Thoughts Unlimited

Michael Arrington, founder of the popular technology blog TechCrunch, will be taking leave of absence for an unplanned period.  The reason he cites, varies from physical and verbal abuse, including a threat to his life. 

As per his blog post, Arrington is tired on being targeted by startups who aren’t noticed by TechCrunch or fellow professional bloggers envy of his work. 

…But I can’t say my job is much fun any more. Startups that don’t get the coverage they want and competing journalists and bloggers tend to accuse us of the most ridiculous things. It hasn’t been worth our time to respond to these accusations; I always assumed that our work and integrity would speak for itself…

He also reveals a serious death threat to himself, his immediate family and co-workers, last summer.  TechCrunch went for police security during this period and was spending around $2000 every day on it. 

…The threats were, in the opinion of security experts we consulted, serious. The individual has a felony record and owns a gun. Police in three states became involved and we hired a personal security team to protect me, my family and TechCrunch employees.

At over $2,000 a day we couldn’t keep paying for security indefinitely….

As a result of all these, Arrington will be taking some time out from TechCrunch this February, seriously thinking on his future plans. 

I’ve decided the right thing to do is take some time off and get a better perspective on what I’m spending my life doing. I’ll be taking most of February off from writing, and decide what the best future for me is while sitting on a beach somewhere far away from my iPhone and laptop.,,,

…We write about technology and entrepreneurship. These things are important, but not so important that we should fear for our safety or the safety of our families…

What is to be seen, is the effect of his absence on TechCrunch.  Though TechCrunch doesn’t lack professionals like Erick Schonfeld and Mark Hendrickson, Arrington has been the mainstay.  Arrington was known for breaking interesting and controversial technology news, before most of TechCrunch’s rival sites.  We will have to wait and see if TechCrunch can continue this legacy and vigor, in his absence.