Five seconds of infamy at Information Week

Information Week’s Larry Geenmeier has published a piece – Blog-Based Analysts Shake Up IT Research – where I’m referenced in a couple of places. Nice. But it feels like I’ve been kissed by a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I’m mentioned in the same sentence as Vinnie Mirchandani and James Governor – both of whom I know personally and deeply admire. On the other, Larry says my comments about Fon at SiliconValleyWatcher are ‘potentially libelous.’ That made me wince.

As an ex-hack, I’m used to biting the hand that feeds. OK – so I don’t shy away from robust comment but there is always a good reason. I will admit to getting pretty fired up from time to time. I guess I’ve never been much good at putting a gloss on things when something has piqued my ire.

As to the substance of the ‘potential libel.’ I want to clear this one up as it’s only the second time that particular inference has been laid at my doorstep in some 13 years of commenting about the technology sector. The last time it happened was for a piece that subsequently became a finalist entry for a hacks award back in the late 1990′s so I’ll admit to being more than a tad sensitive on this issue.

Residing in Spain means I have first hand experience of the frustrations in dealing with this telecomms monopoly. While Telefonica is improving service at what can best be described a snail’s pace, its treatment of customers is barely tolerable. And I defy anyone to claim substantially different while keeping a straight face.

I never cease to be amazed at the inventiveness of Telefonica’s customer support staff. They have told me porkies on at least seven separate occasions – everything from ‘the whole of Alicante is down’ (hmm – didn’t read about that in Levante/El Pais/CBN) to ‘your bill hasn’t been paid’ (all payments by direct debit thank – | can see the transactions onscreen – and oh by the way can you please send me my bill and not my landlords?) to ‘we’ll have you back in service within 48 hours’ (a favourite that always makes me chuckle).

I used to think it was me being unfortunate until I spoke with Spanish nationals and ex-pats who have given up on Telefonica preferring mobile only. (There’s better mobile than fixed line coverage in certain parts of the country.) And to be scrupulously fair – it was only when our entire system went pear shaped and Telefonica had no option but to turn up, that things substantially improved. After 7 months of asking. It’s a pity Larry didn’t ask for specifics when we spoke. Never mind.

It’s not all negative though. When Larry asked my opinion around blog influence and earnings compared to the giants like Gartner, I said: “We’re a gnat’s bite on the elephant’s backside.” We register on the radar of a number of vendors but only just. That came across loud and clear in his piece. I’d argue however that the exploits of the Brother and Sisterhood at SAPPHIRE06 might just have changed that perception – a little.

In the meantime, I’ll continue to howl. But if I sound like I’m baying at the moon – please slap me around the head for at that point I will surely have lost the plot. In the meantime, I wonder what Larry makes of Paul Kedrosky’s Infectious Greed?

As a final touch of irony – I was part of the original research team that established the now defunct Information Week UK. James was one of its editorial stars for a time.

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