Why so many Tech Blogs ? Has the niche become redundant ?

I do agree that one should write what they are passionate about. But there has to be something unique about your blog. In a crowded niche it becomes very difficult to mantain the uniqueness of your blog. Why would someone like to read something on your blog when they can read the same thing on thousands of other blogs? 

When you're guided by your burning passion, not just market strategy, the inferno is sure to touch your readers' heart. If you do the research properly there won't be copy-pasting, i.e. there'll be uniqueness, so, it's obvious that readers would find the uniqueness they're looking for. Here 'quality' has to be prioritized... as I see fellow bloggers posting multiple contents daily which are not worth reading.  Cheers.

You're right on both aspects.

The cop-paste artistes are plenty in the tech-blogging arena... and even they are not copying paragraphs, they're just transferring specs to their page that they call a 'blog post'.

The premise that 'tech blogging' is niche is totally wrong... so yes, there are people in niches like the ones mentioned by you.

Well yoy're saying tech niche is dead. But if you look at the success stories, most of the seuccessful blogs (especially in the Indian blogosphere) are actuallty Tech blogs. Why is it so then ?

How many of those success stories are recent? like 1-2 years recent. Content recyclers should leave tech blogging so that genuine tech bloggers, site owners and reviewers won't get involved in that garbage heap. Just because it worked for 2-4 folks between 2005- 2010, doesn't mean its going to work for most people. They should pick up something else, like food blogging or book reviewing.

Rajat I have seen many blogger come and go like flies. Only the persistent ones remain relevant as of today.  All else is rehashed material. Sorc has given a good example 

Why do people forget that blogging is generally a personal online diary of sorts ( as it was meant to be originally )...i think its rude to tell others to leave and do something else...if they are doing it as per hobby....except the main company website's tech info/specifications and press releases...even the top ones are rehashed of sorts ( taken from news already released )..unless one is inventing their own codes.

in anycase people can filter out the good ones from bad, i think

ND you like khichdi blog 

Can you tell us what you want without the use of metaphors, hyperbole or any other histrionics? Just plain English.

" I want _________ so that _________. The Conditions of Satisfaction are ________"

That won't be interesting then [Wide smile]

@Anunoy

Photo blogging, no doubt is one of the most creative niche, but photo-bloggers face two major problems- 1.) Less trafic from Search Engines and 2.) They are difficult to monetize. Obviously, if your photos are exceptionally good, you can certainly find a way out and succeed; but your photos must be exceptionally good!

Rajat, yes I agree... but photo blogger won't depend much on ad-clicks... other offers like freelancing, direct sell etc will ring his/her bell depending on the uniqueness of those photos and devotion on photo-blogging.

The only new move that is now discernible is that I find a few fashion and lifestyle bloggers and even beauty bloggers being sent 'devices' for 'review'... 

dont they use such gadgets too??  only tech people uses gadgets kya? in a recent car review in goa organized by another blogging forum.,.there was huge hue n cry that food bloggers were taken for test drive.....food bloggers dont drive cars kya? cant they have opinion on gadgets/cars ...cos they use them too. would only travel bloggers know about travels...as if rest of world dont travel..i think such assumptions are funny/weird/whatever

Creative interpretation is not something that tech bloggers are supposed to do. Their area of expertise is writing tech articles, solutions to tech problems etc...

@Nandini 

Of course, every blogger has the right to get into every other blogging sphere. Did I say there was anything wrong in that?

All I said was mention that this was a new trend that I have noticed... and that this is a good trend. After years of slumber, companies (especially tech companies) are waking up and are wanting to pull in bloggers from other blogging spheres to talk about their perception of gadgets and devices. I added that this is what has the potential to make tech bloggers get out of their signature lethargy and start expressing in ways to make their posts more interesting to readers (and this is what I mean by a creative interpretatio). :)

@Ranjith

What makes you think that tech bloggers can get away with a dull and insipid expression... or makes readers flock to their site if they don't have anything new to say? Blogging (and this includes tech blogging) has everything to do with creative expression... insights... and interpretations. As a corollary I'd like to add that a majority of tech blogging taking place in our country is a dull and uninspiring rehash of specifications. All I am saying is that even our tech bloggers need to recognize this sickness and take remedial steps before it is too late.

