Open Letter to Fred Wilson

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Open Letter to Fred Wilson

January 19, 2007 by Jim Parker in blogging, future, media, technology

Dear Fred,

In response to Widget Removal - Please Vote:

First off, I’ve been a big fan of yours for over a year now. In that time, I have read every post you’ve made, I have linked at least a couple of times from my blog, and I have made several comments (some perhaps naïve). I read you not because you are worth millions, nor because, necessarily, that other people link to you. Rather, I read you because your writing is good, your perspective is fresh, your insight is intelligent, and you mostly march to the beat of your own drum. So I have an aspiration just like the tramp in Think and Grow Rich: I plan to do business with you one day (today is not that day, though).

Additionally, I am a web application developer by trade.
Given the above self-perceived notion of my authority, I consider myself an expert consumer of your blog and have a good understanding of the technical issues that you face with your widgets.

So here are my thoughts.

You are an influential blogger who desires to express yourself with the best of breed that web services companies have to offer via widgets. You are aggregating your presence on the world wide web into a single easily reachable and easily consumable web site. Anybody in the world who wants to understand who you are has free access to more information than I have of my own best friend. This you achieve with the help of all the wonderful widgets.

In my opinion, this has incredible cultural significance. You are helping to usher in a world where people are no longer afraid to share their personal details – a world where transparency is the norm instead of just the occasional pleasant surprise.

Thus, I vote for you to keep all of your widgets.
Furthermore, I implore you to ask different questions in dealing with the widgets issue. Instead of asking what to remove, ask what can be done to make them do what you want them to (speed, look-and-feel, etc).

Technology brought you all of these wonderful tools and technology can make them all work the way you want. You know that is true. Settle for nothing less.

Sincerely,
Jim Parker