I just wrote a post about how Scoble ought to consider the performance of his own company before he goes around trashing the performance of others.

In it, I pointed out that PodTech (and this is according to what Scoble wrote himself), isn't exactly cost-effective.

I said this just so he'd have an understanding of what it's like to have your company trashed by some know-it-all blogger who doesn't actually know it all.

He left me a comment that I feel is worthy of its own post. I'd respond in my comments section, but this is something I'd like everybody to see.

And if you wonder I care about what Scoble says, it's because, right or wrong, he has a lot of influence, and the last thing I want to see is someone take what he says about the company I work for (or any company for that matter - whether it's Microsoft or one of our competitors, there are (believe it or not) real, live people behind the products and services he's always slamming, evidently not caring how it affects their lives).

I'll respond to his comment point by point.

I love ironies!

As you'll see, nothing about my post was ironic.

Rory, go ask Jeff Sandquist how many millions of dollars have been spent on Channel 9 and Channel 10.

Now, can you prove that they make money for Microsoft?

Evangelism at Microsoft isn't about creating profit. As you know (or at least I'd hope you knew this while at MS), we're a "cost center."

For anyone who doesn't know, a cost center at Microsoft is a division that's not expected to turn a profit. The last team I worked on was a cost center.

The reason Microsoft spends money on teams that don't directly produce cash is simple: Customer satisfaction.

The reason I went all over, giving four hour talks to audiences in three different countries, being on the road for weeks or months at a time, was to provide customer satisfaction. That's it. It was a "thank you" from Microsoft. That's why the talks were free, and that's why we gave away so much stuff.

We weren't expected to bring in new customers, or to convert anyone. My team was there to show our customers some of the nifty bits of code they could write with the software of ours they purchased. We understand that our stuff isn't free, and we're thankful people are buying it.

Channels 9 and 10 are also cost centers. We aren't expected to provide any sales leads. In the case of 9, it's all about giving the outside world a peek inside the company so that they can see we aren't evil.

Microsoft has an image problem - due to mistakes we make, but also due to people like you who seem to live for the chance to ream us in public every chance you get - and it's worth it to show everybody what's really going on.

As for the millions you refer to, we can do that because a company like Microsoft can afford to have cost centers.

When your entire company is a cost center, Robert, it's very different.

(How does it feel to wake up to a post trashing your work? Now you know how everybody else feels.)

I discovered the long-form video at Microsoft where we built up to 4.3 million unique visitors a month with NO PR, NO advertising, NO real support from the company at large.

Right.

You discovered it.

I imagine you also co-invented the internet with Al Gore.

As for the "long-form video" (that's such a bloggy name), I'm working on moving the interviews back into the 15 minute range.

I don't know if you've figured this out yet, but video is very demanding on a customer. Unlike audio, video can't just be put in the background and enjoyed passively. Sure, you can listen to the audio accompanying the video, but in many cases you also wind up losing a good portion of the content by doing so.

The solution, then, to give our visitors a chance to enjoy shorter videos without feeling the pressure to watch longer ones, is one I believe will greatly benefit the site in the future.

In other words, if you really did "discover" the "long-form video," then I suppose I have only you to blame.

Sit down with Jeff sometime and ask how we did that. You work for him, you should understand what Channel 9's power was -- the long-form video.

The market has changed. You of all people should realize that. Where the "long-form video" (I put it in quotes because I couldn't possibly take myself seriously otherwise) may have been useful back when there weren't tons of such sites, it just doesn't make sense anymore to do it on a regular basis. Charles has his Going Deep show, and it makes sense there. But, for the daily videos, I think it's insane to make people sit down and watch an hour of video. It's also arrogant. You're assuming that this person has nothing better to do than watch your videos all day.

Not cool.

If they had been edited no one would have paid any attention to them. How do I know that? Cause Microsoft had LOTs of video editors over at studios. Editors don't add value in a world where people want to listen to conversations.

Oh, good god. The Robert Scoble assertion-How Do I know?-explanation thing might work on the sycophants who'd do anything for a chance to be in your presence and agree with everything you're saying, but it doesn't take much critical thinking to see the flaws in what you're saying.

Telling me that nobody would have paid any attention to edited Channel 9 videos because nobody pays attention to Microsoft Studios video content is an absurd argument.

Hey - know what else Microsoft Studios videos had, other than editing?

Videos!

Know what else?

People!

Know what else?

Sound!

I could go on like this until it gets more ridiculous than it is, but you're buying your own hype.

Even Star Wars had editing, and it's just a tad more popular than Channel 9.

Tell you what - following your logic, I'm going to start editing videos for Channel 9 because more people know and care about Star Wars than they do about PodTech.

And bandwidth is the least of our concerns when it comes to money flowing out (several hosting companies have offered us free hosting, by the way and if I need free hosting I can always go to Google or Soapbox).

There's no such thing as "free" hosting. There's always a cost. Especially where a site like yours is concerned.

