23 comments

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  Aaron Brazell

  8 months ago

  Keep it coming, Steven. All those you mention are being leaders in this space. I don't think anyone is denying the hard times, but people like those you mentioned and Loic at Seesmic are dealing (and coping) rationally. Well done.
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  thanks Aaron. People talk about the power of blogging well this is one area where we can show if not just more than hot air. Positive attitude can make a lot of difference and this is something all bloggers in the tech field show be doing - be positive about our industry in the face of hard times. I'm not saying to sugar coat everything but excessive negativism can be exceptionally harmful
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  Aaron Brazell

  8 months ago

  Well you become a prophet of your own doom, or in other words, creating a
  self-fulfilling prophecy. Especially when you are well-read or listened to.
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  Ed

  8 months ago

  Check out the sentiment by @Ed_Dale at http://TubbyNerd.com
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  HeavyLight

  8 months ago

  Sensible conclusions.
  There's a good chance that US and European economies will head into recession next year due to the tightening of finance but it's crazy for businesses with millions of dollars in the bank to cut infrastructure and spending now -- they'll push the economy down earlier and probably deeper than is necessary.
  
  Don't feed the fear, folks!
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  centernetworks

  8 months ago

  i have unfollowed scoble because of his posts - out of control.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  Here's an answer: http://scobleizer.com/2008/10/11/sky-isnt-falli... -- also I've put up several videos this week of entrepreneurs who've done some cool stuff. It's funny that you didn't give me credit for that or link to them. These are real companies, why don't you help them out by giving them exposure? And Allen Stern? So you'll unfollow just because I'm reporting the news as I'm seeing and hearing it? Ahh, you can't handle the truth. I guess you thought things would be great on Monday right before the market had its worst week ever. Worst ever. And I'm supposed to blow smoke up your behind? Got it!
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  I don't always watch the videos you put up Robert so really why would I link to them. If I had I would have just as I have linked to posts by people who are trying to be positive because I think those voices are being drowned out in the doom and gloom noise.
  
  I don't agree with Allen unsubbing from you either because I don't believe you can argue either side of the coin if you don't listen to both.
  
  As for the worst ever week .. that is just baseless fear mongering talk Robert .. when people jump out of windows or put a bullet in their brainpan then you can start talking about worst ever. Let me know when you on the side of the soup kitchen or foodbank where you are being served then talk to me about the worst week ever but then you'll just be joining the millions of people who are already there long before your worst week ever.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  Steven: Francine Hardaway just called me. She told me that the top business leader in Phoenix committed suicide a couple of weeks ago due to financial ruin. Please don't joke around about that. People in financial pain need us to be there for them at this time and don't need more encouragement to do stuff like that. Like I said, this storm has not yet moved through all of society. The worst effects have NOT yet been felt. That's what I've been saying and you are trying to get me to put on a smile and say "everything is OK." Sorry, I'm not going to do that. This was the worst week EVER in the market. Both points wise and percentage wise. To try to say otherwise is, um, putting lipstick on a pig.
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  Not to make light of a very sad and terrible loss but if this happened a couple of weeks ago this was before the worst week ever as you put it and I never joke about any loss of live Robert. The facts are that since the start of what you call the worst week ever nothing like this has happened.
  
  No-one is asking you to put any lipstick of any shade on this pig Robert all I am saying that this excessive negativism isn't helping to ease anyone's uncertainity because we all know that this will pass but we have to start planning for that time now which means looking positively at what is happening now so we can learn those valuable lessons.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  I've been writing all week long too about where winners and losers will come from and on Thursday did a Webinar about how to build a scalable web service, which you also didn't link to. Instead you linked to only my doom and gloom posts. Makes me realize that you are in it just for a fight and not to look for the good in people. I've written a lot of posts about companies that are positioned well or things companies could do to shake customers out of the trees. I notice you didn't link to them, either. That's cool, I only linked to this post because a good shit storm is good fun, isn't it?
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  Robert kiss my ass. You have no right to say that just because I didn't link to a couple of your posts that I didn't know anything about.
  
  To suggest that I am only in this for a fight is insulting and pompous of you. Just because I am not a Scoble fanboi and link to every single one of your posts it doesn't mean that I an an ignorant idiot as you would like people to think I am. AS for not caring about people maybe I care more because I believe in our inherent ability to rise above adversity like this and come out of the other end better than before. I happen to believe that if you give people a reason for optimism they will rise to occasion and overcome adversity. If that is wrong then I am truly the idealist that no one thinks I am and you know what - I can live with that.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  Kissing your ass isn't something I'm likely to do. I have no right? Heheh, what a wonderful world this is. It's a freaking blog. Of course I have the right to tell you off. You take the bulk of my work this week out of context in this post. You're the one who wrote, and I quote, "We get people like Robert Scoble who have for the last few days done nothing more than highlight everything bad going on."
  
  That is simply NOT true. So now YOU can kiss my ass. Thank you very much.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  This week I put up videos about OLPC. About EA's Dead Space. About PageOnce. and more at http://www.fastcompany.tv and lots of posts, including this one about how Enterprises are opening up opportunity for entrepreneurs http://scobleizer.com/2008/10/09/the-enterprise... Hardly "nothing more than highlight everything bad."
  
