Always On… the defensive

In reply to my critique of his business plan, former magazine editor and new blog entrepreneur Tony Perkins lashes back: “AO now has over 10,000 registered members, and we have only been up for a little more than a month.”

“You didn’t like my interview with sony’s idei? well, over 40,000 people did, and so did dozens of media outlets and blog sites around the world.”

“you think nick denton’s opinion counts? well, it’s nice that you put your faith in cowards. i used to hang out with that guy when he was a nobody, he then called me ‘unimpressive’ years later on his blog, then refuses to respond to my emails.”

(Yep, I do think Denton’s opinion counts. He’s one of the smartest people I know.)

Perkins continued: “i billed over $65,000 in my first month, against less than half of that much in expenses, so please don’t lose any sleep worrying about my business plan.”

“finally, if you don’t like AO v.5 (there IS a reason we call it that), wait for v.75 to be out soon, and brace yourself for v1.0 due this summer before you get too bitchy.”

Did my critique strike a nerve? Blogging offers a wonderful arena for testing your business idea against 100s or 1000s of other astute (and/or passionate) minds. I get the impression that Tony, apparently better at boasting and bashing than listening and learning, isn’t yet fully acclimated to blogdom’s give and take.

Tony, if you can take a break from interviewing some prospective advertiser, I’ve got one quick question: why wait to v1.0 to revise your allegiance to pompous and vapid headlines and untimely posts? You can disagree with everything else I’ve said, but please don’t tell me you are proud of these things.

Check out this flatulence at the top of today’s page: “Michael Dell’s 21st Century Vision: AlwaysOn’s Tony Perkins asked Michael Dell to tell us about Dell’s past, future, and present, and how he thinks technology will transform the world in the next ten years.” Posted last Wednesday, the article has been read 2507 times.