If cost weren't an issue, then why the sponsorship? Why worry about money at all?

In your own writing, you discussed how much it was costing to host the videos, and how you were losing on every viewing. After that, it doesn't do much good to say that bandwidth isn't much of a concern.

And my video traffic is doubling every few weeks.

Sorry. I can't imagine what this is doing to your bandwidth bill (doubling, perhaps, but I don't want to make any assumptions).

Also, I don't know precisely what you mean by "every few weeks," but, regardless of the metric, yours is a relatively new site, and you should expect to be growing quickly. Your name is well known, and you've used that to build an audience.

To calm any fears you might have about costs skyrocketing, I hope to console you by saying that you'll eventually reach a saturation point. There are only so many people in the world who want to watch the videos made by geeks.

Did I ever say we'll never be able to make money? We have 30 corporate clients at PodTech. You only have one. Oh, search Google for "demo of the year." Who do you see?

Uh... did I ever say that you said that you'll never be able to make money? No.

As for the rest of the paragraph, I'm surprised you'd engage in this kind of chest-beating.

You're Robert Scoble! The all powerful! The all knowing!

(All the same, congrats on the "demo of the year" search - I didn't test it, but I expect it's an amazing experience.)

Me. Talking about Microsoft.

That's the problem with your formulaic hatchet job. You don't understand this industry. You don't even understand why you have a job working for Channel 9.

My, you're getting nasty. All this because I simply called you out about writing your name in piss all over our work and our company.

Whatever you are now, you are in part because you had the "formulaic hatchet job" I have now. If it's the job and not the person that makes the difference, then we're the same (which you should find very flattering).

So, why do I have a job working for Channel 9? I'd love to know.

I thought I took the job because it's something I wanted to do, but if you know better than I why I have the job I have, then, by all means, explain to me my motives.

You also shouldn't be so quick to assume that I don't understand this industry. The fact is, I went from a total nobody to having your job in less than three years. I'm also quite a bit younger than you are. I'd say I've done fairly well.

I'm guessing that, if you think you're in a position to tell other people that they don't understand the industry, that you believe you understand it. This doesn't surprise me since you probably also believe you created it, or have changed it, or whatever.

If you've changed it in any way, it's been by showing people that trashing companies - yours and others - you'll gain a lot of notoriety.

And that's about it.

Notoriety.

Not respect. Not success. Not the experience with which to be able to determine whether or not others understand an industry.

Ahh, the old Microsoft culture is seeping out from underneath the rug again. "If you aren't with us, you're against us and must be rooted out like all evil." That worked back when Microsoft was the only game in town and everyone needed to feed at the Microsoft trough. That is no longer true.

Dude. Seriously. You ought to think twice before signing your name to comments.

In my last post, I suggested that you're not in a position to say how a company can or can't make it. I didn't do it because I thought you were being an asshole (although we shouldn't cross that off the list). I did it because you have trashed so much in the industry (especially Microsoft), yet you haven't demonstrated that you can do any more than speculate.

Given how well known you are, I wasn't just going to sit by and watch as you spewed this crap. Your words have real effects. You might not be able to see your audience, but it's there. After you write something such as what you wrote Friday, you do damage to Microsoft's reputation. And don't even think of turning this around by saying we did this to ourselves. Until you can prove that what you're saying is true and take it beyond bad sensationalist blogging, your opinion, although influential, holds little weight with me.

And it has nothing to do with me thinking that anybody who opposes Microsoft must be "rooted out like evil."

That's your argument. That's your opinion. Hell, maybe that's even how you conducted yourself while here.

But don't assume I share your point of view.

What value have you added to Microsoft? I haven't seen you ship either. At least I shipped 600 videos while I was there and built an audience from nothing to 4.3 million a month in two years.

Kettle meet pot. Pot meet kettle.

Your ego really has no limits.

I'm not another company or person for you to attack. If you want to write a post about me, go ahead. I'll happily engage you in whatever argument you'd like to pick, and it'll a nice chance to spank you in public. You deserve it for every other company and person to which you've done the same.

I understand that you've shipped 600 videos. That's great. I don't know what you're trying to prove given that I've only been there since November, and you were there for two years.

Finally, you didn't build that audience on your own. There are plenty of people here who remember you and your attitude - the way you'd take credit for other people's ideas and efforts. The way internal discussions from mailing lists had a way of popping up on your site in a modified form, where you'd take credit for the thought, or for starting the "conversation." How you had wallpapered your office with articles about... you!

But I should apologize. It seems you aren't used to receiving what you dish out.

You see, I'm not in this to build incoming links, or to go to some blog award party. I'm not trying to build the Empire of Rory, or to take credit for things other people have done.

I just want to do a good job.

Because of that, I'm not at all worried about falling out of favor with you. I'm not worried about losing the huge influx of visitors I get from each Scoble link (I sometimes get tens of referrals).

In other words, you're going to have to do better if you want to convince me of anything.

So far, all you've done is show that you seem to think you shouldn't be treated as you treat others.