  And this is in the worst week the stock market has seen EVER!!!! I think I should have actually been MORE negative, not more positive. Geesh.
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  The only place I see any of your work - which is usually comments - is on FriendFeed Robert and usually only via FOAF since I am not subscribed to you in any fashion. So all I have seen has been your exclamations of "how bad things are" on FriendFeed because someone I am following is following you. So please tell me how would I even know about these great video posts you are talking about. Or are you suggesting that because of who you are we all should know everything you post just because you wrote it? Give me a break.
  
  I have taken nothing out of context because my context is what has been showing up on FriendFeed with your name attached. So would you like to try again Mr. Scoble.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  All of these posts have shown up on FriendFeed. The fact that you aren't even subscribed to me there tells me everything I need to know: you got your facts wrong and are taking me out of context because of what YOU saw and you can't even admit it. 90% of my professional work is video and for you to claim you have no idea about all that is depressing if you are going to be part of this community in any serious way.
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  and you have just confirmed to everyone how you think you are so important. By suggesting that because I don't read every single one of your posts and I don't watch every single one of your videos I'm not a serious part of this community is insulting and demeaning.
  
  You are not the fountain of all things of importance Robert. your work is not the seminal repository of everything of importance. It is too bad you can't get off of your high horse and realize that just because someone decides not to read everything you do doesn't make them any less of a person or even a blogger.
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  Scobleizer

  8 months ago

  When you write "We get people like Robert Scoble who have for the last few days done nothing more than highlight everything bad going on" YOU have the responsibility to get it right and do some research about what I actually DID say over the last week.
  
  You got it wrong and the fact that you are continuing to attack me tells me just how interested you are in the truth.
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  StevenHodson

  8 months ago

  "You want the truth - You couldn't handle the truth" ooppss sorry couldn't resist :)
  
  Robert I will concede that I should have looked further into what you have written and in that way I was wrong. However much of what you have said that has shown up on the FriendFeed time line in relation to the economic down turn has been negative. I don't follow you hence my lack of interest in what you have to say.
  
  I also still stand by what I wrote and have said in follow up to that. Plus for your information I do care about the truth.
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  hardaway

  8 months ago

  I don't mean to get in the middle of this, but a good friend of mine was financially ruined this summer and, seeing no way out in a business where neither he nor his father ever lost a dime for an investor in 43 years, committed suicide. He left a bunch of investors, all friends, who are wiped out by a combination of his failure (real estate hard money lending) and the demise of the stock market. Many of them are already retired. These crashes don't come all at once. Scott's suicide came from the real estate market, but his friends are now suffering cascading losses from both real estate AND the stock market.
  
  I am a Pollyanna, as people go. If you want to see my own post from last week, see http://blog.stealthmode.com to see that I do look on the bright side. But I am also a realist.
  
  We have to 1)try to see around the corner, and 2) not ignore the realities. If we had been more realistic,we wouldn't be where we are now. Not SV, the American economy.
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  WebPixie

  8 months ago

  From one Pollyanna to another: It's not easy to see the downside, even when things are horribly tough and stressful. It seems that fear and worry only makes things worse because, ultimately, things always get better - somehow. We've seen some bad times and, most likely, there will always be more ahead. It helps to find ways to adapt and not expect things to always be the same through life.
  
  Gee, why am I feeling so philosophical tonight? Hang in there, everybody ...As hardaway says, don't ignore realities but look for the good things around the corner.
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  RebelwithCause

  8 months ago

  Boys, boys - grow up! Squablling in public is both undignified and unedifying. It has become personal when the post was rightly about the realities of current economic situation as pertains technical sector.
  
  First, I agree that comments that appear to only highlight one side are misguided. Most of what I find written, in popular blogs as well as in papers is immediate reactions on the events. It is 'fire fighting' using words. We should remember that these events did not spring up from vacuum. They are consequences of the way business has been done for far too long - as this post shows with specific examples. The fact that such ways of running business have not only been funded but also celebrated and praised by the same sources that cry 'foul' now shows that they are part of the problem.
  
  This is a systemic issue. Technical business is no different in underlying basics from other businesses. So when those in finance see opportunities to make big money and fast, they go for it, irrespective of the sustainability of that business. Thus, the arena is populated with too many flashy enterprises led by big headed individuals and funded by greedy financiers. In the interim, the ideas for business that take time to get to market or have steady but average profits forecasts are overlooked. Why do I say that all this is a systemic issue? Well because this cosy set up created a feedback loop that operated as a virtuous cycle feeding on itself. Unfortunately, Virtuous Cycle is unstable structure and easily flips into a Vicious Cycle when the rules guiding feedback fall apart.
  
  Therefore, yes life will be hard for all those who lived of fantasy proceeds for too long, whether they were crediting the 'fairy tale' enterprises or running them. For the rest, it will be tougher life but then they are resiliant and know how to deal with hard times.
  
  And yes, the businesses that will survive are not populated with people who primarily look for higher financial compensation. Their employees, suppliers and customers are loyal and want to do business together. That will remain the case now and only bring them closer as credit crunch starts to bite all.
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  EJ Hill

  8 months ago

  This is all a matter of perception. Some select to perceive the positive, others that which is negative. Personally, I don't place my trust in "horses and chariots" - but God alone. Come rain, or shine, hell, or high water ... what does it help to stress ... does that change anything? Live your life today ... tomorrow may never come.
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