Fraser Speirs Cocoa and Photos

Apple Blogging

The problem with blogging journalists is that it turns journalists into bloggers. This rather unedifying spectacle of Jack Schofield writing in the Guardian. It goes something like this:

Blogger: Steve Jobs is a liar because he used a 3D pie chart!

Commenter: Not really because X, Y and Z. Anyway, who cares?

Blogger: You’re clearly an Apple fanboy/zealot.

We can generalise this structure into:

[Extremely weak argument against Apple because Apple == pageviews]

[Commenter calls blogger on inanity]

[Blogger uses the 'fanboy' smokescreen as a shield against the rebuttal]

It’s surprising, though, to see a journalist openly insulting his corresponding readers:

JackSchofield: “… I guess stupidity is an essential part of the Mac fanboy approach to reality”

Disappointing and childish to see a mainstream journalist trolling the comments on his own blog. Really, very disappointing indeed.

Schofield is an idiot. Pay him no mind.

Actually, he isn’t an idiot. In this industry, Page Views put food on the table. His posts get the most traffic on the Guardian Tech blog.

He is the UK’s John C Dvorak.

AKA a troll. The real issue is the fact we respond to his childish comments.

Jack who?

Actually, when I used to read the Gruaniad (before I got better) I did read his stuff (mainly because there was nothing else around) - and got annoyed with the Apple bashing. However, that was then…

…and now the universe of options has expanded greatly. Jack Who? vs John Gruber?

In other news, it seems Scotsys have bit the dust, thought to be brought on by the Apple Store.

What I thought was funny is how he was stating that a typo “Appple” wasn’t a spelling error.

Who posts a blog to be read by millions without even using spell check? WTF.

So what Jack meant to say was “I really don’t even know how to use a computer, so you should listen to me about computers, pie charts and the like”

I saw that. I considered reporting it to Guardian’s editors before deciding they probably wouldn’t care. Instead I’ll just stop reading anything from the Guardian.

I’d let this one pass me by, and now I got suckered into clicking the link to see what the fuss was about. Now I feel dirty for giving him another page view…
I hadn’t seen his column before (The Guardian is not the first place I think to go for tech news). Why should we trust the tech opinions of a (let’s be generous here) late middle age guy who poses with a pipe for his header picture..!? Is he trying to be cooly ironic..?
The petty back and forth between Schofield and a couple of the posters reminds me of another blog (was it TUAW or Gizmodo) where a blogger was flame-baited by posted comments and just wouldn’t let it go. Schofield falls into the same trap here by having to have the last word against techboy66. It’s times like this when I can see why Gruber doesn’t have comments on Daring Fireball…

OK, now I’ve been clicking around other Guardian blogs and Schofield even posts his comments in other blogger’s columns. In Charles Arthur’s column saying basically that Apple shouldn’t have introduced new capacities in the iPhone and Touch because some people might have bought one last week, and that the MB Air sucks because Jacqui Cheng says so and Apple won’t give him one to review, Schofield posts that;
“The Air is around 50% heavier than a Windows thin-and-light notebook, but she seems to have found having a “light” machine a novel experience.”
I’m looking at a PC World review of ultraportable Windows laptops from Dec ‘07. The lightest weight in their 10 best is the Fujitsu LifeBook P7230 at 2.6lbs with a 10.6in screen and a 1.2Ghz Core Solo chip. The next is the Sony VGN-TZ150N/B with an 11.1in screen and a 1.06Ghz Core Duo.
The MB Air is not 50% heavier than either of these and is way ahead on screen size and processor power.

What is Schofield’s problem..?

Thanks Fraser, you’ve found me someone else to get mad about..!