Look! A New Photo of Something…Not New
I know I grow continually more irritable at the rumor sites, because I can’t help but read them because there may be some ounce of golden truth in the sands of fabrication. But the way AppleInsider handled the news of an orange iPod Shuffle is just irritating.
“Look! Here is a ‘new’ iPod Shuffle that looks and operates just like the old iPod Shuffle, except it is orange. And here are 21 high resolution photos for you to look at the same old thing…in orange.”
One or two photos, fine. