Blogging in a box

Is the blog in its current form coming up against a wall that will keep it from growing and becoming more widely accepted? Frank Catalano eloquently "voices" some thoughts on the matter:

At its core, blogging is a Web publishing mechanism. And it's a confining one, if you don't want to live inside the standard box of dated posts, monthly archives and comments ....

It is the content of blogs that matters, not the tool. The tool is indeed a wonderful thing -- I appreciate being able to post new entries no matter where I am, as long as I'm at a Web browser. The tool has opened up the ability for a broad, non-technical audience to publish news, information and opinions widely ....

But a blog is a Web site. Blogging is a publishing mechanism. One doesn't savor the can. One savors the soup.

The best blogging tool yet-to-be-invented will allow someone to organize the site any way they want (with or without dates, in any order) without directly editing HTML code, and publish from anywhere. You won't notice that it's a "blog." You'll notice is a darned good and interesting site. The publishing mechanism needs to become invisible to the visitor.

Frank also notes that the term "blogger" is itself limiting because it has "become so tied in the mass consciousness to harsh commentary and criticism of politics, the news media and current events." He suggests an alternative that's likely to tweak a few noses.