Randy's Journal: Archives
25 January 2006
Annus Mirabilis
Indeed it has been a “year of wonders,” not the least of which because of the ability of this blog to reach people around the world.
When I think about what an amazing year we just witnessed in the field of commercial aviation, it seems appropriate that we started 2005 by launching a blog. It was something brand new for Boeing, and a medium that still remains relatively new and rare in the corporate arena.
What would Bill Boeing think of blogging, I wonder?
In the past 12 months we’ve had about 200,000 individual visits from people around the world. And while that may not seem like a lot of visits compared to some of the mega Websites and blogs out there, it’s a lot to us.
I never would have predicted the universal appeal of a blog that is basically about commercial airplanes, market strategy, and global competition. In the past year we’ve had visitors and comments from across the U.S., certainly, but also from all around the globe, including:
Australia, France, Japan, Germany, the UK, Belgium, China, Singapore, Argentina, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Austria, South Africa, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Lithuania, the Philippines, Dubai, Brazil, Malta, Canada, Kenya, Sweden, the Bahamas.
Folks in other parts of the world have stopped by, too, through numerous links from sites such as Google, Airliners.net, and MSN.
We’re even at the point where other bloggers are blogging about our blog.
But what I find most interesting are the informed, intelligent comments we get, such as this from a gentleman from Amsterdam recently:
” .. commercially, could this huge chunk of money spent on launching the A380 be better spent elsewhere? Getting the A380 to dominate the very large jet market is one thing, getting a reasonable return out of one’s investment is another .. ”
Speaking of the A380, did you happen to see the intriguing story out of Las Vegas the other day? Seems the odds are stacked against that airplane ever landing there. And another piece earlier this week on an ABC News broadcast raises questions about the huge airplane. You can watch the story here.
Anyway, back to blogging, not everyone, of course, is a huge fan of this Journal. We continue to hear from people who doubt our veracity - such as this guy from Munich who wrote:
“I understand your position as a Boeing man, but you should remain honest .. ”
And this comment, from a man in Toulouse, who seemed to be concerned about my health, but was he really?
“Randy you sound very stressed out.”
To which I can only reply: Stressed out? Moi?