Top 200 Tech Blogs: The Datamation 2009 List

ALSO SEE:

• 2008: Top 200 Tech Blogs

• 2007: Top 100 Tech Blogs

Is the list of top tech blogs settling into a sort of established universe?

Odd, but apparently true. I noticed a pronounced maturation as I created Datamation’s third annual list of top tech blogs. The tech blogger is less the buzzy upstart, more the established veteran voice. A slowing torrent of new voices is shouting, Hey, I’ve Got a New Blog! Instead, a cohort of longtime bloggers now command a discriminating audience.

But tech blogging has been a whipping boy of late. “Blogging feels old,” wrote Steve Rubel, an A-list blogger who has shifted to what he calls a “Lifestream” – the holy trinity of Facebook, Twitter and Friendfeed.

And if you believe the media hype, newcomer Twitter drove bloggers from relevance like an aggressive mosquito that chased off a papa elephant. Take that, Techcrunch!

Worse, hopes for easy dollars – blogging poolside, sipping Red Bull – have evaporated. Dan Lyons, the blogger behind the wildly popular (but now defunct) The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, conceded that he earned little more than cat chow. Fantasies of blogging wealth have gone the way of Florida real estate.

Still, tech blogging is very much alive. Better than ever, actually. Now in 2009 blogs have earned an important place in technology coverage. They’re an ever-maturing source of insider voices and uncensored opinion. Compared with the big publications, they’re more direct, less constrained by budget (and journalistic standards), faster and more agile.

Just as the National Enquirer revealed presidential candidate John Edwards’s romantic dalliance while mainstream media ignored it, Gizmodo posted photos of a purported Microsoft tablet, the “Apple killer.” Sure, the report remains unverified. But subsequent news suggests there’s fire behind all that smoke. And don’t we want some conjecture with our coffee talk?

Okay, so tech blogs are essential reading, but which tech blogs?

To find the top options, you might peruse CNET’s list of Tech Blogs. But it’s sorely out of date – Declan McCullagh hasn’t done Politech since 2008 (he’s with CBS now). Or you might persuse Technorati’s Technology Blogs. But it’s auto-generated based on a popularity algorithm. That’s like focusing on Paris Hilton because she got a lot of headlines.

Only the Datamation Top Tech Blog list is carefully created by a human tech editor (that’s me), based on actually visiting each blog. In short, if you’re using any other list you’re accepting a paltry substitute.

So with no further pompous self-congratulatory palaver, here’s the 200 Top Tech Blogs – the 2009 Datamation List. Check out the full list or jump right to the category you like:

Most Popular Tech Blogs // Major Media Tech Blogs // Enterprise Tech Blogs

Consumer Tech-Gadgets Blogs // Developers' Blogs // Tech Insiders' Blogs

Security Blogs // Windows-Mac-Linux Blogs // Wonderfully Geeky Blogs

Highly Recommended Tech Blogs

Most Popular Tech Blogs: Ginormously Popular

Getting spotlighted on one of these popular and well established tech blogs can greatly improve (or ravage) your reputation.

1) TechCrunch
A good place for real time tech news of every flavor, from life on the Web to software biz trends to corporate IT. Helmed by tech glitterati Michael Arrington and Erick Schonfeld, who are serious insider guys. Check out their recent brouhaha about David Pogue: Losing Its Religion: The New York Times and Compromises

2) Gizmodo
Web surfers love tech gadgets and Gizmodo covers the shiny toys as passionately as anyone: shoe spy cameras, iPhones, netbooks, designer mousetraps. Gizmodo reports on geeky gear – incessantly.

3) Engadget
Competes in the tech gadget sector with Gizmodo, though perhaps a tad more sophisticated than Gizmodo. Cameras, netbooks, flat screens, multimedia tablets, and much more.

4) Mashable
Explores the ever expanding world of social media, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, with plenty of hands-on advice and trend analysis. For instance, 5 Rules for Better Web Writing and Flickr Officially Comes to the iPhone.

5) GigaOM
An early heavyweight in tech blogging, GigaOM – overseen by blogging mogul Om Malik – has expanded to cover just about every flavor of tech, with an emphasis on Web news, broadband, cloud computing and VC funding, among other specialties.

6) ReadWriteWeb
Covers Web trends and issues like online video, Facebook security, blogging, and RSS aggregators. Founded and edited by New Zealander Richard MacManus. An interesting twist: the blog now features ReadWriteTalk, which you can listen to with your browser or mobile device. That’s pretty cool.

7) Lifehacker
In theory, technology makes our lives easier and more efficient, and Lifehacker shows how: improved to-do lists, advice on managing your recipes, tips on new software and gadgets. Learn how to keep hanging files from bulging with a safety pin. How knew? Edited by Adam Pash.

8) Seth Godin’s Blog
A veritable idea machine, Godin touches upon tech and Web trends as he journeys widely across media, advertising and marketing, productivity, and life lessons gleaned from his personal experience.

9) Boing Boing
The idiosyncratic compendium that is Boing Boing seems to be less wacky than in years past. Instead of clown cigarette umbrellas we get YouTube videos of Al Franken drawing a map of the US, freehand. Then again, this self-described "Dictionary of Wonderful Things" is so constantly and eclectically refreshed one never knows what might turn up. Starring Cory Doctorowand Xeni Jardin, among others.

10) Silicon Alley Insider
The business of the Internet, media, advertising, the chattering class, the deals, and where the bodies are hidden. Edited by Dan Frommer with assistance from (among others) Nicholas Carlson.

11) Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
Could the iPod Touch upgrade be delayed? How much does the average iPhone user spend on Apps? ($80, but the number is unverified.) TUAW is now part of the AOL Tech Network, which includes Switched (consumer tech), Engadget (wacky tech) and Download Squad. (software news)

12) Valleywag
Call it the tech world’s equivalent of TMZ: gossip, rumor, stray bits of news, occasional bits of pure fantasy. (Published Gawker Media, as are two other entries on this list, Gizmodo and LifeHacker,)

13) Techdirt
Smart, well written coverage, traveling across media, IT, and consumer tech. Does more with legal issues than most tech blogs. Founded and edited by Mike Masnick, Techdirt posts reader submissions.

Most Popular Tech Blogs // Major Media Tech Blogs // Enterprise Tech Blogs

Consumer Tech-Gadgets Blogs // Developers' Blogs // Tech Insiders' Blogs

Security Blogs // Windows-Mac-Linux Blogs // Wonderfully Geeky Blogs

Highly Recommended Tech Blogs