As an only very casual reader of blogs, I don't think I can really comment on what is going on in the blogosphere. However, as an internet user in general, I do think that the medium has changed the way we read. We like RSS and mini-feeds, headlines and summaries. We like multi-tabbed browsers so we can click back and fourth. In general, I think the interactiveness, which is such a great think about the web, is also its biggest problem. With so much information out there to consume, it encourages people to seek for breadth, not depth. And as we spend more of our time on the net, listening to our ipods, and gabbing on our cellphones, we give ourselves less time for reflection. So, to me, it is unsurprising that longer and more reflective and well-thought out pieces are beginning to wane. Who has time to read that stuff, let alone write it?
That said, I'll read your longer stuff Ian.....just no one elses.....
Why does length necessarily mean profundity and complexity? I would say that part of why blogs tend towards short, capsule analyses is because they're BLOGS; they're not articles, scholarly papers, or anything you're getting graded on, and therefore, there's less guarantee that after you print up the long piece, it's actually readable.
Also, I think you've made a bunch of really solid, complicated points about music in your shorter posts. Why not just strive to find creative, non-laundry-list ways to comment on music? I mean, I think that's a lot of your point generally, but I think it's a good goal. Also, just because what you write might not be a heavy tome, it doesn't mean you shouldn't have put some heavy thought into it. If there's a deficit in meaning/layers in music criticism, maybe it shouldn't just be attributed to the final length of commentary, but the lightweight critical thought the writer put into the piece.
Not that you ever think lightly 
Commenting by HaloScan
