Battle of the Blog

“[I]t should come as little surprise that a technology behind blogs–online chronicles of personal, creative and organizational life–has manifested the kind of bitter fight for control that is inevitable in any truly democratic institution….The dispute offers a glimpse into the byzantine and highly politicized world of industry standards, where individuals without legal authority over a protocol may nonetheless exercise control over it and where, consequently, personal attacks can become the norm. Despite the apparent pettiness of developers’ sniping, their arguments over digital minutia may carry enormous consequences, and corporate interests remain poised to capitalize on the conflicts if they are not resolved.” Paul Festa —Battle of the Blog (CNet News)

I’ve been following the Winer/RSS developlment fairly closely, but I’ve held off on blogging about the core of the dispute because I hadn’t found a really good introduction to the subject. The above article does a good job introducing the major players and stepping back to provide the big picture.

It’s always good to pause and look at the big picture. I was at a faculty meeting today where I mentioned in passing that I am a weblogger… several of the people in the room hadn’t heard the term, though when somebody asked, “Do you mean ‘blogger’, then heads started nodding. I would never have imagined that a person would know what a blog is but not what a weblog is.