Robert Scoble, Microsoft blogger and the subject of a couple of Loose Wire WSJ columns in the past, has quit Microsoft for PodTech, a podcaster and videocaster. Techmeme, the technology bloggers’ portal, is full of the news. It’s as if the Pope has quit his day job and joined AC Milan.
There’s lots of speculation, but Scoble says there was no acrimony, no scrimped expense accounts, and lots of effort on the part of Microsoft to get him to stay. For sure the loser in this is going to be Microsoft. While there are thousands of other Microsoft bloggers, none of them had Scoble’s long leash and roaming brief. For many people, especially opinion formers and early adopters, Scoble was Microsoft — more than Gates or that other guy, whatsisname (Ballmer – ed). As Mathew Ingram of the Globe and Mail puts it: “Flack or not, corporate shill or not, I think he has single-handedly done more to humanize Microsoft than all the millions of dollars spent getting Bill Gates to kiss babies or hug orphans or whatever they do to make MSFT seem less like the Borg.”
It will be interesting to see how this pans out for Scoble, and for Microsoft. Will Microsoft continue to feed Scoble the inside dope that is the staple of his blog? And if so, will he appear more or less credible as a result? Will Microsoft move to fill his shoes by hiring another high profile blogger, or move one of the 3,000 other bloggers into his unique slot? Will Microsoft revert to the Evil Empire in the eyes of the technology community, or has Scobe succeeded in convincing it that this view was outdated and unfair?
I think Scoble is a pretty unique character, and it was partly his ebullience and personal approach — not just his Microsoft access — that won him fans. That will make it harder for Micosoft to replace him, and it should make it easier for him to move his brand and followers somewhere else. (As a footnote it’s interesting that while most folk outside geekdom have never heard of Scoble, his move did get some coverage from mainstream media. Here’s one from Reuters, used by The Washington Post website.)