Every morning when I get up, I go online and read news.
For me, that usually means the NYTimes and Techmeme as two starting points.
I’m finding these days that the more I read TechMeme, the less I want to write about emerging technology, social media, product development and most of the other geeky things that float my boat.
Why?
Well, inside the Silicon Valley bubble, events happen at the (breathless) speed of light.
And the bubble needs to hype itself.
Many people are looking to generate as much buzz as possible, as quickly as possible, as a means of driving viral marketing or customer acqusition or some sort of a quick score (funding, potential acquisition).
So every new product is great, amazing, revolutionary or brilliant.
To live up to that billing, categories are sliced and diced into niches narrow as needles, then companies are covered, evaluated and discussed.
So what if the market share is miniscule, or the product is barely beta?
It’s the bubble, baby, an emerging markets monster that has to be fed in anticipation of a future liquidity event.
Needless to say, for me, opinionated, stubborn and working for a big company,the razzle-ride on the SV Bubble express train ain’t happening.
My interest in the new tech geniuses of the last 5 minutes is flagging, and the breathless noise makes me want to hold my breath (and scream loudly).
Soooo..I am going to try a little experiment.
No more TechMeme for 2 weeks. No digg and no Slashdot.
Back to reading blogs the semi-old fashioned way–in my newsreader.
I want to see if stepping back from the hype edge revives my interest in favorite tech topics–or if I’m just ready to move on to new ideas.