okie dokie...when you wrote 'this can make anyone smile, '   i thought maybe u meant beauty/lifestyle bloggers would be too dumb to know abt gadgets....so i rose to defend them  ( cos i think they would be using gadgets most to click their best outfit/beauty pics )..cos earlier i seen food bloggers being mocked for reviewing that car thingy........and yea..i forgot to read the last sentence

in anycase..i like people writing cross niches...it makes them versatile

What would you prefer? A creative how to do article with errors or an article which is error free and talks to the point and gets the work done? In tech blogging, there are different things that one can write about - how to do articles, commentary about ltest trends. While i expect the latter to do research and be creative, i dont expect the same from the former group of people. If people preferred creativity over correctness and clarity while writing php / wordpress development guides, then your site wouldnt have existed today and all your articles would have been lying around in your home with no one o appreciate the work. Everyone is different and having a negatve perception to those who are not into creative writing is a bad thing. It is similar making fun of and calling those peope incompetent who proudly call them tech illierates.

@Nandini

Writting cross niche may be good for a personal blog (which doesn't have a niche and you write whatever comes to your mind). But as far as professional blogging is concerned, most bloggers prefer to choose a niche (unless you're one of the biggies like the Huff post) as they wanna build a loyal audience. A loyal audience probably won't subscribe to a blog that talks about randm topics. If you're a tech geek will you subscribe to a tech blog that also posts about Food recipes and beauty products ? Just imagine TechCrunch talking about food and travel.

@Rajat.....i wrote --- i like people writing cross niches.

I agree with Arvind Passeyji. Tech blogs are too much to the point or a rehash of the specifications. I think most of them are writing for the search engine. On the long run, it's important to write for people, and that's where creativity steps in. IMO. 

Just like how we have good and bad journos, we have good and bad bloggers. Naming them isn't going to solve the problem. Either good bloggers should be mentoring the newer guys to a point where they can understand or evaluate if they should blog- or else the community should keep on promoting good bloggers so that bad bloggers dissapear into oblivion. The problem with the latter is that people who follow this eventually gets into a habit where they dislike 'the new kid on the block', even if he's good. 

There are so many writers who give us articles on complex aspects of science in ways that everyone understands // When complex things are presented in a simple way, errors are bound to creep in. Complex things are meant to be complex. If those complex things could have been presented in a simple way, why those who proposed those theories had wasted a lot f effort in making them appear complicated? Articles presenting complex aspects f science in a simple way fall into the same category as those countless youtube videos explaining scientific concepts in a simple way using animations, drawings etc and humour. They are interesting. They help you pass time. But they give you a false sense of achievement of having understood something complicated while in reality half of the things presented are wrong and you get half of the remaining part wrong.

You're also right in what you believe, @Ranjith.

if everyone starts doing their creative thingy in serious posts too...then again monotony may set in and we may begin to think...why the hell no one writes to the point and on tech specifics rather than beating around the bush 

It's why I prefer Thomas Hardy to Ernest Hemingway..... Hardy's descriptive language paints a picture that is at once powerful and truthful. You can feel the emotions, the wind blowing, you can feel the pain Tess of the D'ubervilles must be going through. All this through the power of language. Read PG Wodehouse, a master of the language, if ever there was one, to see how the English language can be used to paint a picture.

In contrast Hemingway tells us "The room smelt bad".

Take your pick. I know what I like.

Arvind has it right. You can't always focus on the bush alone.

The room smelt bad 

The road did not

They went out but were mad

That the road was hot

The well was cool

So in they did leap

And then they were mad 

That the well was too deep

Sorry, could not resist mimicking Hemingway, please forgive the detour 

Love it! I love detours in my writing.

One reader commented on the number of segues I leave untouched in my pieces. And I say "Segways are wonderful things, they can take you so many places".

Sometimes, I go back and connect them in subsequent pieces.

Any one who can use the word “inimical” in a sentence deserves to be followed…. :) So am following you now TechChumz, though am not sure why Love vs Arranged Marriage is on a Tech blog....

Thanks for reading. 

hmmm...thats not my interpretation...rather thats how those people ( who do not have an iota of creativity in them or don't understand )  would regards such blogs ...they just want to-the-point information...

in anycase..i agree with ranjith..imagine writing a poem in between a tech article it sure would look odd...esp if its in a no nonsense tech blog

now dont say...i'm interpreting creativity as 'nonsense'