With blogs around the world getting in a lather about Microsoft's new Surface computing initiative this week (rather than laptop think tabletop) it's a good time to look at a blog that doesn't get distracted by the latest tech marketing, writes John Collins.
While others were drooling over the possibilities of Microsoft's $10,000 touch screen, former Financial Timesjournalist Tom Foremski and his team were considering much more prosaic matters. Recently they have covered the retirement of IBM's chief open source strategist, media ownership laws and tech companies, and how Google's new universal search will affect search marketing specialists.
Generally Foremski's posts are longer insightful pieces based on his interviews with well-placed Silicon Valley executives. From those conversations Foremski has mused on why statistical analysis and business studies will be the "killer" skillset for the next decade, the chances of the dot mobi web address for mobile devices succeeding, and the impact that Google is having on journalism practice, to mention just a few.
He's also been a persistent thorn in the side of the public relations industry, suggesting that the current format of press releases is of little use in the world of instant news.
Foremski is one of the most high-profile journalists to make the leap into full-time blogging, but don't call him a blogger. As he puts it himself: "I work as a professional journalist and I publish a news magazine about the business and culture of Silicon Valley. There is no need for a "B" word. "
Of course SVW isn't always just about the serious business of the valley. Last autumn the site revealed that YouTube phenomenon LonelyGirl15 was not a 16-year-old posting up her own videos but Jessica Rose, a 19-year-old actress from New Zealand. That story was the work of Foremski's 18-year-old son Matthew.
The influence of Silicon Valley may be waning in our age of globalisation but if you want to know what's happening at the epicentre of the US tech scene, SVW is as good a source as their is.
Blog of the week: www.siliconvalleywatcher.com
