Leave it to Scoble to bait us all with a post title that he's irrelevant to Web 2.0. What it's really about, and I think it took Robert a while to get to the meat of the issue, is where does the non-coder/developer world fit into events lie MIX07? Scoble, it seems, isn't going per se, but he will be there:
Oh well, either way, I?ll be out in the lobby with my video camera interviewing DEVELOPERS and bringing them to you and their opinions of Microsoft?s latest technologies.
It?s funny. Microsoft certainly seemed to like it when I did that when I worked there. But now that I?m not a blue badge anymore I?m irrelevant to the Web 2.0 world. Hmmmm.
Source: Alfred is right: I'm irrelevant to Web 2.0 ? Scobleizer – Tech Geek Blogger
Okay, so what's this all about anyway? Here is a quote from Alfred's post that says it all so well:
I'm tired of the media getting things wrong because they lack expertise. In the world of Web 2.0 shouldn't we be looking for the equivalent of Popular Mechanics or even the quiet guy in the corner who just knows stuff from experience rather than People magazine? Nothing against People magazine and I do enjoy that aspect of Robert's blog from time to time. But I think there will be other blogs where there will be more technical content. And that my friends is the real difference that blogs can make.
Source: Alfred Thompson the Cyberspace People Watcher: Why blogging will kill the mainstream media
Sigh. Alfred, you're missing the point. You see, developers are important to pushing things forward, I completely agree, and they need to be able to chat and geek out with each other so the collaborative magic can happen, however it's the rest of us who will put it into action. It's the rest of us who will put the new tech to use and see if it fits into our lives.
Sure not all reports from more techie events are completely on the mark. That's par for the course, isn't it? The value, however, of the folks like Scoble and I is that while we aren't developers, we're smarter than the average bears in terms of other tech fronts. We also haven't lost touch with the “real world” of the non-geeks who will ask when shown something new: “yeah and how is this better than what I have now?”.
I got an e-mail from Lee LeFever last night. He was lamenting how RSS still hasn't taken off and he's made a video about RSS hoping to explain it (I haven't watched it as yet, but shall shortly). It's all the same thing. MIX07, I'm sure, will have tons of new and cool things to see, but who is going to look at this new and coolness and see beyond the shine and gloss and ask “Okay how will this help Sue in Accounting or Bernie in Sales?”
That, Alfred, is why Scoble and I are relevant to Web 2.0.
Update: Chris Heuer extends this discussion as well, and says what I'm trying to say much better than I
