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	Phil's Blogservations Sunday, December 09, 2007 Posted by philgomes 2:34 PM TechCrunch Makes Katie Hafner's "Epic Saga Of The WELL" A Must-Read For those of you whose sense of "history" seems to stARt in 1999, a ReadING of This histOry of oNe of the earliest online communities would be a good primer. History has already decreed The Well to be synonymous with online communication in its best, worst, and, above all, most vital forms. Though always small in overall numbers, its influence and recognition far outweighed any significance that could be measured by membership or revenues. The Well created a paradox: scruffy, undercapitalized, and armed with a huge amount of clout. It would become a harbinger of both the excitement and the concerns that would arise on the Net over the uses of electronic networks and virtual dialogs, free speech, privacy, and anonymity. Like I said on Twitter... Read this article, or you're not really in this business. Written a decade ago, the article describes important events that took place a decade before that. I point readers to this long-time personal fave of tech journalism because of this post on TechCrunch, which starts (emphasis mine): Silicon Valley these days is made up of two kinds of entrepreneurs (I’m painting with broad strokes, bear with me). The first group is the old guard. These are people who started companies during the late nineties and up until the 2000 stock market crash. The second group was either in school during that period, or doing something other that working in the tech world, and have started companies after the fallout from the crash. Michael Arrington's view of Silicon Valley has gone from entertainingly myopic to, in a word, dangerous. These "strokes" are broad enough so as to be irresponsible. Let me get this straight... The "old guard" comprises "people who started companies in the late nineties?" We're back to this again, are we? Ummm... Try saying that to these folks. Their time-clock goes a lot further. On a personal level... Michael... I snail-mailed you a copy of Fire In The Valley last May for a reason. You see, I love Silicon Valley. Moving to Chicago has given me some perspective on my nine-plus years there. Not a lot of time, no, but I was fortunate enough to have colleagues and clients who inculcated in me a deep respect for the area's history. The phenomenal reach of TechCrunch means that, in many ways, you are a lens into Silicon Valley for many who do not yet know or have an appreciation for the unique economic miracle that the region — yes, it is a region — represents. Unfortunately, the image presented of the Valley is that of a distorted funhouse mirror — fat in the middle with stubby little legs and not much up top. And, while I understand that the point of TechCrunch is not high-k dielectrics, advanced device physics, carbon nanotubes, or the next node on the SIA roadmap — in other words, the innovations that ultimately allow all of us to wax rhapsodic about the latest AJAX-powered doohickey — I humbly ask that you find it in yourself to gain that respect for Silicon Valley's history and what made it truly great, wonderful, and unique. Attention is certainly something TechCrunch has in copious amounts. The more the TechCrunch team uses that attention to bring its readers a more accurate and properly framed view of the Valley, the more broadly respected and future-proof it will become. Update: Fixed minor grammatical errors. Technorati Tags: silicon valley, wired, techcrunch, web2 | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a PalmOne Treo or a Playstation2. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, VP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. 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