The Tech Block was born of our dissatisfaction with the tech blogosphere, which, frankly, we felt was out of step with the carefully designed products it focuses on. Contrary to, say, Apple, which is obsessive about quality control, from where we stood, most of the tech community’s loudest voices weren’t self-conscious at all, and that translated into ugly imagery, wonky sites, and uninteresting, often-unedited news. We couldn’t take it anymore, nor could we stomach the idea that half-baked content from a few mainstream sources drowned out the hard work and original perspectives of lesser known writers, photographers, videographers, and designers.