Blog break time
Munir Umrani asks "where is Mini?"
Heh, I bet someone got him an Xbox! ;-)
But, tonight I was talking with Steve Gillmor and told him I was thinking of taking some time off. I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks now but I wanted to do it with some thought first.
Along these lines Udo Schroeter wonders whether we are just ganging up on people and is that a good "conversation?"
That's what Steve Gillmor and I talked about too.
I'm gonna take some time off, think more about what I want to do as a blogger, as an employee, as a husband, as a father, and come back fresh.
Translation: I gotta play some Xbox! :-) (Thanks to Chris Pirillo, I didn't know he was gonna video me at brunch today).
I also have a bunch of Channel 9 tasks to do too, I'm way behind there too.
It's possible that I'll take two weeks off cause my son will be here next week and I wanna spend some time with him.
Take care of the place while I'm gone.
Powered By 
April 9th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Take care of yaself, Mr. Scoble… I’m a relatively new reader to your blog but I’ve been enjoying it. I’ve been thinking of blogging, and breaks too. Here’s all the best to family time-something that seems to sadly get neglected in the busybody era of today.
April 10th, 2006 at 12:38 am
Your post reminded me of Harry Chapin’s Cats in the Cradle:
Well he came from college
just the other day
so much like a man I just had to say
I’m proud of you could you
sit for a while
he shook his head
and he said with a smile
what I’d really like Dad
is to borrow the car keys
see you later can I have them please
Have a good break :)
April 10th, 2006 at 1:36 am
‘…whether we are just ganging up on people’
Geee, I hadn’t noticed. But true “evangelism” never attacks, it understands, it’s diplomatic, it’s anthropology. The ‘Hellfire-Brimstone Attack Dogs’ reach burnout quick. Case in point…
But you are a proxy for more than is fair, not all the sins of Microsoft are thy fault. But that’s the job you signed up for, so thick-skin ahoy.
April 10th, 2006 at 5:15 am
Enjoy the break. Don’t let Patrick wallop you too much on the XBox. :)
April 10th, 2006 at 6:18 am
Hey! Could you add me on tech.evolution@hotmail.com or send me an email telling me how to change that that title bar image like you did? I mean this one:
http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/scoble_1.jpg
Thanks mate!
April 10th, 2006 at 7:00 am
http://twit.tv/49
Scoble is on This Week in Tech, finally!
April 10th, 2006 at 7:47 am
Great appearance on TWiT Robert. You actually fit in with the Twits well. I do think you’ll get some critisism though. This episode had a lot of talking over other people, cutouts, etc. But I think it’s really just a sign of the fact that podcasts are very difficult to keep under control with over 4-5 people. But people will blame it on you because you work at Microsoft ;)
April 10th, 2006 at 8:21 am
not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but that looks like the Xbox core box. Bummer…
April 10th, 2006 at 9:07 am
Well deserved. Your side of the conversation will be 3x richer when you get back. Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips said to the audience at his last two concerts “your enthusiasm will save the world.” You’re included in that Scoble.
April 10th, 2006 at 9:54 am
Thanks Brooks and Richard.
Regarding TWiT, the lag was horrible. Made it very hard to have a conversation. We had fun nonetheless.
Yeah, it’s an Xbox core system. But that’s what I bought too. (You still can’t find Premium systems in stock).
April 10th, 2006 at 10:53 am
Enjoy the break, Robert … sounds like your priorities are straight.
April 10th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
Still can’t find Premiums in stock? I thought you were saying the supply problems were getting resolved? Few want a core system. Sure people will settle for them just to get a 360.
Man, between this, Vista, and the Tablet PC’s you’re soundling like Bagdhad Bob.
April 10th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
“. . . I wanted to do it with some thought first.”
Ah, conduct interviews, gather use cases, design scenarios, architect solution, implement vacation. Reflect and consider next iteration. Enjoy. Question.
Anecdote: The sole comment I received from a post on BillG vs. Marissa Meyer read “Did you notice the Channel 9 guy on his desk in the background?”
Have fun,
-e.
April 10th, 2006 at 7:02 pm
Did anyone pay the light bill? :D
Have a great time!
April 10th, 2006 at 7:03 pm
Oh Man! If you don’t post, where will I find the inspiration for future angry rants!
Have fun with the XBox, hopefully I’ll have my hands on one soon. Hopefully my entry into the Atlas Mash-Up goes better than my remix entries.
