Over the last year or so I've read more than one post about Jakob Nielsen that is not 100% positive and I get the distinct impression that perhaps he's either moved off his original message or takes himself too seriously.  In Jakob Nielsen Misses The Boat on Web 2.0 (Big-time) B.L. Ochman  points out that Jakob Nielsen is now attacking Web 2.0:

 "..But now that he's calling Web 2.0 dangerous to business and that saying that "on the Web, most people are bozos and not worth listening to," I have to agree with my friend Adriana Lukas' eponymous evaluation that Nielsen's turning into "an old fart who’s right about usability but not much else, with the syndrome ‘doesn’t understand the Web’."

After railing about the uselessness of social media,etc, etc. Nielsen concludes that incorporating "a modest 2.0 infusion can be beneficial." And he points out - bingo - that "before throwing spending money at "2.0" features, make sure that you have all the "1.0" requirements working to perfection." That last sentence, you see, is why I still read the guy.

But his post seems like a thinly disguised scheme to get bloggers to link to him."

I just think that if your an authority and you stay within what you know - opinions given that way continue to exclude authority - but when going outside what you really know, and trying still to act like an authority - well that's perilous - and that sounds like what's happening with Jakob Nielsen.

I read the comments going back and forth on Jakob Nielsen Misses The Boat on Web 2.0 (Big-time) got the sense that people who follow Jakob Nielsen are those who want rigid rules of what's right and what's not.  That's fine, but not everyone fuctions like that - and it come off as too authoratian - regardless of weather he's actually right or not.

In fact, to me, it doesn't really matter if Jakob Nielsen is right or wrong on any of this - what I'm finding - is I don't like the doctinare approach - I'm not even sure I care what his message is - if his manor turns me off, I don't know I'd want to listen to his message.