Comments on: Tech Guy Dead – Marc Orchant – Nope, I Never Heard of Him Either

By: Rebecca Orchant

Rebecca Orchant — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:53:36 +0000

Alright. I realize that you find this painfully clever. That in your way, you’re having a laugh at all the tech nerds who were deeply connected to my dad and are showing it by papering their blogs with love and tall-tales of his greatness. But please realize that the Internet is a VERY public place. I’m sincerely horrified by your flippancy. Maybe you don’t have kids. Maybe you don’t realize that for some Marc, my dad, could very well have changed the world. If you didn’t know him, and he had no relevance to you, than I see no reason for him to occupy a space on YOUR blog, which is clearly changing the world minute by minute.

By: Tim Marman

Tim Marman — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:58:01 +0000

And, I’d also point out, the fund was started by Oliver Starr, a close friend and colleague of Marc’s. Should that effort be condemned simply because Oliver is a blogger?

By: Tim Marman

Tim Marman — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 01:55:35 +0000

I still don’t understand your infatuation with what he “did” or how “important” he was. Celebrities die all the time and to be honest I could give a shit. Roger King may have been “more important”, but I didn’t know him nor did most of the other bloggers in question, and that’s why we didn’t show the same outpouring of sympathy.

How exactly does this hurt the “credibility” of technology blogs? In case you forgot, blogging is fundamentally a form of personal expression, and we’re expressing our sadness over his passing.

As for the fund, well, there are a lot of people who have charities and trusts set up in their name, etc. The best I can tell, you’re just upset because this is prominent in this case, but like I said, it’s just because his friends happen to be visible in the blogosphere.

I guess I still don’t understand why you’re so upset about bloggers mourning the loss of a friend.

By: goinglikesixty

goinglikesixty — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 19:07:26 +0000

@Tim: wiki: nope, but a tech blogger would have a link. I don’t argue that he made an impact in the tech blogger world. But the tech bloggers expanded that to the “blogosphere.”
startups: Nobody mentioned his startups, but I also am involved in many blogging start ups. I share my insights everyday.
personal level: I understanding wanting to show caring via blogging, but everybody I read, (I haven’t read anymore than the original 13) inflated his importance. I’m just indicating that he was a pretty average fellow – but well connected to people who blog.
“silly:” there is a college fund started for his kids. That’s not “silly.”
Care for the guy on a personal level, but Roger King of King World Productions died yesterday, and I don’t see the same outpouring of sympathy.
Credibility of technology blogs suffer when such hand ringing occurs because another blogger dies.

By: Tim Marman

Tim Marman — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:38:33 +0000

So the new standard in determining whether you have made any contributions to society is if you have a Wikipedia entry? I guess we can just agree to disagree here.

I think he clearly made a impact in the technical blogger community. He blogged for a long time, was involved in a number of blogging startups, shared many insights and built a lot of strong relationships. Don’t let a couple of “silly” comments by Scoble and his audience eclipse the fact that most of the posts you link to are from people who knew and cared for Marc on a personal level.