| 2003.5.3 (Saturday) - 22:55:48
This blog has moved. It is now here, on my own server. Blogger is a handy gadget, but as a technologist, I find it a tad questionable. It has a decent interface, barring a few performance issues brought about, I'm sure, by it's sheer popularity (even Dave Barry blogs with it). But as I've mentioned before, Blogger makes it hard to take your blog and go somewhere else. Indeed, I'm glad I didn't wait any longer to migrate, for it took me quite some time to translate even my relatively few entries into a flexible format. (Now they're in an XML file, where I can parse and restructure them to my heart's content.) But that's the sort of thing that made Bill Gates number one with a gun, the sort of thing we consumers should be watching for (though we seldom do). Proprietary software, and proprietary formats, will lock you in, like a jealous lord, whenever their owners get too greedy. And then everyone else suffers. (Have I said this already? Well, it bears repeating.) I'm not saying Blogger isn't providing a good service now, but they're manifestly focused on the bottom line. As time goes on, I predict a squeeze play: more and more features will become part of their "subscription version" (called Blogger Pro), and the free version will become less desirable (like Outlook Express). At the same time, it may become even harder to collect all your entries and move them to a different service. It wouldn't surprise me if Blogger Pro, and not the free version, offers a data interface feature; so you'd have to pay just to get all your content in a useable form. Or maybe they'll just discontinue the free service altogether. Time will tell, but hey, I was right about the Timberwolves vs. Lakers game the other night, and I don't even follow basketball! So I'm pulling out while I can. I will leave this page up on Blogger for a while, in case you forget the new link, but future entries will only appear on my own site. |