Agreed that it is disappointing and frustrating. No question. Part of me wonders, however, whether it's possible to be a mainstream tech blog and a non-gossipy

Agreed that it is disappointing and frustrating. No question. Part of me wonders, however, whether it's possible to be a mainstream tech blog and a non-gossipy tech blog at the same time. Mainstream, mass-audience blogs always seem to take the LCD route at some point in their life cycles. I don't know whether they feel forced into it by advertisers, or whether they consciously do it in an attempt to optimize pageviews. Either way, the outcome is usually good for short term business, but bad for long-term readership.