Category: Tech

Apple by Joe WilcoxOct 22, 20145:22 pm

Journalist sets Standard for Follow-up Gadget Reviews

Whenever I receive loaner devices, I ask to keep them for months because long-term use reveals much. Initial reviews often miss important usability benefits or problems only prolonged usage reveals. No one can get to every feature or receive all the benefits in one day or week.

Something else: As I often say, in news reporting, or reviews, bias is inevitable. Time helps extinguish the new thing glow that can bias reviews and make them more favorable than the products deserve. As the glow darkens, sounder perspective brightens.

Culture by Joe WilcoxOct 20, 20146:26 pm

Viral Before There was Viral: 'The Blair Witch Project'

As Halloween approaches, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences takes a long look down memory lane—eh, scary forest paths—with a short documentary about “The Blair Witch Project“. Before there was Facebook and Flickr […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxOct 3, 20144:11 pm

iPhone 6 Review

Two weeks ago—and it sure seems longer—I switched to iPhone 6. With my 92 year-old father-in-law three days in the hospital, and ready to be discharged, I thanked my lucky stars for the preorder; standing in line outside Apple Store or the local Verizon shop wasn’t an option on September 19. Luckier still, I spotted and stopped the FedEx truck in the neighborhood on my way to the hospital.

But being at Apple Store, rather than preordering, would have made a difference. After handling iPhone 6 Plus, the larger device appeals to me more. For most people upgrading from older models, the Plus will be too big. I thought the same applied to me, until handling one last week. My first impression was fabulous, starting with the screen and how the device felt in the hand—not too large at all.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 27, 201412:05 pm

Bias is Unavoidable

Overnight, AppleInsider posted Daniel Eran Dilger editorial “After Apple Inc. dodged the iPhone 6 Plus BendGate bullet, detractors wounded by ricochet“. As is typical of his stories, the tone is conspiratorial and heavily biased in Apple’s favor. That’s okay. He practices what I explained in February is “advocacy journalism“.

In my book, Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers, I identify five types of journalism relevant today, and each gets a whole section: advocacy, conversational, contextual, mob, and process. Two other journalisms—data and immersive—receive cursory treatment but will be expanded whenever I next update the book. Where I deviate from traditional views about news reporting—what’s taught in J schools—is my glowing endorsement for these different reporting practices, with advocacy journalism being perhaps most controversial.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 25, 20146:58 pm

The Real Reason I Stopped Boycotting Apple

In a dramatic July 4th post, I declared independence from Apple in 2012. This followed up and emphasized a formal boycott announced two months earlier. The whole thing started from my anger at Apple’s patent bullying and intimidation tactics. But in January 2013, I abruptly ended the whole thing.

My explanation then: “I just don’t feel right kicking fruit as it falls down, so as a gesture of goodwill my boycott ends today”. Apple Maps problems, falling stock price, and other negative brand perceptions dogged the company. There also were signs that the bullying would end. “I’m off the boycott bandwagon, as you should be”.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 25, 20145:50 pm

What Apple BendGate reveals About News Reporting

There are days I want to walk away and never write another news story. Apple’s newest product design scandal—”BendGate” or “BentGate”—is here, and how funny there is no consensus which of two names to call it. The so-called scandal is not a big a deal; the majority of reports mislead. Brace for it: Another of my diatribes about the evils of the Google free economy, where the quest for ad revenues drives pageviews and stories meant to generate them. The metric is terribly outdated. As I explain in my book Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers, audience matters more and should be the only measure for advertising.

I’m guilty of posting: “If iPhone 6 or 6 Plus bends, it’s YOUR fault“, which is a prearranged rebuttal to colleague Mihaita Bamburic’s analysis “If your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus bends, it’s Apple’s fault“; and “8 reasons why Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus ‘bendgate’ is a good thing“, simply because I felt like writing something fun. The first story purposely stands against the rash of posts claiming design flaw, while the second shows just how ludicrous this all is.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 24, 201412:50 pm

Who’s the Troll Here — This Dude or Me?

Honestly, I sometimes try too hard to engage commenters, when I really should know better. So I adopt a new rule today: Respond to those people who are identified — meaning I know or can know who they are. That’s one reason most of my comment engagement takes place at Google+. But recently, after abandoning BetaNews story comments for years, I changed tacts. Problem: Trolls, or people who sure seem like them to me.

