Another Year, Another Village Idiot As Journalist.

What is it with mainstream media writers these days? If they need more hits to their dinosaur newspaper or magazine, all they have to do is bash Apple, bash iPod users, bash the Mac.

It was his idea to get stabbed by a fork. Here’s why he deserves the first 2006 Journalism Village Idiot Award from Mac360.

Brad King, writing (he uses English, though his ‘writing’ is hardly worth reading—grab your forks) for TechnologyReview says, “...if you like Apple, you are likely going to want to stab me with a fork…”.

Sigh. Here we go again. A technology writer who shows how little he knows technology. A Microsoft apologists who bashes iTunes and iPod yet claims never to have used either.

This is shameful journalism, from a so-called writer who could do with a few classes in logic. Assuming he took writing classes in college, his professors are rolling over in their graves. If they’re not dead yet, they’re just rolling over and wishing they were dead and that no one remembers Brad King was in their class.

Why? Apple bashing is a good way to get more hits to your web site? Why? Because Mac users generally know when something stinks and we’re apt to tell the stinker when they’re so obviously wrong.

Here’s a case in point. Brad titles his so-called article (perhaps representative of Technology Review journalism?) “Apple—A Tragic Love Story.”

Tragic for whom? Mac users? iPod users? Mac faithful? So it would seem. The tragedy, of course, is Brad’s lack of coherent writing, logic, thinking, and clear expression. All Brad has going for him is a venue to express. Nothing more.

Welcome to 2006, Brad. You’re no longer the only soapbox in town. Let’s see what you have to say and see how it stacks up to a simple examination of coherent writing, logic, thinking and clear expression.

First, Brad says Mac addicts around the world are giddy over Macworld and many of them can’t sleep. Get real. The only Mac folks who can’t sleep are working for Steve Jobs getting ready for Macworld.

Brad wants his report to sound respectful, but admits “I am going to fail miserably because it’s difficult to have a rational discussion with people who are so into anything.”

Oh, Tera Patricks is not rational? And this is a discussion? Brad’s venom is a diatribe, not a discussion. He’s also demonstrating an inability to be rational when discussing Apple. There’s more…

Brad says blind faith in all things Steve (Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple) is a bad idea. That’s a premise. He just leaves it there and goes on to something else, acting as if Mac users respond to such idiocy…

“The immediate response I get when I bring this up is always the same: Microsoft is soooo much worse. But I disagree. There is an army of programmers around the world who are developing applications, work-arounds, and other goodies that allow me to circumvent most of the aspects about Microsoft products I don’t like.”

Let’s do a Rationality Check. If Microsoft is not soooo much worse than Apple, why does Brad depend on an army of programmers around the world who make fixes for Microsoft products?

What does this technologist do? “The coolest thing that I do is record television with my PC, hack the DRM, burn it to a DVD, and take that program with me anywhere.”

That is soooo 2001. And illegal, what with the hacking the DRM thing. Those few steps alone tell us something about Brad. He’s an elitist. A Microsoft apologist. And silly.

Why? I can record TV shows with my Mac using Elgato’s EyeTV, burn them direct to DVD or CD, and never have to hack anything. So there.

What about his take on iTunes and the iPod (both at around 70-percent or 80-percent market share)?

“I reserve that (possibly irrational) anger for the iPod and iTunes, two music products that are so restrictive in their licensing and user set-ups that I have never been able to bring myself to download the software to purchase music through iTunes or pony up the cash to by an iPod.”

He’s never even tried iTunes or an iPod, so how restrictive is the DRM (not that he cares about DRM)?

Avoiding the illogic of his stance on the iPod, Brad points out “that if you have music on your hard drive, music you’ve purchased a license to use through iTunes, and your computer crashes—you lose all of that music.”

Just think about it for a moment before you run for the forks. Brad’s a technology writer but has never heard of backups. We push backups big time on Mac360 because digital data is important to even average folk like you and me.

But not to Brad or his fellow editors. Sorry, Brad, there are countless reports of Apple customers whose hard drives bit the big one and were allowed to download their music again. Apple keeps a nice record.

To bury you in cloves of idiocy, Brad then drops a few facts mixed with opinion. The iPod wasn’t the first digital music player, or, even the best player. See the difference.

To the former, so what? To the latter, it’s an opinion without basis because there’s no definition of ‘best.’ Shoddy journalism again.

First, Brad says Apple’s DRM makes him angry, so angry he won’t buy an iPod or try iTunes? That’s rational thinking. Uh uh.

Then, Brad says, “That said, even that restrictive licensing doesn’t ultimately get to me.” What does? Well, it must be Apple has “...been so compliant with the entertainment industry—foisting ridiculous digital rights management on consumers…”

Steve Jobs compliant with the entertainment industry? All I’ve read about his relationship with the industry is that they hate him.

What else? “Jobs has, by and large, become a proxy for the music and movie industries in the continual eroding of consumer rights in a digital age.”

Of course, there’s no mention of what those consumer rights are. I’ve been using iTunes from day one, iTunes Music Store from day two, and haven’t felt a single twinge of consumer rights regret. Have you?

Brad sums up the article his editor said he’d have to write or else, with yet another direction (see? lack of coherency). “No, what really gets to me is that I think all of the Apple users around the planet know this already, but simply have stopped caring—and I can’t figure out why.”

Excuse me? Stopped caring? How? When? Why? One of the reasons Mac users stick with Mac is because the experience, day-to-day, is usually better than the alternatives. That’s called ‘caring.’

Fear not. Brad finally figures out why we love things from Apple so much.

“I think I may have figured it out, thanks to one unnamed person who said to me: “Yes, but the iPod is so cute.”“

Brad, it’s early in the year. You could end up being a two or three time winner of The Journalism Village Idiot Award from Mac360 before the year ends. But don’t insult my intelligence. I’m one of about 35-million iPod users. We’re not stupid. We’re not blind. We care about decisions we make.

What we don’t understand is why your editor hired you.

Click Here for Brad’s diatribe, then get your fork while it’s loading up in your browser.

Bambi Hambi
These people never fail to amaze me. No logic, no coherency, no support for a series of wild premises. It’s a great example of why people don’t trust mainstream media as they used to.

Jack D. Miller
Calling Steve Jobs a proxy for the music and movie industries is funny. If it were not so stupid.

Alexis Kayhill
What’s wrong with saying the iPod is so cute? It is.

Tera Patricks
Brad is feelling the ‘love’ from Mac users and iPod users. He updated his article Here and he still doesn’t say why Apple’s DRM is so hideous.