---
title: 'Being more critical of the Northwest tech scene: All Things Critical takes off the rose colored glasses'
date: '2011-08-04T10:25:51-07:00'
type: post
word_count: 445
char_count: 2776
tokens: 579
categories:
  - Oregon
  - Portland
  - Startups
tags:
  - 'all things critical'
  - Blogs
  - Northwest
  - objective
  - Portland
---

# Being more critical of the Northwest tech scene: All Things Critical takes off the rose colored glasses

For some, the picture being painted of the Rose City startup and tech scene is a just a little too Utopian. They purport that maybe, just maybe, the Northwest startup scene isn’t so much a world of rainbows and unicorns. And they would like to see some more objective assessment and criticism of what’s happening.

Enter [All Things Critical](http://www.allthingscritical.com "All Things Critical"), the latest online effort from [Robert Wagner](http://twitter.com/robwagpdx "Robert Wagner") of [Portland Sucks](http://pdxsucks.com/ "Portland Sucks") and [Cascadia FM](http://cascadia.fm/ "Cascadia FM") fame.

Why Robert? Well, for one, he’s never one to shy away from [expressing his opinion](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2011/07/guest_commentary_software_association_of_oregon_ne.html "Guest commentary on SAO"). But he’s also [got experience and insight to offer](http://www.allthingscritical.com/2011/08/03/hello-world/ "Hello World").

> I’ve been involved in software and technology in some capacity since I was a teenager and I’ve consistently worked in the industry either full time or part time since. Originally from Seattle, I watched the dot com implosion (and gross mismanagement and investing) claim thousands of jobs and millions of dollars. I moved to Portland several years ago not because this city had a lot to offer me, but because it seemed to have a lot to offer everyone else – it was everything Seattle wasn’t. I wanted to be where big things were happening because I enjoy watching good people succeed. I believe that the Internet continues to provide us all a level playing field where everyone has an equal opportunity to get noticed and do amazing things – and I’m as cynical of businessmen as I am enamored with developers.

All Things Critical joins [Silicon Lumberjack](http://siliconlumberjack.tumblr.com/ "Silicon Lumberjack") and [Portland Tech Insider](http://insidepdxtech.com/ "Portland Tech Insider"), two other new blogs designed to provide more objective viewpoints on what’s happening in the Portland tech scene. And of course, they all join the grandaddy of all objective reporting on the Northwest tech scene, [Silicon Forest](http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/ "Silicon Forest") by [Mike Rogoway](http://twitter.com/rogoway "Mike Rogoway").

I’m really looking forward to watching all of these blog report on what’s happening around here. The more people writing, questioning, and commenting on the current scene, the better. And the better we’ll all be for it.

For more, visit [All Things Critical](http://www.allthingscritical.com "All Things Critical") or follow @allthingscritic on Twitter.