2006 is going to see the unveiling of Six Apart's version of structured blogging (DLA), Project Comet. That's exciting, for sure. Meanwhile TypePad bloggers have been experiencing various shortfalls in service — the consequence of scaling:
I'm sure SixApart will get the problems sorted out, but no one should underestimate how hard it is to keep a service like TypePad running as it's growing. … Scaling is a science, an art, voodoo, and more than a little luck, as Ben's story reveals. Dave Winer
The TypePad outage and 6A problems shows us many things. Blogging does scale - it just takes time to manage it. Customer service and communicating with your customers is key. The 6A people are really nice people. Marc Canter
When I was talking with Marc back in the summer, we discussed scaling — and I've every sympathy with TypePad: this is untried territory and there's a lot than can go wrong. Once again, though, I'm made to reflect that the leading edge of early adopters will take a forbearing view on this that the main users might not. Getting it functioning, stably and reliably, is essential in order to bring everyone in to the party — and encourage them to stay.