The critics largely write alike, for example accusing of linkbaiting or demeaning me while rarely responding to the story’s substance. Those people defending Apple are the most alike and their tone is similar to that I wrote about earlier this month: “Apple Apologists are Dinosaurs” and “Apple Apologists Sometimes Mean Well, But…”

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 22, 201411:49 am

Apple’s Magic Formula is Secrecy and Rumors

Apple’s longstanding perchant for secrecy is legendary. It’s also a myth. Granted, the company has a strict no-comment policy about future products, which isn’t so much about keeping information from seeping out but controlling who disseminates it. Something else: Secrets are impossible to keep when a company produces physical products overseas and depends on so many third-party suppliers. Controlled leaks, or strictly managing those that aren’t, lets Apple maximize marketing advantage.

The value cannot be understated, because Apple’s business model in 2014 isn’t much different from 2001 or 1995: Reselling to the same core group of loyal customers. The Mac faithful mattered when the company struggled to survive against the Intel-Microsoft duopoly and made the majority of profits from selling computers. Cofounder Steve Jobs wisely chose to expand into new product categories—iPod (2001), iTunes Music Store (2004), iPhone (2007), iPad (2010)—that freed Apple from monopoly bondage. But the core philosophy of selling to loyal customers, even while trying to grow their numbers, remains the same.

Gear by Joe WilcoxSep 18, 201411:05 am

Moto X deserves More Respect

Moto X should be one of the most hotly-demanded smartphones on the planet. But Motorola lacks Apple’s skill cultivating core groups of bloggers and journalists who swoon ecstatically and influence others to do the same. For example, I thought Stephen Fry’s outrageously over-the-top adjective-rich iPhone 6 review was hilarious until reading The Register’s parody, which is almost believably genuine.

Motorola bets on voice interaction over touch, making Moto X more like a device from Star Trek than the early 21st Century. Touch is oh-so 1980s—what Apple pitched with the Macintosh 30 years ago—whereas touchless is the next big thing. For people queuing up for iPhone 6 on September 19, welcome to the past. You should consider second version Moto X, which is available for preorder, if reaching to the future.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 17, 201411:02 am

In Good Design, Balance of Benefits is Everything

Well, the first iPhone 6 reviews are in, and they are unsurprisingly glowing. Apple’s handpicked group of preferred, early reviewers don’t disappoint in their enthusiasm. Not that anyone should be surprised by that. But reading them all—and I did just that last night while waiting at the hospital with my 92 year-old father-in-law—common observations tell a story about Apple’s newest handset. This is one Once Upon a Time that anyone buying gadgets or manufacturing them should listen to. It’s a morality tale about putting benefits before features and the fine art of achieving balance.

Among the many missives from Apple’s love children: “iPhone 6 Review: It’s a Winner” by Walt Mossberg; “Reviewed: iPhone 6 Is a Thin, Sexy Phone with a Killer Camera” by David Pogue; and “iPhone 6 Review: Apple’s Cure for Android Envy” by Geoffrey Fowler, among many others. These reviewers really like the device, which by most definitions is exceptional—and that will surprise fanboys waving around spec sheets and yelling “copycat!”.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 14, 20145:06 pm

Apple Watch isn’t the Future

I am reluctant to criticize unreleased Apple Watch because my analysis about original iPad—given before seeing it—was wrong. That said, Android Wear, while seemingly sensible comparison that analysts, bloggers, and journalists make, isn’t right. When put in perspective of next-generation wearables, I think Apple Watch should be compared to Google Glass.

Be honest. Which looks more innovative to you? The utility of something you see at eye level that provides real-time, location-based information is much greater than something that demands more responsive—”Hey, Siri”—interaction and turns the glance and fingers downward. Granted, Apple Watch delivers alerts, and you feel them, but your attention is always to look away.

Apple by Joe WilcoxSep 11, 20142:55 pm

iPhone 6 Plus follows the Leader

I am a Mac user again. After two years of using Chromebook as my primary PC and going “Microsoft All-In” for the summer with Nokia Lumia Icon and Surface Pro 3, at the end of August I returned to my first love—despite my reputation for hating it. I’m not anti-Apple. Fanatics who try to silence me, and other journalists not glowing about the fruit-logo company, just want you to believe that I am, by insisting bias where none exists.

Before Tuesday’s splashy media event, I anticipated buying a new iPhone—to fit into my renewed Mac lifestyle. But the size really bugs me. Last weekend, I asserted that September 9 would start the Tim Cook era—that it would define where the CEO will take Apple. I used iPod nano as example of a product that defined Steve Jobs’ leadership style. But Cook soiled my anticipation that he could be so bold. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are too much me-too devices, and they’re not what I expected from the great innovator.