Moving over to Blogger Beta

Heh... I may have just started using Blogger.com but a week ago, but I have already shifted over to using the Blogger Beta. Yes, I may not like being on the bleeding edge, but when the software has the features I want, AND I see active and fresh feedback loops between the users and its product development team, I am far more inclined to give it a try.

Why? Well, having participated in all parts of the product development cycle, I see something very healthy, refreshing, and encouraging with the Blogger team's active interaction with its users, which helps mitigate the sorts of risks of being on the bleeding edge. Issues get reported and promptly acknowledged and usually resolved. Kudos to the Blogger team on the transparency!

One of the big motivating factors for me to move to Blogger Beta is Tagging - a process I had gotten accustomed to on Community Server and distinctly missed on Blogger.com. I am a big fan of simplicity through organization (remember, things naturally tend toward Chaos), and Tagging allows me to better categorize and organize my information to the querying audience. I mean, the Internet has enough Noise... ;-)

Now, some of you may point out that I do own and use Mac OS X on a Mac Mini... the self-proclaimed computer "for the rest of us" (i.e. those who willingly pony up the 50% Apple premium ;-) ) which promotes ease of use through dumping things to iPhoto, iTunes, iDrive, and the "Macintosh HD". I honestly do not know where my data hides on a Mac; I only know what the applications show me. It reminds me of the feeling of "ignorance is bliss".

For me, it is a very tenuous sort of "trust" because I do not feel in control of my own information. I do not believe in haphazardly "dumping" data into some limitless-sized bin and relying on a search engine to come along and rescue me from myself. Yes, "everyone is doing it" and "it's easy", and I have no aversion towards using tools to simplify my life, but I firmly believe in fundamentally being able to help myself and others instead of relying on someone/something else for help.

In other words, I have no problems using trigonometric functions on a calculator AFTER I know where they came from and HOW to apply them; I will never view them as an unnecessary detail of life because a calculator can do the work for me. It may seem like an unnecessary burden to some, but it is one I am willing to carry. I believe that Life is not about doing what's easiest but rather what is best for all.

I mean, the Internet slowly tends towards lethargy - with over half its daily traffic consisting of useless spam and even greater percentage of persistent content as broken links and aged cruft. I think that this is what happens when people decide to just "dump" everything into a bin... because it then requires dumping even more stuff just to get one's attention and a search engine to find the needle in the haystack of increasing stuff... and the vicious cycle continues.

Anyways... enough divergence for now. :-) I will be poking along the Blogger Beta like anything else - with a fair but critical eye - because I feel that the Blogger team appreciates it.

//David