03/18/2005: "Obituary for a Weblog"

I close today this great wonderful blog. If something is a flop, one has to admit it. It did not rock well. At least not as well. :-)

It certainly was no flop regarding the quality of the posts, very far from that! It was not a flop either regarding the number of visitors. But a blog that doesn't have to rely on a single blogger for regular entries, but had a team (so far) of nine bloggers and then suddenly for a whole month doesn't show any new post at all, is an insult to the visitor! It also contributes to the whole site getting a bad image...

After having been planned since some time, the blog was rushed into existence, when I became gravely ill (the urgent phase is happily over now) and wanted some workload taken off my back and insure that the site stays interesting for its audience, even if I can add less to it myself. The work is of course not only my own writing, but the webmaster job and all that huge correspondence with the authors and the visitors.

The initial good start with several great posts each week should have continued for many more months till the blog would have been more established and an occasional pause taken more gracefully by the surfers. This was not the case. The fireplace lost impetus while at the same time contributing to other bloggers doubling their efforts on their own blogs or on new sites. I could not compete with that. And competition is a higher value than cooperation in our libertarian circles anyway. And money too. And I do not except myself from that completely.

I also had the bad luck and traumatic experience to lose (at least for the time being) all my data. These data include my preparatory work for the expansion of this cooperative blog and all the details of my concept. It was planned that to the great names already on the team there would be added at least a dozen even greater ones. Of these a couple are at an advanced age and not anymore in their best health. I might still get an article from them, but hardly a full cooperation in the blog that would allow me to ignite the colourful fireworks I had planned. Till we all get our act together again, it will be too late. We have to accept reality. Not that many hopes and dreams come true. Especially without money.

I want to thank Anthony Gregory, Brad Spangler, myself and Laura Bush :-), Donald Meinshausen, Jonathan David Morris, Ken Schoolland, Rob Arnold and Wendy McElroy for their great help, which was free and so generous!

A new, also cooperative, blog, with a different concept, will be inaugurated soon. Keep a watchful eye on my home page!

This "CB's fireplace" will stay accessible as is, as an archive and memorial tombstone to a great dream of mine. :-(