Cringely, the pseudonomous penname, not the registered trademark, pens a Christmas column, “You Can’t Get There From Here: Why No Single Networking Technology Is Adequate” with a mention of good techniques for journalistic research: ask a lot of people.
The content is worthwhile, too, of course, with the thesis that there are a lot of up-and-coming networking technologies, and one-size-fits-all is pretty unlikely.