Going Away Party

Prologue

The internet is a very disorganized place. I think our children and grandchildren will laugh at us for (among many other things) even trying to bushwhack our way through this chirping, hissing, dripping jungle of data, media, networks-within-networks, and kittens doing adorable things. The next truly killer app will be the one that is able to organize content, suss out what matters and what matters to you, and deliver it to you on a silver platter (or on a lunch tray, or in the Stanley Cup, or however you want it served).

The big question that follows is how, exactly, will content-- written, visual, audio, etc.-- be sorted and organized? Who will be the decider? Will the New York Times editorial board bestow the label of true and important? Will Google's algorithms sort items based on myriad criteria to allow the relevant to rise to the top? Will billions of netizens vote and decide? Who knows.

Here's what I do think is true: In dealing with the oceans of media and content, perhaps the most valuable validators will be our friends. People we know in the "real world" (insofar as it remains separate from the virtual world) will share links, photos, videos, blog posts, quotes, quips, and other stuff they like with you, their friend, and you will share back with them. We already do this of course, through e-mail and IM, status message and Tweet, Google Reader, Buzz, YouTube, Flickr and Facebook. And through our own blogs.

Here's Where it Gets Real

Increasingly, I have found myself using this blog as a way to share stuff I liked with you, my erstwhile audience. Most of my serious thinking and writing goes into Global Mobile these days, so Red Sky at Night became a forum for passing along the good and hilarious work of others. Increasingly, I have found Blogger to be a constraining platform in this regard. I have been yearning for something slicker, smoother, easier to use. Plus, it just felt like time to shed this old skin and sport something shiny, sleek and new.

So I confess, I've been experimenting with Tumblr, and while I felt terrible keeping it from you, I wanted to test it out before inviting my friends over. I like it. I like the way it shows off content, and I like how easy it is to post. So please, come visit, and I hope you'll update your feeds, bookmarks, and whatnot.

Climax

My new home: swdp.tumblr.com

Denouement

Dead? Is this blog dead? Well, yes, probably. It's not going anywhere, but I don't have any plans to use it as an outlet anytime soon. Feel free to never come back, unless you really like it here the way it is now.

Epilogue

You could reasonably ask, after my ponderous introduction to this post, and the sharp left turn down Practicality Lane, whether I think Tumblr is the future of content-sharing on the web. Actually no, I don't. Realistically, I think we'll all gravitate toward something that melds Google Reader's functionality with Facebook's network. I think both mechanisms are pretty crappy right now. And Google Buzz is the worst of both worlds.

BUT, I do think that the final product will give you, the validator, greater power to comment on the content you're sharing, and greater control over how it looks. And Tumblr gives users those capabilities, thankfully. Style, after all, as readers of this blog surely know, matters.