Erik Sundelöf

entrepreneur, thinker and Swede

The famous old Silicon Valley stealth mode…
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It has been awhile since I updated the blog and there are reasons for it. Since I got back from Sweden things have speeded up and moved in a direction I very much did not plan for, at least so soon. The reasons will remain in the famous Silicon Valley stealth mode until I can tell some more about it. I can however say that some will be revealed very soon…

I have also since I came had the pleasure of visiting a concert with the Wayne Shorter’s quartet, which was great. It was a quite welcomed break from work, and I will owe Teddy a big dinner for it. Thanks Teddy!

The weather is really now getting back to as warm and wonderful it was when I first arrived here. I have had several coffees outside and just enjoying the sun.

I will promise to write more soon.

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The Future of Blogging
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Blogging is changing the way we look on the content on the web and the media. It is more and more becoming a way to easy-publish to the web. Yet many blogs are lacking the fundamental design and architecture of a more conventional website. Where will this saga end?

Today everybody (or more honestly speaking an amazing large number of people) want to have a blog. Corporate blogging has turned into a personalized way for CEO:s and executives to release corporate news, and thereby bring the users closer to the company. The interaction is good as they will get direct feedback from the users, even though it is unlikely that they will ever tell you of any problems they face. However, the feeling of being a part or seen is central here and the social part of the blog software becomes obvious. Even though corporate blogging has some child deceases I am confident that the proper structure will emerge.

The true driving force of blogs has undisputable been the political arena, and I think the political arena has changed forever due to it. The debate in blogs during the last presidential election in the US, especially Howard Dean campaign, is a proof that bloggers is a new type of media that will change the political arena and is a true power to count on or fear. Everybody can be their own politician and speak their mind on almost anything. An amazing shift towards the power of the people on both good and bad. That discussion truly deserves an own post, so I will leave it there.

I am working on new ways to deliver news to the web during my time here at Stanford and I will shortly reveal some more details on the project. A question that is quite important when looking at this is what the news media really is, and in particular what a newspaper is. A drastic and maybe controversial approach is to consider a newspaper as nothing else than a well-reviewed group blog. Of course this is quite a simplification of reality, but still very much true in many ways. However, the payed (or unpayed) journalists that are assigned to write about a certain subject, reviewed by editors, approved by the chief editor and then published either on the net or in a paper edition. A blogger does all these steps at least subconsciously too before the blog item is created. A bit ironic, hey? The difference between a newspaper and a group blog then becomes were fuzzy. Therefore blogs cannot be discussed separately from conventional news media. (Conventional media might be a better word as podcasting is bringing both radio and television closer to the web.)

There is a great book “We the media…” by Dan Gilmor covering this topic and almost every aspects of it. If you have not read it, you really should. The book addresses the ongoing “battle” between the blogs and the conventional media.

The future challenges of the blogs are closely linked to the differences between blogs and conventional media. Blogs are uncensored, yet unreviewed (by others before publishing). The commenting system will be some kind of review system however. There is yet a need to address the trust of the content of a blog, which is one challenge for the future blogosphere. “Why? Just plug in a review system and there you go.” Well I am afraid it is not as easy as that. One of the true powers of blogs is the free form. You want to preserve the uncensored feeling of the blog, yet increase the trust of the content. A kind of paradox in itself and in there lies the challenge.

Another challenge of the blogosphere will be to find a way to solve the issue of the ever increasing number of blogs. More and more people start blogs and become active in them. The number of sites is increasing, and the volume of information is exploding. You will have to read more and more blogs whether you like it or not. Time is always limited. How many times have you not wished there were 48 hours per day instead of the always to few 24 hours… The time necessary(?) to read blogs can and will intrude on your work and personal life if nothing is done. Maybe the Darwinistic laws will solve it, but then again maybe not. RSS-feeds were created to solve this matter, but the growth of the blogosphere now really calls for some other approaches to decrease the workload of reading blogs.

On top of reading all these blogs you will have to write almost everyday on your own little blog to spread your message and preserve an active audience. Web traffic is funny. It is hard to obtain it, but it but so easy to loose when you have finally have it. Therefore many bloggers feel the need to constantly publish new posts. Some write many short posts, and some write a lot of “yada yada”. Nevertheless it still is not a sustainable solution. There are too many blog posts that comment with a few lines and linking to another blog post that is commenting on another that is commenting on another that is… Yes, you get the picture. It only contributes to the volume of content noise to be a bit harsh.

Design of the website might partly solve the problem of traffic, even though it is no full-proof way. Notably, I read a comment on this by Jacob Nielsen, who said that one of the most common errors of blogsites is that they hide their “highlights”. When you look at many blogs, the most read blog posts or highest graded blog posts are normally never listed so that the reader can easily retrieve those. Such a list can at least help some to keep the traffic alive and fairly high.

Is all you (Erik) talk about problems, problems, problems… Certainly not and I am not at all pessimistic about the future of blogs. Yet these features and challenges should/will be addressed and solved.

So what is likely to happen in the future? The way I see it the blogosphere and the conventional media will move closer to the each other, very much as Dan Gilmor predicts in his book. However, I do not fully envision the conventional media being “replaced” by the blogs as they fulfill different needs. The conventional media will in a more thorough way cover a story and have a more profound research before publishing the article. Normally blogs are like a tabloid version of a “story” and in many cases lack the proper proof of the content. However, blogs could be consider as an amazing control system of conventional media. Therefore it is likely that more softwares with built-in light versions of review systems to increase the trust of the content will be developed and released.

