Blackberry, Skype and Skype Journal Lose a True Friend
Russell Shaw, journalist, Blackberry and VoIP blogger passed away a short time ago in his eComm 2008 hotel room. Andy has more details here.
Russell was a probing, knowledgeable blogger who always sought to bring out the reality behind a story. But he was also fair; he praised achievement when it was earned; he never hesitated, through his wit, to raise a problematic issue when it was required.
When I first saw he was referencing some of my Skype Journal posts, it was the first confirmation I had that somebody out there actually read our posts and took them seriously. I finally met Russell quite by chance when he was sitting at a table next to me in the press room at Fall VON in Boston last October. He had his Blackberry and was trying out IM+ for Skype as he was sitting next to Shape Services' Vice-President of Marketing when this picture was taken. At Andy's dinner later that evening I had more opportunity to talk with him; then he put me on the spot in a broader discussion for my comments on the eBay-Skype relationship and where it was heading. We communicated occasionally by email after that meeting but really we communicated much more frequently through our mutual posts about Skype and Blackberry. The communications world has lost a true fan and supporter of innovation.
Ironically his last IP Telephony post (for mature eyes only) was a commentary on Phil's recent post on SPIM.
Thank you, Russell, for what you have brought to this world and your contribution to its conversations.
Update: Other tributes: Dan Farber, Om Malik, Larry Dignan, Ken Camp, Villu Arak on the Skype Blog.
Update: Monday's SquawkBox call will be a memorial to Russell's life and impact on today's communications. Mar. 17: The SquawkBox tribute call.
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Comments
I liked him a lot. He was one of the most prolific writers I know, contributing to many online and print publications. He was thoughtful, opinionated and unabashed. And he made me laugh and I loved his chuckle; you could hear it in his writing too.
My condolences to his love and his family.
Posted by: Phil Wolff | March 16, 2008 01:06 AM
Russ was a good pal. We are a small community here in Portland. We met four years ago. We quickly became blogger pas. He had such a great wit. As Marshall Kirkpatrick said to me, Russell was the world's hardest working blogger. He sure was. And he was onen of the nicest folks you will ever meet.
Posted by: Alex Williams | March 16, 2008 08:33 AM