Blogg = VHS

At times, the weblog feels like a very transitory format. It is the\nVHS cassette of media delivery. There came a point where everyone had\nvideos: they were the future, and huge sums were being invested in\nensuring the technology was as efficient\nas possible. The fall-off from ubiquity to obsolescence was precipitous\n- and video was unceremoniously ejected. And the weblog? What use a\nsteady stream of pointers to new corners of the digital realm when we\nare slowly but inexorably heading towards an ultimate goal: the\ndigitisation of absolutely everything.

Last week, both The Guardian and its sister paper the Observer announced their digital archives, pay to view sites that 'will eventually contain reproductions of every page, article and advertisement published in The Observer since its birth in 1791 and in our sister paper The Guardian\nsince it started in 1821.' It's not cheap; a monthly pass costs £49.95\n(and one wonders how long this data will stay secure in this leaky\nworld of 1s and 0s). But it is a start. Weblogs will lose their status\nas custodians of the leaky, poorly-catalogued and dusty library that is\nthe internet. Instead, they will be the modern equivalent of Gilbert Bland, map thiefs and bookbreakers for a new era.