Fri 29 Oct 2010
Apple Peels Take 3
Posted by anaglyph under In The News, Skeptical Thinking, SmashItWithAHammer
[7] Comments
OK, so I was prepared to get off the soapbox with this, but the Fairfax newspapers’ seriously relentless stance on this is just too galling. The above image ran in the Sydney Morning Herald today as the masthead for this article.
The front page used another more evocative phrase:
You read the story and judge whether it’s about Apple, or about something else entirely. In my opinion, it fairly reeks of ulterior motive. Stilgherrian, Currawong, call me overly sensitive if you will, but tell me this is all about sales-worthy copy! There is serious malice here. You don’t keep on running these kinds of stories unless you have an agenda. Apple is a cult because they make something that people like? How is that? A statement like ‘Apple is not my friend: Why you shouldn’t trust a ‘cult” is so coloured with judgemental negative pronouncement that it is barely two quotation marks away from slander. It is plainly nothing more than mud-slinging.
I apologize for running another of these posts dear Acowlytes, but I’m filing evidence here. I will state it in no uncertain terms – the Fairfax media is willfully laying the boot into Apple.
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Thanks to Universal Head for the heads up.
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Well, the guy they’re quoting, John Casimir, is certainly anti-brand. Or anti- “the brand is your friend”. But Apple is the only brand cited. Curious, eh?
Perhaps Fairfax has a “stir/attack against Apple” strategy. But if they do, is their motivation “We hate Apple”? Or simply “If we attack Apple it’ll generate hits”?
I dunno… I shall ponder. Nicely spotted tho.
I’m not particularly a ‘brand is your friend’ proponent either and I’ve railed against Google for that exact stance in the past here on the Cow. And while I’m very happy with my Apple products, I am no Apple apologist – they have their faults just like any other big business that negotiates the economic jungle that is the modern world.
I don’t understand this extraordinary vehemence being levelled at Apple though. They make stuff that users like. Why does that get people so fired up? Is it so inconceivable that their product might just be OK? I’m currently working over in the States in possibly the most exalted post-production sound facility on the planet and there are Macintoshes everywhere. They seem to be performing a useful function to me. This place is not constrained by strictures of money or niceties, but the people who work here all choose Macs for this high-end work. Are we all brainwashed by the ‘cult’? I’ve used a dozen different phones in the last fifteen years and I would NEVER part with my iPhone – is that cultish? It works. It does what I want. Its software is elegant and sensible.
I can’t say for certain that Fairfax has an ‘official’ policy of Apple bashing, but I’m not confident that it’s all about getting some eyes. Here’s why: if you really thought this was hit worthy, wouldn’t you open up the comments on these articles? Generate some feeding frenzy? Get some traffic going – surely the advertisers would be frothing for that? A good ol’ Apple vs Windows flame war would put your traffic into the stratosphere.
But not one of the three articles I’ve mentioned in recent days is open for user comments. These are pronouncements, not speculations. My opinion? They don’t want anyone pointing out what they’re up to.
And anyway, in case anyone missed it in all the hullabaloo, Microsoft’s strategy de rigeur back in the late 90s early 00s was the ‘we are your friends’ ploy. How come no-one’s putting the boot into them, eh? Gee, Bill was the kind of guy you’d even put up in your spare bedroom.
What happened to your categories-list, Reverend?
Oh, sorry – I’m trying a plugin to tidy it up a bit, but there’s a bit more code involved than I thought. At the moment I’m a little busy to sort it. Hopefully you’ll see an improvement over the weekend.
Cult . . . no. Cults are free to join.
Not at all. You have to tithe 10% of your income to join Hillsong.