Photos by Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Robert Scoble (right) films Cameron Nouri as Scoble is introduced to the audience Friday at Awful Arthur's restaurant in Blacksburg.

Robert Scoble says many small busineses are leaving money on the table by not tapping into all the Web has to offer

BLACKSBURG -- Huey Ly, a software developer in Blacksburg, was asked how he would sum up the visit to the town Friday by Robert Scoble, the California blogging pioneer and technology evangelist.

"Blacksburg gets star geek," he said.

That's no exaggeration.

Rackspace Hosting Inc., an Internet services company based near San Antonio with major operations in Blacksburg (where Ly works), recently hired Scoble.

Friday, he showed up to take a look around at the division offices and share his latest musings on the evolution of the World Wide Web.

Scoble, 44, travels extensively in pursuit of what he calls stories of innovation on the Web, producing blog entries, videotaped interviews and myriad Web reports seen by a huge audience of tech fans who like his insights and outspokenness. His claims to fame include blogging critically about Microsoft while employed there.

"What's good about him, he speaks his mind. It's not all marketing," Ly said as Rackspace employees and guests took turns chatting with Scoble at a downtown restaurant.

Scoble said 90,000 people follow his Twitter Tweets, 40,000 follow his life on FriendFeed and he has 15,000 Facebook friends.

There is a Wikipedia page devoted to him.

"Rob's Wikipedia profile is maintained and updated by the public, showing he's gained a certain level of notoriety for his work," said Cory Donovan, who directs the NewVa Corridor Technology Council.

Scoble said the Wikipedia page on him is accurate. He didn't contribute a word of it, he added.

"The audience is now the creator of the content," Scoble said.

He spelled out the other defining traits of what he calls "the modern Web": Users can intermingle with the Web site and one another, Web pages are designed to be readable on mobile devices and, where possible, things happen in real time. That means that when a user types the words or posts a photo, viewers see it immediately.

Asked about the future of newspapers, Scoble said: "That's a tough one."

He said a few things seem clear. "Paper's done," he said. "The question is, how do we pay for journalism?"

Asked what technology star he has yet to interview but has been unable to reach, Scoble identified Steve Jobs, co-founder and CEO of Apple Inc.

"How are you going to change the Web, again?" he said he would ask. Also, he would also inquire about Jobs' health and capacity to stay in leadership.

As an employee of Rackspace, Scoble will not be an office-bound geek, said Pat Matthews, who heads the Rackspace Blacksburg division, which until a recent re-branding was known as Mailtrust.

A resident of Half Moon Bay, Calif., Scoble will not be based in Blacksburg, with its 110 employees, or anywhere.

"His job is to just continue doing what he does," Matthews said.

If he has something to say about Rackspace or the online hosting and storage business, positive or negative, he is free to speak it, Matthews said. Company officials say the best word for the employment arrangement is a sponsorship.

Matthews called the hiring a gutsy act of transparency.

"Nobody else can stomach it," Matthews said of having the uninhibited Scoble as an employee. "We want to show the world we're different."

That said, Scoble's message -- that there are a host of business opportunities on the modern Web -- supports Rackspace because it offers services that support many advanced Web functions.

Scoble said many small businesses are leaving money on the table by not tapping into all the Web offers.

He said Awful Arthur's Seafood Co., where the meeting took place, could enlist its chef to speak to an online audience about the menu and other happenings in the kitchen.

In this case, Scoble was not entirely on the cutting edge. Restaurant manager Kim Spencer said Awful Arthur's menu and entertainment lineup are on the Web and have been for some time.