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Scoble Defines the "Blog of the Future" - It's Here Today Scoble
Written by Allen Stern - August 30, 2007
Hot News: Man fired thanks to using GPS
Robert Scoble has created another exciting video after the last series about the death of Google. I chatted with Robert on Kyte.tv when he first posted the videos but resisted posting on CN. Today's exciting educational video is called the "Blog of the Future" (BOTF). It's actually "Robert's demands for his blog". Don't waste 20 minutes watching it, here are his notes:
- BOTF has only a top banner and then content
- would like to have a banner at the top that rotates images with his logo - he says this can only be done in photoshop - uhm, what?
- wants to easily change chrome - you mean like a theme? Hum.
- he wants the page to be "google-ready" but in the future, isn't Mahalo going to win?
- his iphone showed him "the light"
- he wants some flash "coverflow", another thing that is here today
- he uses some great sound effects for whooshing flickr into the page.
- then he says he wants a "boxy" approach - uhm, isn't that already here (i.e. start page)
- he wants wordpress to build him an iphone app
- the admin section of the future will let him adjust his header on the fly
- he wants an admin that allows him to see he edits as he makes them
Let me sum up what he wants - an Ajax'y goodness page whereby he has each icon on a page, click an icon and that service becomes the main area. In the first 5 minutes he wants a header and content. By the end of the video, it's just as overwhelming as it was before - he just keeps erasing it to make it better. At least he doesn't mention maps in South Africa :) All of the items he discusses can be done today. Hire me, we will get it done Robert. Not one thing he discusses can't be done today. I am not sure whether he wants someone else to do it for him and then he benefits or if he is willing to pay to get what he wants. I get the sense that its the former.
Robert misses one very important thing when he discusses the same blogs he always does (tc, gigaom, guy), these are businesses. Removing the ads that he speaks of is probably reasonable for his personal blog, but not for a business blog. He didn't provide anyway to monetize his blog of the future.
He also forgets something else: his ELB (ego link bait). If we have one page without the ability to internally link, how will he get as many links as he wants?
And dude, get an eraser already, I am sure there is one at the Kyte.tv office.
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thanks Allen, I found the last video a complete waste of time and it had more holes in it that something very holey...
You can get all of this stuff today if you want a hosted solution and have access to web-geek site designers or become a web-geek yourself.
He wants the blog YOU can do today, without the hosted solution (blogger, wordpress.com, etc) or the geeks. The blog of the future = anyone can do all that stuff easily.
I like that vision of the future : )
Sure, that will be built so someone can do it "easily" but by then he will want something else.
Bottom line is that the blog of the future as he puts it is available today - he provides the impression that it isn't.
You really hate him don't you? God almightly he can have whatever he want's on his blog - your just jumping on the valleyway band wagon and trying to earn a few more links from it.
In my mind what he's saying is interesting.
But I suppose as long as people are clicking your link through your little comment on Valleywag then that's ok.
William - I am guessing you might not visit CN much. So let me clarify a few things. I don't hate anyone. I posted my review before valleywag posted theirs. I added my comment for those that might not want to watch 20 minutes of a video that can be summed up in a few lines.
And for the record, so far, I have 13 people here from that link. Please stick around a bit and you can see more of my style.
Progress comes about in part by always wanting something more, no matter what is currently available. I think you're being a nitpicky linkbaiter in this case. It happens to the best of us!
I don't understand your comment Robert. When one talks about the future, talk about something that isn't available today that you want. Not something that is easily available today.
I also am disappointed that you believe I wrote this (or any) article for linkbait. I thought you were a CN loyal.
so when people disagree with your opinions, you think they are not loyal? I disagree with a lot of people, Allen, but it's not in any way personal. I like your site! If I always have to agree with you to be loyal -- and you'll only be happy if you perceive me to be a loyalist, I encourage you to get over it!
It was very clear to me that Scoble was talking about Blog of the future regarding Wordpress.COM and not what was available via a hosted solution. I'm pretty sure I am right since he was asked the question of "what would the blog of the future look like" by the guy who founded the company that makes Wordpress. He also specifically stated that is the blog tool he uses and he uses wordpress.COM for Scobleizer...
So I just plain think you're wrong in this case. Are you going to hold that against me? I'm OK with us disagreeing about what he was talking about, even though I will of course continue to think I am right! : )
Robert, I like disagreements because I find that I learn best from them. I was talking about the part where you thought I wrote this article as linkbait.
Just to clarify - your definition of hosted would be if I was using wordpress software on xyz host, not using wordpress.com? I would define it the opposite way.
I got the impression that he wasn't talking about creating a new Wordpress version with what he wanted, I thought he was speaking in generic terms.
I am still confused as to why he says certain things aren't available when they are. Makes it appear like he did no research whatsoever. If wordpress.com can't do it, find a solution that can.
Here's an idea for Scoble (I can't call him Robert in this context lol), hire a team, create what you want, then turn the solution back over to the community. Because the tools are there today.
I completely understand your confusion with my usage of the word "hosted". Let me avoid it completely...
Wordpress.com - you don't need to find a host
Wordpress 2.x - you do need to find a host
Here's an idea for Scoble (I can't call him Robert in this context lol), hire a team, create what you want, then turn the solution back over to the community. Because the tools are there today.
The guy who invented Wordpress asked Scoble what he wanted in the blog of the future. Scoble shared his thoughts with everyone, including Matt. And Matt is a turn it over to the community kind of guy and he is the guy who asked the question that Scoble answered. Why should Scoble go build what he wants himself because of that? He was just answering the question.
I don't understand why that would cause you any angst at all really. So I just figured it probably didn't and that you were linkbaiting. Sorry if I got that wrong (I still am having trouble believing this would really cause you any angst though).
Just in case Matt is looking, let me add my suggestion after screwing around with trying to get tabular data out of Excel into Wordpress (2.2) most of the last 4 hours. Make it EASY to just copy and paste right out of Excel, the end! I know there's a nifty plug-in, I know I can import CSV files so I don't have to re-enter all the data...but when I imported CSV files, I did not have a nice looking table. I'm sure it can be solved, but I'm sure it's not easy enough. Straight copy and paste...that's plenty easy enough!
Allen, my hope is that you don't really have any Scoble angst and that this is all schtick, but either way thanks for providing me a nice diversion from my real woes!
I started reading this article but then popups started apearing and obscuring the text I was trying to read as I moved the mouse over the page. I got disgusted, wrote this comment and bailed. I'll come back when the popup crap is gone.
I hope the content of blogs of the future will incorporate more than text and comments.
When you are using this video as a main source for your content, a link to the said movie would be very helpful for an internet ignorant person like me.
Give credit where it's due.
Thanks, I added the link. Sorry about that. Here it is again:
http://www.kyte.tv/channels/view.html?uri=channels/6118/48464
OMG, he's out of his mind.
Great post, Allen! I watched Scoble's video and wondered whether I'd missed something, since everything he had described was possible via either WordPress plugins or a bit of creative modification.
The video is more of a random brainstorm of things he'd like to see on a blog which, once clarified and turned into clear requirements, as you said, any experienced developer could create.
A lot of the features he mentions don't exist in the mainstream... because people don't have a want or need for them currently, not because they're not feasible.
I hope Scoble gets over his obsession with videos, it's starting to get on my tits to have to watch 20 mins of video - I'd far rather read a post, where I can quickly scan the content once he starts boring me.
will be a video or audio recording and will always start with, "Stardate ...."
it sounds all sorts of cruel, hostile and aggressive. But why?
Did Google do something that really piss you off?