Thursday, July 21, 2005

Constant Reader

or, "Why I Use Xanga"


"... and the reader must always be your main concern. Without Constant Reader, your are just a voice quacking in the void."
- Stephen King, On Writing
Blogger is technologically superior, financially prudent, and flexibly customizable when compared to xanga. Despite this, I remain on xanga. At some point, perhaps even before I joined xanga, it had become the de facto standard. Enough of my friends used it such that it was, without question, my first choice. I like to imagine my friends chuckling at the daily "Your Xanga Subscription Digest" email or clucking their tongues when reading their subscriptions page.

It is similar to any number of marketing case studies. Consider the Betamax. Betamax had a better picture and fast-forwarding system than VHS. Yet, for various reasons, VHS gained enough popular momentum to overwhelm the market.

Then there is the gap between reality and idealism. Blogger offers so much customization, but I do not use it. My blog wears a standard template. I have yet to use the trackback system I set up. I prefer to spend my time on writing, rather than designing- form should follow function- and in that, xanga does not hinder.

[crossposted to xanga]