Group blogs or portals, like the http://www.corante.com, will be more common and will create a wrapper for people with similar topics. This will solve the issue of feeling the pressure of frequent posting as well as keeping the traffic high enough.

Well as the X-files says: The truth is out there…

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Blogging over Canada….
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Right now I am sitting right over Canada on 33 000 feet above the ocean. I am flying back to Sweden to celebrate Christmas and New Years with my friends and family. It feels rather strange sitting at this altitude and blogging. I chatted with a Swedish friend today on MSN about just this strange fact and she said wow. I totally agree. Nevertheless before I will go to sleep (at least think of it) and try to shift the day rhythm someway back to Swedish standard time, I would like to write some few words on my feelings right this moment. I follow the tradition of many great bloggers, such as Mark Ahtisaari (even though he does not blog that often). His “Blogging over Las Vegas” is a great piece even though I like his reflections on slow art even better.

The United States of America is the best and worse country. They have it al – their problems, the diverse population people, but also the possibilities. Just as you think you understand it it will bite you in the ass. I just love it. I have talked to the CEO:s of world leading IT companies, seen the eyes of the homeless outside restlessly walking up and down University Avenue and seen the eyes of the black mother asking me for directions to the Child Emergency Recovery with his shot teenager son in the front seat. It surely is a strange country. It is a great country, and a bad country. Nevertheless I cannot stop loving it.

This blog should not turn into a political debate on the situation in the States or the nature of the States. However I could not stop myself as I think about the time in the States so far. Right now my thoughts are wondering on to the ten days I will spend in Sweden, but also to the spring and the events during the spring. Will I be jetlagged over my wildest imagination? How can it be that Christmas is already here? Most of all I however just feel a great exaltation about meeting everyone at home.
The suitcase is filled with presents, the head is filled with impressions, thoughts and experiences. I miss my mom and dad, I miss my siblings, I miss the family dog and my friends. It feels strange, but I will love coming home. Some days I have missed them like crazy. Today was really the first time I tried to connect to the feeling of going/coming home. The time here in the States have spun that fast that I have not had the chance to reflect on time. I guess the climate helped as it is 17 degrees Celsius in Palo Alto, California. Monday night I talked to my brothers wife and like I said then every day has been an adventure. I am living in a dream. I am like Alice in Wonderland and do not regret “taking the blue pill”.

I just cannot wait until I get home and can sit back in the family sofa. See the family… the feeling creates butterflies in my stomache.

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Reflections on an airport…
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Right now I am sitting on San Francisco International Airport waiting for a flight to Seattle. As airports are like teleports between different worlds, it is a place for reflection and consideration. You are leaving some place and going to another. A situation that often creates a mixed feeling.

It is now a bit more than three and a half month since I left Sweden. A lot has happened and I have met a lot of amazing people. The power of the Silicon Valley – the valley of miracles – is very much present. Some reflections on what has happened is in order I guess.

Today my friend Sam picked me up and drove me to the airport. It was a beautiful morning and I was filled with peace during the drive to the airport. Looking back to the late night September 3 when I arrived here in the “valley of miracles”, I can honestly say I had no idea about what the semester was going to turn into. My chats with my fellows have given me insight to a whole other world out there. When I left Sweden in September I was living in a “bubble” as Hernando de Soto is talking about in his book “The Mystery of Capital”. I first set foot on the Stanford Campus at noon September 4 and did not realise the power of the transition I was about to go through and still going through.

The first hectic weeks before the opening reception were an interesting and experience building time. The weekend after the program went to Asilomar to really start the program. The night walks, the looks at the sky filled with stars, but also the interesting conversations during the nights there was like a starting point to it all. Especially on a personal level things cleared and I remember one moment standing down at the beach listening to the ways coming in. A moment that liberated me beyond anything. After Asilomar began a great learning curve spiced up with meetings with a diversity of people to be finished off by an amazing last month.

Some people have influenced me more than others, yet I can honestly say most conversations during this time have given me insight to a variety of problems and aspects completely new to me, yet ever as appealing and interesting. More over I have gained perspective on things and realised the importance of different things in life. The world is far from black and white even though it is more convenient to think so. A truth ever as simple, yet very complex to fully grasp…

I sent an email to someone yesterday on this semester and my personal experiences of it. As I said in that email the extremes make people grow. I have gained experiences in many levels, and the feeling of flying away from the Bay Area is two-facetted. One is just feeling great about going home to friends and family; another is leaving persons that really have made an impression on me and grown fond of. I chatted the other day with a friend now in India and he shared the same feeling. I already miss the people here, especially some… It feels strange, yet nice.

I left Sweden with various thoughts and questions in my mind. Thoughts and questions that have cleared. I am happy, filled with peace and feel really good. It feels good to go home from Christmas and meet my friends and family. It also feels good to know that I am flying back to the “valley of miracles” and “the farm” in the beginning of January.

Before I left and during my time here I have been told to “stay Erik”. My perception of the world has changed, but I still am Erik from Sweden. I have grown, but the inner Erik remains.

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