Is it just me, or is TechCrunch just not as much fun to read now as it used to be?

Between site redesign arguments, obviously shilled posts and a “I’m too famous and important for my own britches” attitude the site is getting boring. Personally, I don’t care what it looks like since I read it in Netvibes or FeedDemon most of the time.

I used to enjoy TechCrunch for a peek into what was on the horizon for the new web. Now I read an entry and often ask myself, “How much did they (or their competitors) pay him to say that?” I’m sure Riya and Omni Drive are great, but it bothers me that his gushing entries about the two aren’t updated with disclaimers now that the developers fund his site to the tune of $7,500 per month. It bothers me that he doesn’t have a policy where he draws the line. Quite simply, I no longer find the site as credible and that’s a shame. I don’t want to only read about those web apps that managed to buy/schmooze their way in.

I guess the final straw is this entry in the author’s personal weblog. If you don’t like what your designer did on your site, change it. It’s your site, and if you don’t like it you are the one who made it public the way it was so do something about it or suck it up. If he wasn’t happy with his redesign, he should have waited to go public until he was. To post another designer’s sketch of what they would have done with your site as example of something you like as a snub to the designer you did hire is crass and unprofessional. I don’t blame Rachel Cunliffe one bit for telling the almighty Arrington to take a hike. She’ll probably get 10x as much work out of it in the long run.

My advice to Mr. Arrington: take a long vacation. Take a month or two (or three) off and walk away from all the “crunches” for a while. Remember what made doing this fun, not just what made it profitable.