Walter Mossberg: Technology for the masses

Walter Mossberg is one of the most widely read technology writers of our time. He writes for the Wall Street Journal and his column, Personal Technology, is the flagship of WSJ's Thursday Marketplace section. I have a developing respect for Mr. Mossberg since first encountering his work. He tends to write in a manner that suits my perspective, that being "the view from the trenches." He believes that technological developments in the consumer products realm are bordering on useless if you need to take a night class to understand them. I tend to agree with him.

If you have the time, and journalistic excellence tinted with technology interests or inspires you, then I have a link here which might be the best reading you'll do this month. This article by Ken Auletta is from The New Yorker and is titled "Critical Mass: Everyone Listens to Walter Mossberg." The article poses as a profile of Walter Mossberg, but I promise that it holds significantly more than that for you. It's really just a passing glimpse as far as revealing the deeper character of Mr. Mossberg, but as a condensed examination of the pre-consumer technology world it imparts a solid perspective on where technology writing has been and where it is headed.

Would-be tech bloggers and consumer product reviewers owe it to themselves to read Ken Auletta's article. Technology buffs, geeks, and gadget-heads of all types will find it worthwhile also. It's clean, easy reading with enough color to pull you through to the end. When I myself finished reading it, I then felt, and still do feel, more than a little bit humbled.