Scoble is out of here, but Microsoft bloggers are here to stay

A lot of people are making a pretty big deal about Robert Scoble’s departure. Not just bloggers, but the old-school media like newspapers and even Slashdot. In fact, somewhere down in the valley, Scott McNealy is sitting in his living room probably wondering "why didn't people make as big a deal when I left Sun?" ;-) I must admit that I was a little shocked and saddened when I heard the news. There’s no question about the man’s passion—if only everyone at Microsoft cared that much about the company. Alas, nothing is forever and Robert is off to new things. But as far as the blogs and articles that suggest that Microsoft’s openness is over because one person decided to leave the company is ridiculous. Let's think about what is really changing...

I am pretty confident that Robert will continue to blog (hmm, you think?). And I believe the content won’t change that much. Remember—what makes people interested in what Scoble says is that he “tells it like it is”. You don’t have to like his blog to respect it. When Microsoft does something great, he’ll be a big cheerleader. And when we misstep, he’ll call us on it. Just like last year, last month, and last week. He wasn’t a hired PR guy and his blogging was just a component of his job as my blog is a component of my job (yes, he is better at it than me—good thing there’s no more stack rank ;-) ). He may not be as privy to insider info anymore, but he couldn’t blog about that stuff anyway. Channel 9 will miss his sensibilities and Jeff Sandquist and his gang will miss having the guy around, but all this means is that he is going to be blogging about some other stuff too. Robert leaving Microsoft doesn't mean he'll change his tune any more than Niall Kennedy joining Microsoft means he'll change his tune. Therein lies the beauty of a genuine blogger. In the words of Led Zeppelin, "the song remains the same". Will there still be people who challenge the status quo? Heck, my last post suggested we take Microsoft private. That may not be Scoble bold, but I think it's a pretty open opinion. 

So call off the dogs. Microsoft will be just fine. And good luck Robert.

Comments

• Anonymous
  June 23, 2006
  I read this post and somehow wires crossed with the other one and I thought, "Can Sandy really want to privatize Scoble? He hasn't yet IPOed!"
  
  The real thing to watch is whether the rest of the MS Bloggers get bolder. If we ever went private, it would become VERY important that the transparency continue - SEC filings keep companies open to some degree.