[ music | Digable Planets – Cool Like That ]

Ok, I’m sure everyone has seen this interview with Asa on ZDNet. It’s actually an interesting interview too, not just another fluff piece. Well, on page three of the interview, I read the classiest thing I’ve seen in a long time. ZDNet asked Asa the following:

Opera recently said it is unfair that it is criticised for putting ads in its browser, as they “don’t have a rich sugar daddy like the Mozilla Foundation.” What is your response to this comment?

Now, that’s quite a baiting question, it’s a question about a crackpot comment from a competitor. It’s a softball intended to get a really biting quote. Asa didn’t take the bait, but he did hit a smash homerun. Before he talks about putting the user first, he makes a quick but direct reply about Opera in an extremely classy way:

When you don’t have to worry about monetising the browser, you can think about user. As we’re a non-profit, our goal is merely to sustain ourselves. I agree that Opera need to be profitable, but to do that they have had to make their user experience a little bit worse. Luckily, we can just focus on being sustainable.

I’m not given to being gushy, but well done, Asa. Well done.

[ music | Nine Inch Nails – A Warm Place ]

Well, I’ll let everyone else determine it’s art value, but I will say I love exactly how it turned out. This is actually a rewrite, something I so rarely do that it’s truly an occasion. But this is what I needed it to say, as opposed to what it said before. I haven’t been this exhausted after writing in years. I feel wrung out, drained, but good; like I’ve just sobbed out a heartache all night and woken up the next morning. I’ve missed this, too. Believe it or not, I’ve actually been at this for hours. It doesn’t feel like it, but it’s been hours. I’m going to go sleep now, or try to at least.