Do we really hate Apple and the iPhone?
Two A Day says ZDNet just hates Apple and the iPhone--before it's even out. And in a nice display of doing homework the author cites more than 50 negative articles about iPhone in a week.
What Two A Day calls negative, I'd call perspective. The iPhone is getting attention because it's merely the biggest product launch of the year. And it's a helluva lot more interesting to us than Paris Hilton. Another thing to note: The bloggers cited in Two A Day's argument are independent--it's organic and what happens happens.
We offer a platform for opinion and the more the merrier. We also don't edit or monitor the opinions that are displayed to make sure they align with any particular constituency--advertisers, Apple fanboys etc etc. As for the vast ZDNet page view conspiracy, we're following the iPhone story--like everyone else in the media. We'll follow it as it develops--that's why there was so many iPhone posts last week there was a little thing called WWDC going on. We also do other things--SOA, SaaS, Open Source; 802.11n in the enterprise, storage etc.
Two A Day assumes we're a bunch of depressed people "who see the glass as not just half full but the water is full of chemicals and the glass must be dirty."
Again, I'd call that perspective. Should we really be a bunch of fanboys? Is it any fun to have any person with a speck of realism about Apple shouted down? More importantly are the posts cited by Two A Day really all that negative?
Here's the Two A Day list with our alleged negativity (my comments in italics--I apologize in advance for any snarkiness).
Two A Day's 11 blogs cribbed from the post.
“Apple beefs up iPhone battery specs” (amazing - a whole ZDNET blog news post without a snarky comments)
“10 things wrong with touchscreens” My take: So we highlight Nigel Powell's post on problems with touchscreens and we're negative. Umm ok.
“6 reasons not to switch to Safari on a PC” My take: You caught us we were the only ones to notice Safari's security problems. Apple noticed them too--with a patch hours after release.
“Only AT&T corporate stores to carry iPhone” My take: Negative or just a fact?
“Apple canceling Personal Shopping appointments for 29 June”My take: Jason made an appointment to get dibs on two iPhones. Way negative there.
““Sleep Camp” nixed, you still have to reboot” My take: Again, negative or fact. It's a valid question to ask why Sleep Camp was nixed. Sorry for asking.
“Apple lulls developers to sleep at hardware-less WWDC” Developers like hardware. My take: Jason likes hardware. Forgive us for asking: "Hey where's the hardware?"
“Beta Nazi: No Leopard for you” My take: For those of us that have followed the Microsoft beta process Apple's process is downright strange. This isn't just our beef. “iPhone acquisition strategies (Update 2)” My take: Jason plots on how to get an iPhone. Pure evil there.
“iTunes Plus tracks contain user info” My take: That's a fact.
“Fortune: Apple TV a “dud” My take: Forgive us for noting that someone else questioned Apple TV.
“iPod that you can drive over” (drives over his Shuffle - still works - positive) This post could become an iPod commercial.
HARDWARE 2.0 “Apple’s reality distortion field in action - iPhone feature comparison” My take: You missed how Adrian noted that Apple marketing is so good it wins over critics like him: "I love Apple’s reality distortion field. I love it because despite being jaded and wary of marketing hyperbole, Apple’s marketing is so good that I almost fall for it. In fact, resisting their products is becoming harder (getting an iPod for Christmas was a slippery slope)."
“iPhone’s improved battery life” (must resist snarky comment, nope can’t do it - QUOTE - is the battery user-replaceable? Oh, and how usable is the virtual keyboard?) We apologize about the snarkiness--we thought that was allowed on blogs. Also you forgot this Adrian comment: The improvements are pretty impressive. Talk time is up from 5 hours to 8 hours, Internet usage up from 5 hours to 6 hours, video playback up from 5 hours to 7 hours and audio playback up from an estimated 16 hours to 24 hours. Bear in mind that this data will vary considerably depending on real-world usage, but it’s still impressive. That was the biggest paragraph of the four.
“Firefox is on Steve Jobs’ hit list!” My take: I'm sure Mr. Jobs didn't intend for that market share graphic.
“Safari for Windows - Do we really need another browser?” My take: A valid question, given I was ga-ga for Safari just a few posts before.
“10 million iPhones = An ideal platform for malware” My take: A point of view--and not a happy one. But with Safari on the iPhone don't be surprised if this issue comes up again. I apologize in advance.
“Users won’t care about iPhone keyboard usability” My take: The point here is that even if the keyboard isn't perfect Apple's customers will buy. Is that so bad?
“Malware could turn innocent iTunes Plus users into file-sharers” My take: Based on Freedom to Tinker. We won't read them again. Total buzzkills.
“Each AppleTV costs $237 to make” My take: We'll tune out iSuppli too.
“iTunes Plus - Getting more than you bargained for!” My take: Others cited this issue too. Damn negative bloggers worried about privacy.
“iPhone - Out June 29th” QUOTE - ” …still find it hard to see how Apple is going to shift 10 million iPhones in 2008" My take: I'll dock Adrian for being skeptical.
“Scoble: AppleTV “left the door open to its competitors”” Phew, this commenting on comments gets tiring.
IP Telephony, VOIP (real imaginative blog title there you forgot the Broadband;))/BLACKBERRY BEAT (same guy write both blogs) “Eight hours of iPhone battery life? Ain’t gonna happen too often” (aka: trust me, I know it all and I’m never wrong because in my dreams where I’m holding an iphone, it goes dead after 7 hours!) My take: LOL
“Safari for Windows main problem? Mac cultists” My take: Actually, here Russell notes how the Windows crowd had glee over Safari's issues. That's because they are sick of hearing how the Mac is superior forever. Interesting point from Russell:
I suspect the real reason for this derision about Safari for Windows is the pathological hatred of Microsoft among the Mac cultists. Anything Apple does that is seen as some sort of accomodation to Windows users earns stated hostility from some Mac cultists, and unstated hostility from many more.
