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Darrell Norton's Blog [MVP] » Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
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Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
I was just reading Joel's forward to the book Micro-ISV: From Vision to Reality. Is anyone else tired of the fact that his entire writing these days is consumed with his anti-Microsoft-ity? I read Joel because he used to offer thoughtful, well-written articles on writing good software. I still read his blog, but his current pandering to the "Slashdot-bash-Microsoft-crowd" is becoming less fulfilling.
Posted Mon, Mar 6 2006 6:47 AM by Darrell Norton

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Comments

Sahil Malik wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 7:19 AM
I don't like that foreword.

It's a mental ailment I think. Some folks just like to criticize whoever is the best, so they can feel important.
Jeremy D. Miller wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 7:53 AM
That's funny you should say that Darrell. At the dinner after the Austin Code Camp I heard someone use the exact same phrase to describe Joel's writing the last year or so.
Sam Gentile wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 8:13 AM
Very much agreed.
Jake Good wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 8:25 AM
Yeah, I unsubscribed about a year ago.
Scott wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 8:38 AM
I definitely agree. I stopped reading him a few months ago because I didn't get anything out of it except for frustration.
Sam wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 9:29 AM
Maybe I missed something... since when has Joel been anti-Microsoft? And how is dissing Agile and promoting Java a Slashdot pleaser?

I think Joel is just Joel. Everyone can find things to disagree with him on. I agree with about half of what he says. He's still enjoyable though since even when talking out of his ass, he's got that whole writing thing down.
Jay Kimble wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 2:36 PM
FWIW, I stopped reading Joel a long time ago. He seems to be too much of an elitist to me. While I can deal with some people, he came off way too much like "I'm a better developer than you <pffft />"

I got better people to read with my limited time.
JosephCooney wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 3:44 PM
The annoying thing I find with Joel is his "if it worked on Excel back in the early 90's or on FogBugz it is the ONE TRUE WAY TO DEVELOP SOFTWARE" type of attitude.
Steve wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Mon, Mar 6 2006 9:09 PM
It's definitely getting old. I actually had some of the same thoughts as I was reading Micro-ISV. I think he's just pissed that his app is still written in classic ASP :)
andi wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Tue, Mar 7 2006 12:05 AM
Joel's jumping the shark because he's criticising MS? The comments Joel makes in that foreword are legitimate, I think; Microsoft (like most companies and organisations) _does_ manipulate language ("legacy", "ISV") in just the way he describes, and Microsoft _does_ purchase small companies as a way of building overall market dominance.

I'm a .NET developer, but I can tolerate criticism of MS. What makes Joel's criticisms of MS worthwhile (unlike the raw MS-bashing you sometimes see on slashdot) is that there's some actual insight behind them.
Michael wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Tue, Mar 7 2006 10:45 AM
You couldn't be more right. I haven't physically unsubscribed, but I should. If he says anything worthwhile, I'm sure someone else I read will link to it.
Scott wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Tue, Mar 7 2006 11:52 AM
The real question is whether the phrase "jumping the shark" has jumped the shark. I say, "Yes!".
Sam Gentile wrote re: Is Joel Spolsky jumping the shark?
on Tue, Mar 7 2006 10:54 PM
I think he actually still wants it in classic ASP. I had a famous blog argument with him in 2002 that led to my "Its the Runtime Stupid." He didn't believe in .NET then and subsquent posts don't seem to have changed it. He's still hung up on the runtime size although its included in XP SP2 and Win2K3 among other sources.

SOB: Scion Of Backronymics » Joel Spolsky has not jumped the shark. wrote SOB: Scion Of Backronymics &raquo; Joel Spolsky has not jumped the shark.
on Thu, Sep 14 2006 6:55 AM
Devlicio.us