Sunday, January 18, 2015

A Declaration for 2015

No technology here, just cactus from the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, D.C.
I'm not making any predictions for 2015, or any year for that matter. Predictions are funny things, after all. Instead of a prediction that's based on sophomoric analyses of recent events and infused with the subconscious biases we all hold, I submit to you, dear readers, a declaration:
I'm losing interest in blogging about technology.
I don't mean that in any profound sense. It's not meant to be a statement on technology, or a passive-aggressive swipe at the pace of innovation across the various niches I've taken an interest in.

Instead, it's an acknowledgement that I've spent two years worrying about blogger stats, pageviews, Twitter interactions, LinkedIn connections, community designations, and certifications. And as I sit at my laptop, squinting at two years of blogging and social networking activities in my rear-view, I'm forced to ask myself what it's all for.1

For certain, I've benefited both professionally and personally (where personally, in this case, is a synonym for financially) as a direct result of this blog. I've met many wicked smart people, attended some amazing events, and have developed my writing in the process.

But I've also started to fall into the routine of posting once a week, even when I don't really have any technical information worth sharing. And I find that I'm posting because... well... that's what you do. And as the market for virtualization-centric blogs reaches saturation, I doubt that the world needs yet another VMware blog.

Exhibit A
So for 2015, I'm going to eschew the self-imposed limitations on what I post about. Creative non-fiction2 and photography will appear alongside whatever technical information I'm interested in sharing. And if I want to include a photograph of the chaotic congeries of knock-off Legos (see Exhibit A), then I will.

And I'm taking a break from the pursuit and collection of the various community designations. I'm no longer able to devote the time and effort required to truly participate in these groups, and to maintain these titles without contributing is disingenuous.

So that's what you can expect from this blog in 2015. Not a prediction, mind you. A declaration.

1 It's at this point where I'm tempted to go into stereotypical geek mode and tell you that I created a spreadsheet to capture the positive and negative results of these activities. But I'm tired of that trope as well, and you'll find no spreadsheet references in this post.

2 And it's at this point I should explain that I've been on a serious DFW bender lately, so footnotes will play a prominent role in upcoming posts.
Mastodon