Why I love the five most-hated people on the Internet

29.01.2009
"I am one of the most hated people on the Internet," read the from Scripting News blogger Dave Winer. He's even been made into a "Bastards of the Blogs" collector's card. CNET writer Rafe Needleman expanded Winer's one-liner to a list of the technology pundits on the Internet:

--

-- TechCrunch editor

-- Weblogs Inc multimillionaire

-- 1938 Media videoblogger

-- Perpetually bitchy Valleywag editor .

"I honestly don't believe what people hate is me," Winer later . Dave, the bad news is people really do hate you. The good news is hate, like love, is a way of being attached to you. On the Internet, it's the acceptable way. Would Needleman ever post about the Five Most Beloved Tech Pundits? No, because who would click?

Here's why I love the five guys everyone hates.

Dave Winer

Big Mistake: that eggheads at Google and IBM were gratuitously replacing his super-simple RSS publishing format with a too-complex upgrade called Atom.

Why He's Great: It was true.

Michael Arrington

Big Mistake: Broke journalistic "Chinese wall" by using both to do news reporting and to sell ads for his site.

Why He's Great: In a crumbling economy, no one outside of journalism school cares.

Jason Calacanis

Big Mistake: Loud, flashy, millionaire life eagerly . Yes, that's his yellow Corvette.

Why He's Great: This guy always picks up the check.

Loren Feldman

Big Mistake: Inexplicable against pundit Shel Israel led to cruel parody puppet videos.

Why He's Great: If you're not Shel Israel, is hilarious.

Owen Thomas

Big Mistake: Blogs about .

Why He's Great: He gets a day. Obviously, we love this junk.