April 10th, 2006 at 9:41 pm
Happy Gaming ;)and yeah we sure will take care of this place :twisted: kidding…
April 10th, 2006 at 9:49 pm
Dmad: all the stores I’ve been in are sold out of Core’s too. Even here in Silicon Valley. The salespeople at the Milpitas Best Buy says they get sold as soon as they are in.
April 10th, 2006 at 11:41 pm
Yeah dude rock with games have a blast
April 11th, 2006 at 1:40 am
it’s a nice web site with romanian news in romanian language. PLease visit InfoNews
April 11th, 2006 at 2:07 am
Man, between this, Vista, and the Tablet PC’s you’re soundling like Bagdhad Bob.
Totally. But you forgot the Port 25 joke, Office (Not So) Live, Boot Campisms, MSN Searchisms, Patch Everydayisms, Smartphone and UMPC…tho UMPC guess could be a Tablet PC(s) of sorts.
Not to mention, the Microsoft guide to rootkits and security being “waste the system entirely”. And the future Monaco, which he hasn’t talked about, but will. And then the handheld Mobile gaming or PDA something or other, which is dead before it even hits. And the Google copycats’isms, aka Windows Live Product Search. And then the Convergence blowouts (yet another ERP roadmap, just now with mash-ups), and the BitVault overhype, and the joke of Live Clipboard, and the delayed Office 2007 jockeying, with the trainwreck in slow-motion merger of the System Builder and OEM programs. Tons of ‘kiss of death’ stuff awaiting his return.
But all hands on deck for SPOT 2.
April 11th, 2006 at 3:48 am
[...] Blog break time [Scobleizer] [...]
April 11th, 2006 at 5:53 am
Wait…don’t go. You have to announce ‘Microsoft Product Search’. Where was the branding team on that one? There’s no Windows in that name. And it’s dull as can be. Is it a shopping service or a user manual search? And doesn’t this only highlight the fact that Google has like 30 additional search services that you have yet to roll out? Ok, you probably won’t match their Linux search, but still.
April 11th, 2006 at 8:34 am
Why put “Live” in everything?
To convince the world that your company is not dying!
“I’m not dead yet!”
April 11th, 2006 at 10:49 am
Enjoy yourself!
April 11th, 2006 at 11:01 am
@17. So… then there still are supply issues. If stores only get enough to last an hour or so, then I’d say supply issues are NOT being resolved. It’s been been 6 months since the XBOX 360 launch and one still cannot walk into an electronics store and buy the model they want.
And don’t give the “wait until the PS3 ships” retort, because we aren’t talking about the PS3.
I’m reminded of this famous quote from Bagdhad Bob:
“Nobody came here. Those America losers, I think their repeated frequent lies are bringing them down very rapidly…. Baghdad is secure, is safe.”
April 11th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
I still can’t get over how fumbled the Xbox 360 launch becomes, every day, news about new shipments, new factory lines, more Taiwanese Xbox 360 chip orders, things-are-getting-better-just-you-wait blah blah blah. And then eternal news about re-launches in various parts of the world, meanwhile (still after all this time) no one in Peoria can get one…
All the while the Peter Moore’s, Annonying Nelson’s and John Porcaro’s and other marketing fuzzballs are beach-balling on like nothing amiss. I do notice that John Porcaro stopped blogging, heat got too hot in kitchen, I assume.
So good supply, 2 years from launch…about when Vista hits, is when supply of Xbox 360’s can even meet old (and now waning) demand? The hardcores just waiting for Halo 3, but another shortage then, when a run on the bank.
From the stating-the-obvious-dept:
“It wasn’t a great lift-off” - Yasuyuki Saito.
April 11th, 2006 at 1:55 pm
Christopher: store managers are telling me there’s even more demand and more sales now than there was in Christmas. Their shipments are getting much larger, Best Buy in Milpitas told me, but the units are still selling out within a day.
So, maybe we’ve increased supply but didn’t account for increased demand?
April 11th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
hi scoble
im number 2 hot blog
can i get some respect
btw, i came up here to read about xbox.
also: do you know anything about age of empires?
April 11th, 2006 at 6:26 pm
@27. I know this is a foreign concept to you, scoble, but do you have data to back up your “increased demand” contention? Or are you basing this on purely anecdotal data? How many store managers were part of your scientific statistical survey? Or, again, is this just based on random conversations?
Geez! And you want journalist fired for not checking facts?
