To properly compare weblogs with other media, it is necessary to first benchmark what I read elsewhere. To wit:
I subscribe to (and regularly read) the following magazines:
Wired,
Fast Company,
The New Yorker,
The Atlantic Monthly,
Utne Reader,
Harper's,
Smithsonian,
Discover,
Granta,
World Press Review,
Harvard Business Review,
Broadcasting & Cable,
Business Week,
Business 2.0,
Technology Review.
Given this reading list -- which does not include books, newspapers, other websites, mailing lists, reference materials, etc. -- how much time do I have to read weblogs? Not much. What value do they add? I have no way of knowing until I read them. So while Dave Winer and other champions of the medium argue for the contextual strength of the weblog community, I still need to invest hundreds of hours in parsing the stuff, just as I did while shaping my magazine list. You still have to read.
What are the chances of weblogs being materially better or more diverse than my publications? I don't know yet, and the opportunity cost for finding out is huge.
11:01:10 PM 
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