I miss the telegram STOP

Chris O'Brien at the Idea Lab sent me into a paranoid Luddite's nightmare: examining Twitter as the newsroom of the future. His argument is a valid one though. He looks at who Tweeted about the recent California earthquake first, making information available to millions before it was published on mainstream Web sites, and even long after, when those sites were flooded with traffic.

I was mulling all of this over on my commute home this evening, and am going to offer you this doodle:






When I was doodling, I thought it was a ridiculous prospect, but I grew more depressed when I just Googled "live blogging birth" and was met with a slew of relevant results. This tale of the miracle of life via Twitter updates popped up a lot.

The only people who care enough to read minute-by-minute details of a child's birth are probably already there at the hospital. Isn't it enough to recount every boring detail of your life on your blog? Do we really need it in real time? Who do you think is reading?

But in terms of breaking news of national importance, I guess Twitter and sites like it will grow increasingly relevant. What do you think? Anyone want to read my Tweets when I get my wisdom teeth out? Didn't think so.