Is it possible, in just a minuscule way that all of this Le Web controversy and the events that took place afterwords and even the recent events that have unfolded have been concocted as a way to drive PR?

I wonder…

I have read TechCrunch off and on since its inception. I liked the articles, but once Michael Arrington started sharing his opinions in the comments section it quickly became apparent that his opinions were way off-base.

I assume he was arrogant before his success, and that success only made it worse. Not only is he arrogant, but he’s unpleasant and antagonistic.

I had heard about some friction with Loic from Mike’s tweets on Twitter, but until this post I did not realize the full nature of the dispute.

I was very surprised to learn of his fairly obnoxious personality, but I am not surprised that it has come to this.

I suspect that his ‘vacation’ is just to recharge and reevaluate, but I do not expect any significant change of heart. The zebra can’t change its stripes.

Despite all this, I attribute the increase in animosity to Loic. It says a lot about Loic as well. The best course would have been to just chalk it up to a ‘crazy American’ and let it drop.

Even so, he does have a lot of sway within the tech sector. Perhaps a more revealing stat here is the number of tech insiders read TC.

Millions of TechCrunch readers adopt his opinions regarding tech startups.

He doesn’t have anywhere near a million readers.

TechCrunch, which began reviewing start-ups and tech-centric news in 2005, had 650,000 unique U.S. visitors in December — and 2.17 million visitors worldwide — according to comScore, a market research firm.

NYT Bits report on Arrington.

@Z-lot thats a great point you make about asking yourself what you truly love doing. I think it ties in perfectly with @Gary Patton’s brilliant idea of “work-life harmonization”. You’re right Gary, a better goal is not to achieve a perfect balance, which @Z-lot notes is practically impossible, but to find the type of work that fits into our life in a way that complements us as individuals. Harmony is a much better way to think of it – thanks for that Gary.

@elorant great point – there are definitely those who disagree with Arrington’s opinions. As for his passion, it’s hard to judge, but I hope he finds the fresh perspective he needs to figure out what he really wants to be doing with his time. As @garyvee says, you only get one shot at this game – you can’t afford to be doing something you don’t love.

No they don’t. At least half of the comments in his blog are negative. Which means that too many people disagree with his opinions.

Arrington can not have any fun out of this job cause he doesn’t understand technology. For him it’s just another job. There is no passion involved here. And certainly not the passion that thrives in the start-ups he’s covering.

Wish him well and good riddance

Your observations and comments are right on. Dis-stress is a major dis-ease in North America and Europe …and not just among highly successful people likes those you mention in your post.

In my opinion, “work-life balance” is a media-created myth. It’s an impossible to attain life state on which writers pontificate without understanding dis-stress …either it’s common causes or it’s reasonable antidotes.

I teach that the only attainable reality in our supercharged, private and public lives in the West is work-life harmonization, not work-life balance. (And I’m not just splitting semantical hairs. The difference between these concepts is life-enhancing rather than life-frustrating. )

I also teach that a key to harmonization is “satisficing” .

Both work for me!

Blessings!
@GaryFPatton

It’s a lot easier to make yourself be a machine if you love what you’re doing – it’s called devotion. In this respect, I think the right question to ask here is ‘what does M. Arrington _really_ like to do’ – is it reviewing web startups, partying at TC parties, winning at the Game or spending time at the beach? I don’t think we got an honest answer from him yet.