Congrats on the article on Stuff!

-Jitendra

I still have Jeremy Wright's "Blog Marketing" on my desk to read some time. He was a regular on SitePoint, the forum I spend more time at than any other, before his blog took off and eventually became a newsworthy career for him.

Actually the computer and desk in the pic is my wife's. Apparently my computer (a black Mac laptop currently) and sturdy wooden desk weren't fashionable enough for the newspaper photographer! :-)

Thanks
Cam
Christchurch

http://www.technorati.com/pop/blogs/

Alex.

Richard: Congratulations! I hope they continue to report on you, and not just as 'Kiwi hobbyist made good', either! They can pick up a lot of good material by reading your blog :-)

My point: If you were in the Valley, I'd suspect that you'd be doing even better. Those breakfasts at Buck's, il Fornaio or Stack's can really mean something -- and the party scene can't be beat for swapping all sorts of G2.

To put things in perspective, I was in the Valley full-time while at Microsoft (their Silicon Valley Campus), Oracle (in 3OP, no less) and at META's Burlingame office. But I've been living in China for the past 3 1/2 years. Like you, I do my best to keep up with what is happening in the Valley, but I know that when I'm back in the Valley on a business trip, I can feel an energy level, a creative environment that is truly game changing. And I say this as someone in the heart of all things IT in China, in what is as close to a Silicon Valley environment as it gets in China, names Tsinghua University (China's MIT), in ZGC in the Haidian District, just south of ShangDi where zPark is (and where I worked). This might be a lot of gibberish to your readers, but it's like being at Oracle headquarters in Redwood Shores, at Google headquarters in Mountain View, at the HP main campus, Sun's campus, or the Apple complex and HQ off the 280 (and let's not forget Yahoo, eBay, Cisco, Intel, AMD, Nvidia, and the list goes on and on and on and on and on. True, China does NOT have a Silicon Valley like the real thing, but I'd put the Beijing Haidian ZGC area on par with any other area in the States (even Boston), the East Bay, or San Francisco itself.

My point: Even though I'm about as close to being in the Silicon Valley of China as one can get, it's hardly the same thing. The social life is totally different: Cross town treks to the Chaoyang District for clubbing and socializing (fortunately, my apartment is somewhere in between, about 1 mile from the Bird's Nest, which I could clearly see if there were no buildings blocking my view). And, even though I like Shanghai much, much more than BJ, SH is a poor man's IT center, almost a joke compared to BJ (which I really don't like).

So even in the midst of the center of IT in China, I still feel like I'm on a different planet compared to Silicon Valley. In China (and I've been told that it's the same way in India), the topic of conversation is a cutie singer or actress, not the latest venture funded deal, not the latest Firefox add-on, not the latest Web 2.0 gadget or tool.

So I admire what you've done, especially knowing that you've done it while living on an outpost. (I don't say this in a disparaging way; frankly, the quality of life in New Zealand might be better than in most parts of the States.) I'd admire what you've been able to accomplish without being in the center of the IT and Internet universe. And I wonder if Arrington, as a professionally-trained attorney, could have made it outside of the Valley. Yeah, some like Steve Rubel can do their thing and live elsewhere, but he still deals with a lot of Valley firms on a regular basis. And even Scobel, once paroled from Microsoft, got his butt and family to Silicon Valley -- a smart move on his part.

Just an observation and some praise from someone NOT living in the center of our universe.

There's a reason r/ww is an analysis blog - a) because that is the way me and the other r/ww writers think, but b) it's also because I have the time and space to think about web tech - i.e. I'm in the middle of nowhere (sorry NZ!) and so I don't have the distractions that I'd have in the valley. I think that has gone a long way to making r/ww what it is today - it's an analysis blog, not a news one. If I was based in the valley, it would be very tempting to compete on news.

But David you questioned whether Mike would make it if not based in the Valley. I think he would've, because it was his focus on web products and startups that was the base to techcrunch's success. He was doing reviews before any of the rest of us. And Mike is a very smart guy who has worked very hard to get where he is. So I think he would've succeeded too if outside the valley, although no doubt there is also a lot he's gained from networking in the valley.

Also, another thing I have to mention is that New Zealanders have always had to be original and creative in order to compete globally. That is why Peter Jackson succeeded. Not that I compare myself to Peter Jackson, but I'm just saying that being a kiwi and based in NZ has influenced how r/ww turned out.

But yes, sometimes I would love to be in the valley. It's natural to want to be in the center of the action.

I also have a goal in mind to become full time blogger by end of 2008. I started my blog only 4 months ago and I am already making enough money a month to pay off my car insurance , hopefuly within next months I will be able to pay off more things. Yes it take dedication patience and good knowlege about the topic.

I like your blog , I haven't heard about it until today. Anways if you are reading these comments visit my blog let me know what you think http://www.bontb.com

Have a good day!

Honestly, though, you made the best point: You're an ANALYSIS blog. Let me repeat, ANALYSIS blog. A-N-A-L-Y-S-I-S.

I'm sure you've seen all the hoopla over the latest Jakob Nielsen column in this Alertbox e-newsletter. I'm one of those who sided with Nielsen and I believe that R/WW is an example of what Nielsen is talking about, in a good way.

Matter of fact, you may have hit the nail on the head when all the discourse about the Nielsen piece has been talking around rather than about the subject. Perhaps it really boils down to an analysis blog versus a news blog. Both have their place, although IMHO there are way, way, way too many news blogs. Even worse, blogs who merely comment on a primary post and add their two cents, almost for the sake of getting traffic (so it appears, or they're just stupid and don't have anything original to add to the conversation). Even though Techmeme is a must-read for both of us, let's face it, most of the linked posts are worthless. The problem is that there are usually a gem or two among the noise, so we have to sift through the noise to find the gems. After a while, this becomes easier to do because we have an idea which sources we should trust. But it's still a lot of wasted time.

When I ran my HOTT e-newsletter back in the Stone Ages (circa '93-'94; I reached over 50,000 subscribers and there's stuff about this on the web, including a lead Business section feature in the Los Angeles Times and a lead story the previous week on The Voice of America), I received a disproportional number of subscribers from New Zealand, so I've always viewed that you Kiwis are in touch, even when the graphical web was still a joke. Perhaps you have no choice like other highly-wired nations such as Finland or Iceland, or global trading nations like the Netherlands. But I've had a fondness for my Scottish cousins down in Kiwiland for a long, long time. In large numbers, a lot of us are historically part of the great migration from Scotland. Some went your way, others went to North America (my ancestors came to America in the 1730's and were among the first White settlers in Indiana ... and I was the first person in my family line not born in Indiana or Illinois since the early 1800's). Alas, Celtic music is in our blood, Richard!! ;-)

At least the goofy English have been smart enough to pick Scottish Prime Ministers for their last several rounds. We need to keep those English and Welch in line ... ;-)

P.S.--My real last name is Brody (way, way back). They're a sept of the MacKenzie clan. I miss the Highland Games; none in China to date. Nothing like a good caber toss (especially if everyone is drunk!).