BlawgWorld has generated a tremendous amount of controversy and discussion online, not all of it favorable. Ironically, most of the criticism has come from bloggers, some of whom admit in their remarks that they have not read the eBook.
The most common criticism concerns our decision to use a PDF eBook for this project. Instead, these critics argue that we should have used a blog. These remarks strike me as insular. Using a blog would have defeated the purpose of the project — exposing those who don't read blogs to blogs.
BlawgWorld contributor Bob Ambrogi does a nice job of collecting all the criticism, including his own, in a Post entitled BlawgWorld: The (Mixed) Reviews Are In.
A few days after Bob rounded up all of this criticism, the latest review of BlawgWorld arrived, this time in traditional media — the January 2006 edition of West's Lawyer's PC newsletter. Here's an excerpt:
"Many lawyers ... remain oblivious to blogs — or have sampled them and are wholly unpersuaded they can serve useful purposes.... TechnoLawyer has taken an important step to prove to skeptics that legal blogs can be very useful.
"In late November it announced its new e-book, BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas, a compendium of publishings from some of the best blawgs online today. The resulting e-book, carefully edited/assembled by Sara L. Skiff and impressively packaged by art director Gabe Evans, shows you onscreen just how interesting and informative a well-conceived and well-maintained legal blog can be.
"I'm loathe to tout any publication as a 'must read,' but this one certainly comes close .... I'm hoping this is 'volume one,' with periodic sequels to follow."
We know of one other review being written, and doubtless others will follow. We'll keep you apprised of future BlawgWorld developments. In the meantime, thank you for your enthusiasm as evidenced by the 17,372 downloads thus far!
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
