News Media by Joe WilcoxMay 3, 20156:29 am

Responsible Reporting Section 1 ‘News in Context’: Chapters I and II

My ebook Responsible Reporting: Field Guide for Bloggers, Journalists, and Other Online News Gatherers is divided into three sections. The first, “News in Context”, is a state of the online news industry. The second, “The Five Journalisms”, examines five categories of news gathering most relevant to the age of context. The last, “What You Must Do”, applies concepts from the other two to present guidelines for responsible reporting.

In this second installment, I present two chapters from the first section. Opener “In Just Eight Years” is in part adapted from my June 2009 analysis “Iran and the Internet Democracy“, which is a provocative lens for looking back to look forward at the state of the news industry.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 2, 20156:53 am

Flickr a Day 122: Baby is Born

Once again, our attention turns to Nepal and the relief effort following the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated parts of the country on April 25, 2015. Here, a baby is born at the Israel Defense Services […]

Gear by Joe WilcoxMay 1, 201511:21 am

LG Watch Urbane Goes Onto My Wrist

Late yesterday morning, LG Watch Urbane arrived from Verizon. Turnaround is quick for anyone who wants one right way, rather than waiting for Google to ship (now 1-2 days rather than by May 8). I am rushing a first-impressions review for BetaNews, and some comparison to the Moto 360 is mandatory. If round is your taste, consider one of these two smartwatches.

Meantime, to collect my thoughts for the review and for anyone considering the Urbane, I share something sooner. Overall, I am satisfied with the initial out-of-the-box experience. Urbane is gorgeous and looks like a traditional watch. The always-on, dimmed face contributes to the effect—without bleeding dry the charge. The watch is also more functional as a timepiece, as such. I mean, shouldn’t it be?

Photo by Joe WilcoxMay 1, 20157:06 am

Flickr a Day 121: Teen Rescue

We commemorate rather than celebrate May Day with the first of three photos documenting the aftermath of the devastating magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25, 2015. Yesterday, rescuers pulled 15 year-old Pemba […]

Blogging by Joe WilcoxApr 30, 201510:30 am

Brief Moment of Reflection

Six years ago today, Ziff Davis Enterprise and I parted ways. My earning power has never been the same, in part because of the circumstances affecting my profession, undesirable San Diego, Calif. location, and age (mid-50s, gulp). At the time, I wrote two blogs: Microsoft Watch, which I inherited from the esteemed Mary Jo Foley, and Apple Watch, which I created. Got to wonder: What kind of legal issues would there be if the second blog continued today in context of the Apple smartwatch and the company’s well-publicized tactics for extinguishing anything brand offending.

ZDE laid me off with offer to stay on, in different capacity and 36-percent pay cut. I declined and only occasionally regretted the decision. Groveling commands no respect and is no position from which to advance. My role would be nothing more than a journalist past his prime meeting a 5-story a day quota that would require the kind of news writing that pollutes the web today. The Google free economy is not a sustainable source of revenue for most news sites—more so for those with niche audiences.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 30, 20156:39 am

Flickr a Day 120: ‘Peace’

Our series’ fourth month ends with, like Day 87, the Leica Camera AG M Monochrom. Ross Pollack captured the photo in Hong Kong, when he lived there. He is now stateside after residing a decade […]

Mobility by Joe WilcoxApr 29, 201510:30 pm

Microsoft ‘Continuum’: Lucky Timing, Right Context

They say in business that timing is everything. Before Microsoft shown a spotlight on new Windows technology “Continuum”, earlier today, Gartner released a disturbing forecast strangely validating the concept.

The analyst firm predicts that currency devaluation will compel major computer manufacturers to raise prices as much as 10 percent—particularly across Europe and in Japan. Higher prices mean more consumers will do with leaner configurations, and many businesses will push back upgrades. All the while, PC makers will give customers less for more money by cutting back features to preserve margins and shifting sales priorities to markets where currencies are more buoyant.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 29, 20156:42 am

Flickr a Day 119: ‘Staring Out Into The World’

The Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens is fabulous for portraits, too, as today’s selection shows. Daniel Lee shot self-titled “Staring Out Into The World” on Jan. 18, 2014, using the Canon EOS 6D. Vitals: […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 28, 20156:38 am

Flickr a Day 118: ‘Partly Cloudy’

The Skagit Tulip Festival ends in two days. If you live in Washington State, there is still time—and perhaps today’s selection will move you along. Howard Ignatius shot self-titled “Partly Cloudy” on April 4, 2015, using Nikon D800 […]

Apple by Joe WilcoxApr 27, 20158:10 pm

Apple Fiscal Q2 2015 Snapshot

If there be ghosts, Tim Cook should expect sleepless nights ahead. Surely Steve Jobs can’t stand to be so overshadowed by his successor, who takes Apple where the cofounder couldn’t: Massive earnings and margins. Today, after the closing bell, the company reported yet another ridiculously blow-out quarter, largely lifted by iPhone. If the smartphone market ever collapses, Apple Armageddon will follow. In the present, momentum is unstoppable.

Some perspective: Apple’s net income was more than two-and-half times Microsoft’s during the same time period (calendar Q1 2015)—and 3.8 times that of Google. To reiterate, those comparisons are put-in-the-bank profits, not revenues. By the numbers: $58 billion in sales, $13.6 net income, and $2.33 earnings per share. Wall Street consensus was $56 billion revenue and $2.16 EPS. Year over year, revenue rose 26.6 percent and net sales by 33 percent.

Apple by Joe WilcoxApr 27, 20157:10 pm

Shattered Dreams: When Apple Watch Falls From the Wrist

Saturday afternoon, new Apple Watch owner Ken Lecomte posted a frightening photo to Google+: His device with shattered screen. The spider-spray pattern is eerily familiar—one seen so many times—like an iPhone clumsily dropped to floor or pavement. The fruit-logo company boasts about the gadget being a wrist computer, but should it be as easily breakable as the other that customers carry?

I contacted him yesterday, and he shared his story, providing photos that also authenticate him as the watch’s owner. The problem with Ken’s story isn’t truthfulness but lies spun around it. Fanboyism is a cancer that spreads across any tale like his. Already, accusers flame his original post and others resharing it. Apple defenders are venomous. “I’ve been amazed with the amount of negativity”, he says. “It seems a lot of people just can’t believe that Apple could make a product that could break or have a design problem”.

Meanwhile, Apple critics call for label strapgate; there have been too many “gates” already. We don’t need another caustic moniker. In this toxic climate, legitimately aggrieved customers cannot easily step forward. The focus should be the device and whether there is a design flaw or owner error.

Photo by Joe WilcoxApr 27, 20156:43 am

Flickr a Day 117: ‘Run Duckling, Run!’

For the second day we have a photographer with similar name—beginning with K and now C. I mean no teasing or offense calling out the interesting: Cat Burton shooting self-titled “Run Duckling, Run!” She captured […]