joe.

ya know, i have to say something in worship of blogger, and Ev:  in a time when most ‘enterprises’ offer a plastic smile, and an all-is-well attitude publicly –especially when all is not well –blogger has been honest.  Ev, the guy behind blogger presently and as far as i can tell, the sole occupant of its organizational flow-chart, has been uncommonly up-front with blog users about the blogger-related things that affect them.  blogger is the ‘new’ kid in town in an economy leaning heavily– indeed, falling– into the hands of an already over-powerful and over-rich minority like the industrialist monopolies of a darker economic past.  and Ev prophetically reminds us that there is, or should be, another way. 

unfortunately, the successful business model in the investment culture of today demands style over substance and values skillful self-deception over truth, and it makes no distinction between appearing sincere and actually being sincere– to its detriment (i hope).  perception is reality, i have been told by those whose profession is marketing.  it follows then that controlling the consumer’s perception is controlling reality.  woe be to us, in the most gluttonous nation on earth for swallowing that lie, hook, line and sinker.  haven’t we swallowed enough, already? 

i, for one, have heard the lone but welcome voice with which blogger speaks.  its business is push-button publishing, but its message would be the same whether it baked bread or built houses: trust people– unlike my web host, who assured me nothing had changed, when in fact everything had changed, and unlike my ISP, whose customer service staff has no contact with the technical staff and no clue about what they do.  they both apparently keep their customer service staff uninformed (or even mis-informed) to protect …who knows what?  and they never put anything specific in writing, even in something as mundane as e-mail.  perhaps they are trying to preserve their place in an overheated economy of overvalued stock and undervalued people. 

but Ev’s openness regarding blogger stands in stark contrast to these guarded, suspicion-based behaviors.  when it ‘hiccups‘ he acknowledges that, instead of staying silent.  Silence regarding problems with a product makes a company look dumb, and if that company is huge– say, like aol, or intel– then silence makes it look dumb AND abusive.  Thank you Ev for trusting us enough to tell us the real deal.  your trust is greatly appreciated here; i will do whatever i can to reward that trust.