Early Tech Adopters (especially journalists) Outsmart Themselves
Jason D. O'Grady's latest blog post, part of his "iPhone Diary", is an example of minor journalistic excess. While tech support problems must never be ignored or glossed over in favor of a corporation which can clearly afford to fix whatever product and service problems arise, what on earth does O'Grady think is going to happen when several million iPhone buyers activate, transfer numbers, etc,, etc., all within a 48 hour period in the U.S.? There are going to be a few screwups.
O'Grady complains about his particular aggravation as though it was unique to the iPhone. The problem is, O'Grady is not that naive. As a matter of fact he's an experienced and respected tech journalist. His complaint is real enough too, but is it worthy of a blog entry? Journalists want to be involved in the same sort of excitement that NASCAR fans enjoy, I suppose. But perceptibly excited complaining doesn't seem to be an impressive vehicle for such excitement. O'Grady is not alone. Dozens of tech journalists are bandwagon-ing over the iPhone (among other examples, witness CNET/Buzz Out Loud Veronica Belmont's daily iPhone chatter). It's not news. It doesn't serve consumers. It only serves Apple Corp.
How about if all the journalists out there who are in such a tizzy, desperate to write anything using the word "iPhone", simply back off for a couple of weeks and let the citizen consumers take over for a while? Revisit the iPhone buzz (if there is any left) in two weeks with a aggregated opinion gleaned from unexpurgated consumer and peer experience.
Journalists are driven by a never-ending onslaught of press releases, product releases, biased reviews, urgent editorial needs, and the competitive need to stay abreast of new information and products. That some of us make the mistake of complaining in public about boringly predictable technical and human problems is less a personal criticism of the writer than it is an indictment of a media information system which doesn't serve consumers very well.
O'Grady complains about his particular aggravation as though it was unique to the iPhone. The problem is, O'Grady is not that naive. As a matter of fact he's an experienced and respected tech journalist. His complaint is real enough too, but is it worthy of a blog entry? Journalists want to be involved in the same sort of excitement that NASCAR fans enjoy, I suppose. But perceptibly excited complaining doesn't seem to be an impressive vehicle for such excitement. O'Grady is not alone. Dozens of tech journalists are bandwagon-ing over the iPhone (among other examples, witness CNET/Buzz Out Loud Veronica Belmont's daily iPhone chatter). It's not news. It doesn't serve consumers. It only serves Apple Corp.
How about if all the journalists out there who are in such a tizzy, desperate to write anything using the word "iPhone", simply back off for a couple of weeks and let the citizen consumers take over for a while? Revisit the iPhone buzz (if there is any left) in two weeks with a aggregated opinion gleaned from unexpurgated consumer and peer experience.
Journalists are driven by a never-ending onslaught of press releases, product releases, biased reviews, urgent editorial needs, and the competitive need to stay abreast of new information and products. That some of us make the mistake of complaining in public about boringly predictable technical and human problems is less a personal criticism of the writer than it is an indictment of a media information system which doesn't serve consumers very well.
posted by Howard Carson, Managing Editor @ 10:42 AM
<< Home