End of an era

A new voice entered the tech scene about ten years ago. Brash, radical, and revolutionary, Slashdot helped to propel the tech bubble into the twenty-first century, and to push Linux and its associated technologies into the forefront of the Valley's reporters' collective minds. That's important: like the Village Collective in politics, the Valley Collective has a disproportionate effect on tech coverage. It also has an abysmal record of accuracy or foresight.

Yesterday, Microsoft bid for Yahoo, and, in the process, showed how how much the world had changed. Oh, yes, the bid for Yahoo was a big deal since the story of the failing tech behemoth being swallowed by the fast growing upstart is always a big deal. What I was interested in, though, was the reaction on Slashdot.

None. A bunch of stories, and no more than a couple of hundred responses. Lots of opportunities to bash Microsoft, and...nothing. I did an experiment, and posted a particularly obnoxious message attacking the herd mind's interpretation...and nothing. I haven't even been troll rated. (Update. Okay, something has happened now -- someone has posted a response to my comment supporting it.)

Here's the big news from yesterday's offer: Slashdot is dead. It's the end of an era.