So We're in the Garage?

A few weeks ago I ran across an article on a convention in CA called D: All Things Digital. The guests were Gates, Apple, and many, many others. They all had neat things to say and I've already covered Apple's newest promises and promotions. But - the bloggers in attendance got their own morning of discussion.

I'd like to share with you two main ideas I ran across in the sub section of the article.

Although some criticized blogging to "go back to the roots of journalism" - having one man newspapers - others say this just gives people another countless way of getting their information and also allows for the reader to decide how participated they want to be in the news. This is great - you can go from limited to reading to fully engaging comment wars (or even eventually posting in the case of The Flak).

Second - creator of Movable Type ( a swell, famous software bit for making blogs that I admire ) says that blogging is like punk rock - eventually they'll make it mainstream, but someone will always be in the garage. And I think that analogy fits snugly here. The watchdogs become watchdogs, the greats become emulated, and slowly the blogosphere makes its presence blend with the media. It seems every other day I find an article on the BBC or elsewhere about a blog with an influence. A half hour after major speeches now, news teams on TV will "jump to visit the blogosphere" and see what journalists are saying - sometimes half a day before the first newspaper articles are read.

I just hope Google/Blogger gets it together and adds the features most demanded by its users. Then I won't be tempted by Movable Type.