“Report: iPhone cool stuff access will require two-year data plan” My take: Is this all that surprising?
“Plan to buy an iPhone June 29? “Undoubtedly there will be shortages” My take: Is this shocking? Try getting an iPhone June 30.
“Poll: do you care that iPhone is missing a physical keyboard?” My take: How dare us ask this question.
“This AT&T store is taking an iPhone waiting list: “If you’re here you’ll get it” “Windows Users: drop everything and install Safari for Windows now” (sarcasm) “iPhone ad secret Apple probably doesn’t want you to know” “Apple TV chips cost breakdown here” Damn iSuppli. “As iPhone is released, AT&T BlackBerry support’s probably gonna suck” My take: BlackBerry folks may want to be on alert.
“BlackBerry vs. iPhone: Google iPhone search brings up BB Curve Sponsored Link” “What would it take for you to switch from BlackBerry to iPhone?” My take: Another valid question. JOHN CARROLL - DEVELOPER (A MS employee) “Thoughts on HTC’s iPhone competitor” (somewhat positive) QUOTE - “Clearly, I favor Microsoft products, which shouldn’t surprise anyone. I was a fan of the company’s technology long before I was employed by them in May of 2005.” “Thoughts on Apple TV” (surprise, doesn’t like it - imagine that from a MS employee). My take: He owns a Zune too (probably). It's not like we're hiding John is a Microsoftie.
“Countering Apple’s ad campaign” (his ad suggestion for MS - I think there’s a reason this guy works for MS and not Apple or Nike). My take: LOL.
MOBILE GADGETEER “GotVoice brings some iPhone functionality to your current mobile phone” My take: Pretty neutral to me. Voice voicemail is nice.
“The iPhone will cost me at least US$2245, how about you?” My take: Pretty positive. See:
So now that the very slick Apple iPhone TV ads are available for viewing, I am sure many of us have our gadget lust peaked and are thinking about what our iPhone acquisition strategy may be on 29 June. As compelling as the iPhone looks, there are also many of us who are not AT&T customers and are locked into other carriers for a period of up to 2 years. My personal situation results in a couple of alternatives for me to get an iPhone, with a total price difference for 2 years of service totaling at least US$2,245 or US$2,383 and after putting it down on paper I may actually go for it so check out the details below if you are with another carrier and thinking about the switch or addition.
“HTC beats Apple to the touch” My take: Well isn't that a fact?
“Is the Apple iPhone really that fast?” My take: We'll find out.
“Steve Ballmer:Windows Mobile 60%+ vs Apple iPhone at 3%” (actual comments neutral)
WEB 2.0 EXPLORER “No iPhone for me, thanks to AT&T!” My take: Spying worries. Silly Alan.
“Finally! An Apple web strategy” My take: He's a disgruntled .Mac customer.
“Safari on Windows? The real reason behind the new release” He's not the first one to wonder about this one. “Dear Steve Jobs (I want subscription music)” My take: I'd like subscription music too.
“Dot Mac Dead?” My take: Explained above.
BERLIND’S TESTBED (Under the Hood of Technology)
“Author of Gas.App mines his Web logs for iPhone specs (and finds them)” “Will Apple’s boost to iPhone’s battery life be enough?” “With respect to iPhone, Microsoft rolls over and plays dead” QUOTE - “But the many discouraging aspects of the iPhone is not really what this blog post is about, or is it?” My take: Given that David's posts run long that's the best quote you could come up with for those headlines?
ALL ABOUT MICROSOFT (Unblinking Eye on MS - um, unblinking eye, is that the LOTR’s thing?) “And in case you haven’t seen it, there’s the Fake Steve Ballmer blog.” Fake Steves abound. “Leopard looks like … Vista” Yea, hard to top this one, she tries a few days later to claim that yes, she wrote ‘Leopard Looks Like Vista,’ but we misquoted her … after all, you could interpret those 4 words many different ways … maybe if you read it Yoda-style, it might sound different? My take: LOL. That'll teach a Windows girl to navigate Apple waters. Vista and Leopard do kinda look alike though...
ZERO DAY (Virus/Trojan) Okay, this guy is definitely a black cloud guy since he writes about exploits, viruses and spyware - hard to find any positive articles on his blog to begin with on any topic. My take: True. He's a pleasant guy otherwise.
BETWEEN THE LINES (General Tech Blog?) We do a bit of everything. “Apple, Jobs and the UPOD iPhone strategy” Most of article about battery life and new screen but what’s a ZDNET without a negative presumption? QUOTE - “At least until you drop it and have to buy a new one.” Hey I wrote that: Give me a shout when you drop that iPhone ok? Get those padded carrying cases ready.
“Poll: Fake Steve Jobs matters more than the real thing” My take: Silly Business 2.0 poll. Interesting question though. “Blurry, but fast: Safari’s fonts” “Safari for Windows: Embracing and extending” (actual neutral in tone) “Update: ZFS will be in Leopard–sort of” (does anyone really, really care?) “Safari development for the iPhone” (almost positive) “Smart move: iPhone opens up to Web developers” (positive)
ED BOTT'S MICROSOFT REPORT “Is Jobs planning a hostile takeover of the Windows desktop?” QUOTE - “So, my prediction: Come October, when Leopard ships, Apple will announce that anyone buying a new Mac can order an Apple-customized version of Windows Vista pre-installed on the same system.” My take: Will this prediction really shock anyone?
Cheers.