Remembering Om Malik

I’m stunned and sad to read that Om Malik died. He was a Renaissance Man of tech, his blog posts always informative and insightful. I enjoyed seeing his photography and reading of his deep love of fountain pens.

In his last post, dated June 8, Om wrote he was taking a few days off:

I am taking a few days off. No posts here, no newsletter, no notes from the road. Things will be quiet on om.co until I am back.

The last few months have been heavy on output. Essays, the newsletter with Fred, the long pieces on OpenAI and AI infrastructure, the photo work, the pen notes. It adds up. My brain needs a break. I need some exercise as well.

I will not be checking email. I will not be reading Feedbin. I will not be drafting in my head. Time to read some fiction. Mysteries, to be precise.

If you have written to me recently and I have not replied, I will get to it when I am back.

I will see you in a few days.

Sadly not.

What’s the Point of Blogging?

One of my goals hopes this year is to rejuvenate my personal blog.

That raises the question why? What is my motivation, what am I seeking? Immortality via the web? Readers? The internal satisfaction of crafting a thought, an idea, and expressing it well?

Probably all three, although I tell myself the point is to write for myself, as a way to formulate my ideas and then revisit and test them in the future.

Om Malik, a well-known tech blogger who founded GigaOM and now writes for himself at Om, recently wrote about an exchange with writer Craig Mod. Malik writes:

I shared my own resistance to writing in a world that is drowning in words. It can feel like pouring water into the dead sea. Mod’s take surprised me. He said to basically forget about what is in the world, and to focus inward and look at what’s important to one’s self. Let the writing be about your inner thoughts and your interests. Let it be about what drives your soul and your thinking. After all, that is the only value I can bring to the internet, crowded as it is with opinions.

Thanks for the clarity and encouragement.