RasterWeb: Rambles: obscurity

"toiling away in obscurity since..."

I remember reading something on someone's site a few month's back that said "Whew, I've been doing this site now for 3 months..." Sigh, I've been doing this site in it's current format (the "weblog" thing, before the term existed) for well over 3 years (as of this writing.) I often just smile in slight amusement when someone links to something, then others link to it... and I look back at a page on my site and, yup... I noted it a year and a half ago...

I'm not complaining. Really. I didn't build this site to be popular. I don't use Blogger like all the cool kids do, or EditThisPage, like all of Dave's people do... I've tried them. They're nice tools. I started a site because I was fascinated by the internet. At that time, my ISP had instructions that went like 'telnet in to your account and create a directory called 'www' you then need to make it world readable...' Not quite as friendly as filling out a form and ka-bang! You've Got A Website!

I've got so many mixed feelings... I love the fact that so many people are building sites, but I also hate it. When there was a zine explosion in the early 90's I made the mistake of saying "everyone should do a zine" Well, then everyone did, and we had to wade through the piles of garbage that people were pumping out. I know, I'm sounding like a bit of an elitist jerk. That happens sometimes. It happens because I care. Take this quote about the proliferation of new 'weblog' type sites:

"The vast majority aren't very interesting,"joked Dave Winer, CEO of Userland and a weblog pioneer. "But that's OK. We'll make it up in volume."

Ok, sounding like an jerk again... Have I lost my point? Oh, yeah. Sometimes I just think there should be some sort of barriers to entry. But maybe that's just me. I've heard people complain in the past that so many sites on the web are about the web itself - building sites, designing and developing, etc... with the argument, gee what if all they talked about on TV was the technical stuff behind broadcasting. Well, how many people have the equipment and ability to broadcast things on television. Now, how many can build a web site?

Meg mentioned people in the web industry. Some of them make me sick. (Hey, back to the point!) I think what gets me is the fact that business has poisoned the internet. Or is on the verge of doing so in many ways. dot com, ecommerce, b2b, one-to-one... argh... I can't take it anymore... There seems to be a clear dividing line. There's the business web, and there's the non-business web. For love or for money... I certainly don't make any money on this site. I'm not trying to 'connect with the consumer' or 'monetize' anything. I just need to do this. I've always been creative, it's all I know. As Aaron Eliot said:

"I publish because I don't know anything else. I grew up with it, and I don't know how you stay sane without some kind of creative outlet and connection with other people."

I became a computer geek in 1980. Did computer graphics when there were 16 colors and a dozen pixels. Then did zine publishing, screen printing, stickers, patches, art... Did flyers, more zines, more art. Did music, recorded, produced, promoted, put on shows, did tours... etc... all the while just 'toliing away in obscurity...'

Again, I did these things, and do the things I do now, because I *have* to. I can't explain it any better than that. I think you'll either get it, or you won't. If you don't... well, I really can't explain it. It's a disease. ;) Aaron get's it. Others seem to get it. It tends to show in what they do. In their actions, in what they produce. Not in their slogans, ad copy or 'business plan.'

When aaron said This man is a genius. It meant something to me. I felt like someone who gets it believes that I'm someone who gets it. I'm not saying I'm a genius. (Although I do have an audio recording of Dan Duchaine saying that I am;) But it's nice to know something I made, made someone else happy. I remember reading on someone's site "RasterWeb, one of my favorites..." wow, again, to think that this crap I spew out is actually enjoyed by someone. That means something...

In the old days (or so I'm told) everyone was expected to give something back to the internet. Is it still that way?

I wrote this a while ago, let if undone, then came back... I think it's done now. So am I... (or maybe not.) It might be best to ignore it...

  Last Modified: 04.02.2001 by rasterboy