March 26th, 2006
Sausage 2.0
If accurate news and information were a sausage, reading tech.memeorandum this weekend would be like watching it get made. “60% of Windows Vista Code Being Rewritten!” the headlines blared. No it’s not. What if it is? This can’t be true. What does it mean? Help!?!
It’s the those darned “non-credible journalists,” Scoble complains — and those good-for-nothing bloggers who link to them.
Well, that’s what happens when the “community” is in charge of the facts.
Blogosphere idealists will point out that the wisdom of the crowds is self-correcting, and that the Windows rewrite story was ultimately discredited. But the story only needed to be discredited because so many bloggers linked to it and gave it credibility in the first place!
If you Google News “60% vista code rewrite” you’ll find the story didn’t get any play outside the geekosphere.
I certainly won’t suggest that we should go back to days of cloistered newsrooms where control of the facts was in the hands of a few. As Umair points out, the undoing of Ben Domenech is an example of the positive power of the “snowball effect” that the blogosphere, i.e. the “edge” can create.
But as power shifts to edge, it’s a decidedly messy affair, because too many edge players are focused on their empowerment and not on the responsibility that comes with that power. “Non-credible” sources will be weeded out, but more will take their place.
Consumers will ultimately benefit from greater access to more varied and more accurate information, but they will be witness to the ugly process of the truth being made.
Topics: Blogging | New Media | Publishing 2.0
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[…] In writing about these stories, Scott Karp of Publishing 2.0 makes a reference to sausage in his post about it, which I assume is a nod to that great quote from German Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck about how “People who enjoy eating sausage and obeying the law should not watch either one being made.” Scott says this kind of thing is “what happens when the ‘community’ is in charge of the facts,” but I think that is overstating the case somewhat. No one was “in charge of the facts,” and in fact very few newspaper reporters are ever “in charge of the facts,” or at least rarely all of them. Facts emerged, and some things emerged that were not facts, and were (relatively quickly) shown to be not facts. In other words, sausage was being made. […]
(Scoble’s note: Wait a second, Dominic says I’m not a credible spokesperson, you guys have me so confused!) John Dowdell: If I were Scoble. (Scoble’s note: Sometimes I wish I were sane like John).Scott Karp: Well, that’s what happens when the “community†is in charge of the facts. Larry Borsato: Robert is entitled to his opinion, but so is everyone else, even if they don’t share his. Joe Wilcox:
Melding Pro and Amateur Community Reporting Making Local Coverage Count in Naples, Fla. Hype 2.0 Homework Guardian column: l’affairianna Huffington followup links for 2006-03-27 Palm’s Vital Role in Computing HistorySausage 2.0 Israeli Election Tuesday: Get Fast Results Online ‘Future of Newspapers’ Panel A Public Official’s Coziness with Google Who does what Reefer madness Who says bloggers are ugly? Hockey stick Past fishwrap
[…] A report from an Australian publication citing a source at Acer Australia claimed up to 60 percent of the Windows Vista code needed to be rewritten, and Xbox engineers were being moved over to help with the programming. That report created an absolute firestorm of controversy, and a long weekend of commentary on numerous blogs. In the wake of Microsoft’s announcement that the consumer version of Vista was being pushed into 2007, followed by a substantial reorganization of Microsoft’s structure, many seemed ready to believe that the wheels had come off of Microsoft. And when the story broke that Microsoft had entered serious rewrite mode, that fanned the flames even higher. A Microsoft spokesperson responded about the issue via email today: This is speculation with no demonstrable basis in fact. There aren’t any Xbox developers moving over to the Windows Vista team. Windows Vista is on track for business availability in November 2006 and consumer availability in January 2007. Windows Vista is feature complete which means the code “writing” process is in essence over. The next phase of development focuses on security, testing and fit/finish - not writing new code. Publishing 2.0 blogger Scott Karp assessed the whole issue of news being made by the “edge,” ie, the blogosphere: But as power shifts to edge, it’s a decidedly messy affair, because too many edge players are focused on their empowerment and not on the responsibility that comes with that power. “Non-credible” sources will be weeded out, but more will take their place. Consumers will ultimately benefit from greater access to more varied and more accurate information, but they will be witness to the ugly process of the truth being made. […]
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