icon mag list blogging in top 21 most influential

while reading icon mag's 21 most influential, i found it interesting that blogging came in at number 9. it is interesting how design culture is shifting from the elite to the diy's - and even how one has more access to software, information and reaching the masses than ever before. it's such a cool time to be alive! here is a quote from their feature on blogs:

"computers and the internet are changing the way designers work in myriad ways, but we’ve settled on blogs as the phenomenon that is having the greatest impact right now.

blogs are a genuinely new method of spreading news, opinion and discussion. formatted like diaries, they can be written by anyone with access to a computer and an internet connection, allowing them to publish their thoughts on a global scale as soon as they can type it.

they’re already making a big difference: sites such as dezain.net and
reluct.com are posting reviews of new products and trade shows as they happen, giving global exposure to ideas that might never otherwise get seen, and at a speed with which traditional media cannot compete.

bloggers are also challenging traditional sources of authoritative opinion, such as print journalists and tv pundits. whereas, in the past, matters of taste were decided by an elite coterie of critics, blogging gives anyone with something to say access to a potentially huge audience.

this democratisation of the taste-making process marks a significant shift in the balance of design commentary." by the way, ikea was the number one most influential thing in design. Gotta love those swedes!