(Then again, maybe I've just turned into one of those cranky old farts who hates everything. What do you think?)

[ Also on InfoWorld.com: Cringely voices his doubts about another questionable AOL purchase in "?" | For a humorous take on the tech industry's shenanigans, subscribe to . ]

It's not just about AOL -- never more than a bad joke in even the best of times -- or the Huffington Post. It's bigger than that. It's about how the Web, and especially Google, rewards mediocrity. It's what I like to call The Crappification of Everything™.

The Web has become like television, where if a show is both good and popular it's almost a happy accident. Mostly we get reality TV that's cheap to produce and painful to watch yet still manages to attract lots of eyeballs -- biggest losers, indeed.

When HuffPo launched in 2005, it was unlike anything most of us had seen before. Even if you hated Arianna's politics, you had to admit she'd found a niche with an oddball mix of actual writers and celebutantes, blogging about whatever floated their boat that particular day. It was often terrible, but it was also fresh and new.