The Virtues of Live Blogging

One of the cooler things in Internet journalism these days is the "live blog" — where a blogger is writing out his/her blog while an event actually unfolds in front of them.

Why is it cool? You are essentially getting a stream of informed commentary: Immediacy and insight all at once. Sure, a TV camera and a commentator might accomplish a similar thing ... but you sometimes get a lot of down time between actual nuggets of news. And a live blog, unlike a video stream, is a little easier to unobtrusively monitor at work. Sort of like passing notes in class.

Live blogging isn't easy. The blogger has to be on their toes and the technology has to be clicking. Luckily we've got some talented reporters who can handle the challenge.

One of our best is Jim Goldman, CNBC's Silicon Valley bureau chief and our technology blogger. He's done a few live blogs in the past (here's one from MacWorld) and he's going to be doing one today during Apple's unveiling of the latest iPod line up. Check it out later today.

Slideshow: The Evolution of the iPod