I have a lot of sympathy for Michael Arrington. Yesterday he posted a relatively minor criticism of Tello’s launch. Tello didn’t court the blogosphere. Personally, I agree with his critique. Working with bloggers has been one of the most successful and lowest cost strategies which iotum has executed to date. The resulting conversation enhances our product, and builds awareness, not to mention building some good friendships along the way. So, Tello could have done itself some favours. From talking with people I know at Tello yesterday, it sounds as if it was just a mis-step — Tello’s a small company trying to execute a big strategy. Stuff happens, or in this case, didn’t happen.
The reaction to Michael’s critique is way over the top. As I write this, there are 92 comments, including a substantial percentage of really negative comments, to the original post. A lot of them are personal attacks — he’s been called pompous, biased, and many worse things.
Keep your chin up Michael.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry make Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
