched even though it is one of Microsoft’s major new products. Surely you have some thoughts given all the noise, hype, and bashing surrounding the launch. I wonder why they pay you and give you all those toys to play with. The non-GYM thing seems like pandering to the Slashdot crowd.

  • http://msftbagholder.blogspot.com MSFT Bagholder

    I actually wish you would post a little more about Microsoft. They, along w/Yahoo and Google, are a significant part of the web today. It’s silly pretending they don’t matter that much. You were weirdly silent when the 360 launched even though it is one of Microsoft’s major new products. Surely you have some thoughts given all the noise, hype, and bashing surrounding the launch. I wonder why they pay you and give you all those toys to play with. The non-GYM thing seems like pandering to the Slashdot crowd.

  • iainmc

    Yo Scobee

    Many of us always thought of you as the Paris Hilton of Microsoft.

    /i

  • iainmc

    Yo Scobee

    Many of us always thought of you as the Paris Hilton of Microsoft.

    /i

  • http://www.bynkii.com/ John C. Welch

    Robert,

    At your best, you’re an information exchange. You help get information in and out of MS, to people who need it on both sides.

    It is when you start forgetting this, you run into trouble. It’s when you get so caught up in your blog here as a thing unto itself that you screw yourself. The numerous “be first” posts you’ve made, and the consistency that you’ve had to apologize for them, especially when you chose to hang a fellow MS person out to dry without fact checking.

    Forget about being first, be right. Forget about “What does Robert Scoble think”, and make sure that people inside and out of MS know what others think.

    I’d also suggest that you think about lighting a fire under the WM team to stop designing their products as if the digital media users of the world are all running Windows. The inconstancies of that product are an embarrassment to MS.

    and for the love of DOG, get Gates and the rest a preso clicker that is SMALLER than a laptop, and teach them how to present. There’s nothing more agonizing to watch than a Bill Gates presentation.

  • http://www.bynkii.com/ John C. Welch

    Robert,

    At your best, you’re an information exchange. You help get information in and out of MS, to people who need it on both sides.

    It is when you start forgetting this, you run into trouble. It’s when you get so caught up in your blog here as a thing unto itself that you screw yourself. The numerous “be first” posts you’ve made, and the consistency that you’ve had to apologize for them, especially when you chose to hang a fellow MS person out to dry without fact checking.

    Forget about being first, be right. Forget about “What does Robert Scoble think”, and make sure that people inside and out of MS know what others think.

    I’d also suggest that you think about lighting a fire under the WM team to stop designing their products as if the digital media users of the world are all running Windows. The inconstancies of that product are an embarrassment to MS.

    and for the love of DOG, get Gates and the rest a preso clicker that is SMALLER than a laptop, and teach them how to present. There’s nothing more agonizing to watch than a Bill Gates presentation.