Scoble Leaves a Hole at Microsoft
After a hectic few hours on techmeme following Silicon Valley Watch’s story that Robert Scoble is leaving Microsoft, the man himself has spoken.
Yes, he is leaving. No, he isn’t going to Google, as I predicted on Microsoft Weblog a few months ago. He’s actually going to a podcast network as a video vlogger, i.e he’s going to be doing virtually the same job he did at Redmond.
So, we ask the question: who will lose the most: Scoble for downsizing (a lot), or Microsoft for losing its most potent voice?
To most geeks, developers and trade people, he was the voice of Microsoft. To us journalists, online or in MSM, he was the first port of call when a big story broke. We trusted him on Microsoft because his agonizing over what he saw as failures by Redmond (and himself) were always right on the button. We could tell if something was wrong from his attitude.
In that sense, he was bigger than Microsoft. They will miss him, although they may feel a little more comfortable without him. However, in today’s world you need an edge to survive. A blander Microsoft will be even less attractive than a Scobleized one.
I personally wish Robert well. After the recent death of his mother, a change will blow away the cobwebs and open up new frontiers. The American Dream is still there, if you really look for it.
I come to praise Robert Scoble, not bury him
There have been few people in my life that have genuinely inspired me. I’m not embarassed to say that Robert is one of them. I’ve never met him, although I hope to remedy that at some point in the future, but I feel I know him better than some of the…
By Steve Newson DOT net on June 11th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
We would love to have him blog at Syntagma Media, Steve. I wonder …
By John Evans on June 14th, 2006 at 11:54 am
[...] Earlier, in a momentous week for Seattle, Robert Scoble announced his long-expected departure from the comforts of the global megabrand. His move to Silicon Valley to an unknown startup company in the rather geekish field of podcasting, is a great gamble for a man approaching the male menopause. But maybe we need look no further for a reason. [...]
By » SYNTAGMA - Tech, New Media and Publishing on June 17th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
[...] Earlier, in a momentous week for Seattle, Robert Scoble announced his long-expected departure from the comforts of global megabrand, Microsoft. His move to Silicon Valley to an unknown startup company in the rather geekish field of podcasting, is a great gamble for a man approaching the male menopause. But maybe we need look no further for a reason. [...]
By » SYNTAGMA - Tech, New Media and Publishing on June 17th, 2006 at 1:12 pm