How much larger is larger, compared to launch shipments? 10? 20? 50? 100?
Again, I know you are on record as saying this is not a nubmers game, but… I have a hard time believing heresay.
April 11th, 2006 at 10:56 pm
Dmad: I was very specific about where I got this. Two store guys. One in Bellevue. One in Silicon Valley. Do you read carefully or do you just look for every opportunity to take a shot at me?
April 12th, 2006 at 7:21 am
[...] Scobleizer throws in the towel and decides to stop blogging. For now. Still waiting for the chorus of "Come back, Scobleizer!" which is usually the main reason for people who publicly announce that they will be taking a break from blogging. [...]
April 12th, 2006 at 8:42 am
@30, so, you could have just said:”based on my two anecdotal pieces of evidence, I wonder if demand is increasing?” Instead you state it as some sort of fact. I ‘m sure Chris could go to two stores, one in Peoria and one in Milwaukee and conclude that supply is still a problem. That, too, would be anecdotal. All I’m saying is, when you try to defend your employer, get some solid facts behind your postion. And be honest and avoid the hyperbole. Another example: “Tablet PC are taking off! MS has sold a million and counting!” Well, is that a million this year? Or a million since 2002? Either way that’s a very very low number, given how long Tablets have been around, and compared to laptop and PC sales. A rational person would conclude the Tablet is having problems getting traction in the market.
April 12th, 2006 at 9:17 am
Hey Robert,
I just wanted to applaud you for refraining from the “fake”, timed post thing while you’re taking a (much needed) break. I despise the concept of queuing up a bunch of posts for timed publication to make it seem like the poster is “there”, but they are *not* available for a true, two-way (multi-way) “conversation”.
You have my permission to take as many “blog” breaks as you want, as often as you want, and for as long as you want.
- Jack Krupansky
April 12th, 2006 at 10:47 am
Dmad: I said “maybe.” That wasn’t a statement of fact. But thanks for reading carefully.
April 12th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
@34. No, actually you said “store managers are telling me there’s even more demand and more sales now than there was in Christmas”.
So, based on your last comments, this is only TWO store managers.
Obviously there are more sales because they are getting more stock in. If I only got 1 in Dec and got 2 in March, OF COURSE I would have more sales. Regardless of demand. Not sure how these two store managers are measuring demand, except maybe getting whined at more.
Then you followed it up by saying:”maybe we’ve increased supply but didn’t account for increased demand?”
Grammatically, the “maybe” applied to “increased supply” (which would be a pull back from previous positions). “Increased demand” was not qualified as ‘maybe’, based on your previous paragraph.
Glad I could help!
April 12th, 2006 at 12:58 pm
Christopher, I’ve taken the liberty of running your posts through a semantic parser, and this is what I came up with:
$#%^*&!
April 12th, 2006 at 1:15 pm
Hey DMad,
Don’t be an ass.
Scoble was making an observation which was that XBox 360s are still being sold out despite higher supply. This is base on 2 facts: Microsoft is making and distributing more units and stores are still selling out. This combined with the general buzz around the gaming community implies that there is a higher demand. Which makes sense considering that the launch titles were not great.
Just because he doesn’t have 30 pages of research and facts doesn’t mean he’s wrong.
BTW: I’m sorry you hate Microsoft so much, with the exception of Scoble here, their actually pretty nice and have a much better understanding of their customers than you think.
April 12th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
Hello, if I hear of chickens me badly the bird flu to have we of China get now the Chinese to have from the USA google gotten. Unfortunately neither of them gives a vaccine, unfortunate or for. I would like to mention still one the bird flu to have we soon in the grasp
April 12th, 2006 at 8:15 pm
Was that Maryam? Never seen her on video before; geez her voice is squeaky. Congrats on the X2.
April 13th, 2006 at 2:11 am
Taking blog breaks is very necessary if you want to rethink your approach and strategy. Enjoying your blog and contribution to the blogosphere, look forward to your return.
April 14th, 2006 at 10:01 am
[...] Someone suggested that I’ve stopped posting while Robert Scoble is taking a blog break — but come on, not that many of my posts link to Robert. [...]
April 14th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
Looks like the Origami is a little too “advanced” for the average CEO
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200604/kt2006041317503911780.htm
In fact, the new PC proved to be too revolutionary, enough to baffle the three firms’ executive officers who publicly tried to demonstrate how to use it.
