Wisdump Is Real
Or so says Danny Boy who has put Wisdump on his list of Best Interaction Design Blogs for 2006. First off, thanks Danny, I appreciate it and have to wonder if you were really reading my site or were just so impressed by the name that you felt an obligation to include me on your list. Anyways, 2007 is going to be much better because I have no choice but to make it better. However, this entry isn’t about you Danny, I have given you enough attention already, this entry is about what you said about my site.
Wisdump tells it like it is, deflating the web-hype machine.
That’s cool and all, but how come we don’t see more people deflating the machine that they are creating? My theory is that because deep down we all want to be part of that next big thing. We hype up the abilities of the social web, spit on MySpace and then wish to create the next one. I hate on a lot of things and will readily admit to that. I used to be pretty tough on 37signals for a couple of reasons. One being that I had so much respect for them and basically grew up with them it was hard to see a small change and secondly I wanted their success (not their products and services mind you) and that usually leads to a bit of jealousy.
You ever read these stories of companies being bought out and think “man those punks just made $20 million for something I could create in 2 weeks”? Yeah, you probably thought that at one time or another and maybe you wrote about it, but when writing about it there was a good chance you wrote an entry filled with jealousy or one filled with nothing but praise. There just never seems to be a median.
Maybe we all feel the need to hype everything because we have to scream louder than the next person. However, what you create probably won’t change the world or make you famous. It might get you on TechCrunch for your 15 seconds (yeah, 15 seconds because that’s how long it takes to read a headline in your newsreader) of fame so why bother hyping anything up at all?
I’ll tell you why. Because you believe in it. And sometimes that’s all that matters.
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Wow, this post is incredible, and for me, hit the nail on the head in several different ways. I love my job as a web developer. I am passionate about my job. I am passionate about educating myself. I think this is why ‘jealousy’ creeps in when I see people who don’t really know what they are doing creating ‘professional’ work. Now, that isn’t the case for all – there are many I am flat out impressed with their incredible work.
It’s not always the myspace’s or other sites getting loads of traffic/money – it’s the ones charging 100K for an application when at the core it is a piece of junk. I have been in corporate environments where this happened, and I feel bad for the company buying the stuff – not the shabby developers who didn’t take time to learn their stuff.
So, jealousy rears it’s head in several different ways. Sometimes it is at a great product, and sometimes it is at a shabby product. I have really tried lately to lose that sense of ‘being loud’. There is already enough noise out there now, I am at the point where I will just do my work to the best of my ability and please the clients I am working with. I am not, and will not be, the next myspace or killer app.
By Nate K on December 12, 2006 10:22 am
The web 2.0 hype is natural because of the huge momentum which dictates that everything must start being web 2.0. It’s the same as 15 years ago, when “being online” by itself was the next big thing. It will subside once all the big players incorporate social networking elements in their services, which is soon.
By franticindustries on December 12, 2006 10:41 am
I’ve given up on most of the web2.0 start-up coverage. There is so much noise out there. I want to know who is going to survive the bubble burst (like Google/Yahoo/Amazon/EBay did last time around). Everything else is a waste of time and energy.
I find it crazy how crowded some of the markets are… how people come in, see del.icio.us/youtube, go “I can do it better”, and make yet another clone… and then wonder why they only get a fifth of the audience.
By engtech on December 12, 2006 11:49 am
[...] I’d forgotten all about O Danny Boy until I came across his site while reading Wisdump Is Real. [...]
By Designers who Blog: Design, Illustration, Photography, Web, Advertising, Branding … on December 13, 2006 5:06 am