Late but Noting:

Everybody probably knows by now that Pyra Labs, the makers of Blogger, has been acquired by Google. My friend Evan Williams, one of Pyra’s founders, has naturally been on the firing line throughout Blogland about his decision and I’m sure has been called a sell-out more than once. Though the debates I’ve read have been mostly positive.

Nobody’s really asking for my opinion and, although Ev has explained his grand vision of what Blogger can do on more than one occassion, It’s still to cosmic for me to comprehend. Nonetheless, I have been at the helm of an independent web project for the last four years (albeit a much smaller one) and know precisely what it’s like to carry one around on your back–even with partners, even with friends–as your full time job. Eventually you hit a glass ceiling as to what you can do on the strength of your own labor. The desire to find a large benefactor with deep pockets is powerful, as is the urge to keep going at it alone and not have to follow anyone’s vision but yours.

I don’t know how what will become of Blogger or Google or Ev or Jason or the others at Pyra I haven’t met. But I do know this sort of decision is a natural evolution of something like Blogger, not Ev having a lapse in integrity. He’s worked his ass off and deserves to see Blogger leave the nest and not require his constant care. He deserves paid vacations and adequate resources for a tool that over a 1 million people use. That doesn’t sound like selling out to me. It sounds like level-headed analysis and the belief that both you and your project deserve a life beyond each other.

Good for you, Ev.

• Category: Our Web, Ourselves.