During Wednesday’s news conference at Grand InterContinental in southern Seoul, some 30 reporters gathered to watch the much-hyped product named Q1, or Ultra Mobile PC. Kim Hun-soo, vice president of Samsung’s PC division, first ascended to the podium as he tried to do the presentation in a Steve Jobs style _ which was not so successful.
April 14th, 2006 at 3:48 pm
XBox! I still can’t get enuff of my old N64. God they made some great 3D games for that system, especially considering the age. Hmm, Mario 64, the Zelda games (especially the Ocarina of Time). I am readdicted to that system as of the other day.
April 14th, 2006 at 3:51 pm
Manuel said: “Hello, if I hear of chickens me badly the bird flu to have we of China get now the Chinese to have from the USA google gotten. Unfortunately neither of them gives a vaccine, unfortunate or for. I would like to mention still one the bird flu to have we soon in the grasp”
Ummm. What?
April 14th, 2006 at 6:51 pm
God - I remember when I was in line to get N64 when it was released. LOL.
April 14th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
DA,
That article on the Origami presentation was hilarious. Thanks for posting it.
Robert, why are people supposed to buy that thing again?
April 14th, 2006 at 7:38 pm
[...] They left the Top Blog spot open for yours truly. I was pleasantly surprised to see it right there waiting to be claimed. The hiatusing Scobleizer didn’t have it. Encyclopedia Lorelle wasn’t top dog. Even those kitschy chicks from the Netherlands got booted from the blog throne. Not one to pass up an opportunity for greatness or a chance to abuse the Jokewood font, I handily whipped out Paint.NET and ascended to numero uno. That’s right. I took it by force without a qualm or hope of legitimately earning that coveted spot. [...]
April 14th, 2006 at 9:26 pm
Wow, Robert really is taking a vacation. Are you feeling ok Christopher Coulter, kinda lonely now eh? ;)
April 14th, 2006 at 10:03 pm
@37 Whether he likes or not, Scoble speaks for Microsoft by the mere fact that’s he’s advertised himself as an MS employee. He puts forth that he’s running around getting everyone that reads his blog the real story. I now have no idea when he’s telling me facts or telling me his opinion based on anecdotal information. Seems he wants it both ways. Should we believe him when he tells us over 1MM Tablets have been sold, or is this just his opinion? Should we believe him when he tells us some percentage of Vista code is not being rewritten because he “talked to a bunch of Vista devs” or is this just his observation? Again, whether he likes it or not, when he posts anything remotely related to MS, he is speaking for MS. As such, he better have his facts straight, or risk losing even more credibility.
For example, based on the random two stores I visited in the past couple of weeks, one in Miami and one in Phoenix, supplies are no different than they were in November. So, demand still exceeds supply. I don’t think logic tells you that demand has increased. Demand has always been there. There’s really no good way to measure if demand has increased if supplies have only increased marginally. My point is, Scoble’s XBOX posts are based on his limited observations and nothing more. Until we see numbers, for every anecdotal data point that may suggest supplies and/or demand has increased, I can come up with an equal number of anecdotal data points that disprove his.
April 14th, 2006 at 11:06 pm
Dmad: I never claimed my post about the Xbox selling was anything more than based on limited data. I think it’s funny that you’re going around making a federal case about it. I was very clear about what I was seeing. But, it sure got your goat. What, do you work for Sony?
April 14th, 2006 at 11:14 pm
J. Random: you’re not supposed to. I’m buying one. Why? Cause I want to put it on my car’s dashboard and hook a GPS up to it.
April 15th, 2006 at 1:31 am
Rae said: “God - I remember when I was in line to get N64 when it was released. LOL”
Yep. Good times indeed.
April 15th, 2006 at 2:50 am
But, it sure got your goat. What, do you work for Sony?
Doncha have a new line? Not everyone that demands hard stats and real evidence (say like any random Amazon CTO) is working for the competition. Not everyone who disagrees is ‘out to get you’. In this play-acting game of Microsoftish blog-info snipplets and people-person smug marketing, sometimes you are just plain wrong, and fluffy.
In case you been missing what’s been up….
