A little shop talk

Now that we’ve finally dispensed with all the ludicrous get-rich-quick new economy bullshit of the nineties, it turns out that one of the killer apps of the ‘net is elegant in its simplicity: people writing down their ideas and discussing what they think about other people’s ideas.

And let us posit that this is a Good Thing.

But let us also posit that there are two common traits shared by many, though certainly not all bloggers — a tendency toward self-absorption, and a fascination with the latest Cool Tech. (And I’ll plead guilty on at least one count, though I won’t admit which one.)

These trends have recently converged to threaten us with something called “video blogging,” or “v-logging.”

And that’s certainly the lesson to be learned from the popularity of blogging, isn’t it? Let’s take this marvelously simple and straightforward format and add as many unnecessary bells and whistles as possible, make people suffer through downloads and buffering time and digital video glitches — because if there’s one thing people don’t have enough access to in their lives, it’s talking heads reciting copy which could be much more easily digested and pondered if presented as straight text with links. Yes, that’s what we really need in this world of round the clock cable news and talk shows — even more droning commentators. Amateur droning commentators. Oh yeah. That’s gonna take off.

You know what this sounds like, is one of those painful and quickly forgotten Inevitable Next Big Thing articles that Wired Magazine always used to run, back in the day. Video blogging. Jesus Christ. You know the old line about giving someone an inch and he thinks he’s a ruler? You give some bloggers the slightest taste of public attention and they think they’re freaking tv stars.