I hadn’t planned to pen any reflections on my 15th year blogiversary, but this drive by comment last week was an amusing impetus:
Wow! I remember when “journalists” had a basic understanding of English grammar, sentence structure, and and communication skills. The author of this piece of drivel fails on all three counts. It seems that every wannabe with an internet connection thinks he’s a journalist.
As a first generation gadget blogger, I’ve never considered myself a “journalist” and hold no illusions — I know my writing is passable at best. (And I recognize the vast majority of English teachers cringe at sentences that begin with prepositions.) What I was and still am is a guy sharing my experiences in tech (conversationally) and turning up cool stuff before mainstream media gets around to it (if they ever do).
In those early days, I did seek out legitimacy through the favor of corporate PR interactions. But over time, it’s become quite clear that you (my geeky peers) continuing to visit the site and engaging in the comments is all the validation I need. I’m merely your tech emcee, kicking off conversation here and on Twitter. In fact, after such unpleasant interactions with TiVo’s former communications exec (who you may have read about in unflattering terms), I swore off most PR years ago (but happily converse with product folks all day, everyday).
Anyhow, I wanted to take this moment to emphasize that I appreciate you. Well, most of you. Not that asshat quoted above.