Eur-eeeeek-ster.com….Samsung Origami Demo Crashes bigtime….Lucent Technologies patent lawsuit could stop Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 sales return to dismal in Japan….MS Patch Day: 10 Flaws Fixed in Monster IE Update, but yet “causing Internet Explorer lock-ups, Windows hangs and system crashes” and Security Researcher is calling Microsoft’s latest patch bulletin “misleading” and IE patch breaks Siebel client…Dow Exec to be new juggling Accounting guru (forget the stock price boosting however)….Gartner says half of corp. desktops won’t run Vista, a kick into the OEM with-hardware-upgrade-cycle anew (and Vista kills eye-candy for wArEZ kiDDieZ)…Forrester Research says Microsoft mistrust so high, that Apple could double….Cold to lukewarm reception for new Windows Live offerings say analysts….Microsoft pulls “not ready” Windows Vista guide….
Good time for a break, all hell breaking loose, but wait…that’s just the day to day at Redmond…
April 15th, 2006 at 10:40 am
Games are not only pleasure but are very useful for brains.
April 15th, 2006 at 12:39 pm
@53
You left out “Linux community distrusts port25″
http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/58360/index.html
In the wake of Microsoft launching their Port 25 blog in an effort to open the lines of communication with the Free and Open Source Software Community, a long line of FOSS proponents have voiced loud and clear their fears, doubts, and outright opposition. Indeed, one poster suggested that “there is nothing to discuss”. And he has a point. Until Microsoft ceases their anti-competitive behavior, until they cease their attacks on the freedoms of users, until they cease their blatant lies about the FOSS community, its software and licenses, there can be no discussion that will lead to any understanding.
—-
Then there’s the guy who found that its straightforward to throw together a media-pc experience with off the shelf parts and a mac mini.
http://homepage.mac.com/chamady/MacMiniReview/
Its kind of cool how Apple’s innovation allows users to do some innovation of their own.
——-
Then there’s the Forrester Research study that shows the most affluent Windows users are fed up and don’t trust the company.
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=14381
“”Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk: One measure of consumer dissatisfaction with Microsoft is seen in the 5.4 million households that gave it a brand trust of 1 (distrust a lot) or 2 (distrust a bit),” the report said.
“Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male and are bigger online spenders. These households know they run Microsoft software but would be just as happy to leave it behind - if they could. Apple could double its PC share by winning Microsoft’s at-risk customers.”
The demographic of Microsoft’s at-risk customers fits well with Apple’s user base, which Forrester describes as “affluent, optimistic about technology and brand aware.”
The study period took place before Apple introduced Boot Camp. which lets Intel Mac users install Windows XP on their machines, enabling them to boot up in either OS.”
———
And then there’s
Microsoft Corp. has warned that if South Korean regulators order it to remove code or redesign Windows as part of an ongoing unfair competition investigation, it could pull the operating system from the market or delay the introduction of new versions.
—-
I’d stay on vacation too.
April 15th, 2006 at 1:52 pm
Christopher: Gartner didn’t say that. Stop misrepresenting them. Go back again. Gartner said that half of all corporate desktops won’t run SOME features in Windows Vista. That doesn’t mean it won’t run.
The rest of your post is just about as balanced as well. But, life goes on in the big city.
April 15th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
Holy crap, there is way too much anti-Microsoft crap in these comments to sort through. I just have few final thoughts.
#1. It’s a blog, it’s Scoble personal observations. If you want official news from Microsoft, try http://www.microsoft.com
#2. How much does the demand for XBox 360s really matter? Microsoft is making more, and they’re still selling out. Scoble doesn’t have any data to support his claim and you don’t have any data to deny it.
#3. “Linux community distrusts Port25″ REALLY!?! HOLY CRAP open source people don’t trust Microsoft. This is some major news. Let’s blame Microsoft for trying. Next thing you know, Microsoft will release a free IDE, or a new browser with better CSS support and security, or possibly even start a conference to better connect with the web developer community. They are so evil.
April 25th, 2006 at 9:29 am
[...] Robert Scoble just posted a long essay on his blog titled How Microsoft can shut down Mini-Microsoft. It seems like his two week blog break did him the world of good. The essay details ways in which Microsoft can improve itself and includes the following. [...]
July 31st, 2006 at 5:48 am
[...] Robert Scoble just posted a long essay on his blog titled How Microsoft can shut down Mini-Microsoft. It seems like his two week blog break did him the world of good. The essay details ways in which Microsoft can improve itself and includes the following. [...]
August 31st, 2006 at 11:24 am
Interesting site http://xoomer.alice.it/pin7/pokercamp/
September 6th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
Is very interesting http://www.wide.msu.edu/Members/derik/poker-supply.html