Is Engadget a blog? No

Ryan Block, one of the main guys behind Engadget.com, is asking an interesting question – is Engadget still a blog? 

He presents some compelling arguments on why Engadget is still a blog and I’m not going to address them point by point. However, I would disagree with Ryan on his overall conclusion that Engadget is still a blog – Engadget is not a blog.

When I began robbushway.blogspot.com and CutMeLoose.com, it started as a blog. I wrote on technology and personal stuff when I felt like it and wrote about whatever I wanted to – my posting intermixed the two segments quite often. However, when Dennis and I started GottaBeMobile.com and moved CutMeLoose.com over there, the freedom to post my personal writings went away. It had to – GBM was a business venture. No problem there – that is why I started RobBushway.com.  RobBushway.com is a blog – it is where I write occasionally on whatever is on my mind, post my thoughts on religion, my walk with God, my family, struggles, etc. You won’t see that writing on GottaBeMobile.com because we have  clear editorial guidelines and a content focus on the site where personal view points on politics, religion, family, schools, etc shouldn’t be posted. You won’t see xyz author of New York Times posting his personal journey’s and you won’t see that on GBM either. You will see that here, though, if infrequent at times .  I don’t really care about people linking to me, my linking out to them, stats, readership, ad revenue,  etc. I post here because I want to and if folks like to read it and come along on my journey, then that is all the better. In my opinion, that defines a blog.

I won’t even pretend that GottaBeMobile.com is anything on the scale of Engadget.com. Our niches are different ( their niche is more broad and ours is tightly focused ), their market reach is far broader than ours, and they have a major company ( aol.com ) funding them. However, what we do at GottaBeMobile is very similar – we use blog technology to report on technology news from around the space that we concentrate on, and we have a staff of writers posting news articles and producing reviews on products in our space. However, that does not make us a blog. We are a technology news site that happens to use blog technlogy to post and distribute our content. Are we mainstream? No. I would classify Engadget as mainstream, though. Once a site moves past a hobby or personal writing for its writers and moves into a business operation with a clear focus on content with editorial decisions coming in to play, that blog designation changes, too.

RyanABlock.com is a blog. RobBushway.com is a blog . Scobleizer.com is a blog. GottaBeMobile.com is not a blog. Engadget.com is not a blog.

What book am I taking to CES?

Whenever I go on a trip, I like to take along a book that helps the trip to be as successful personally as it should be professionally.

When I head off to CES on Friday, I’m taking along Gordon MacDonald’s Ordering Your Private World. The last time I read his book, it had a profound impact on setting priorities in my life.

By the way, Kathi will be going to Las Vegas with me this year. This will be the first time in at least 10 years that we have taken an extended vacation together, by ourselves, no kids! Should be a lot of fun!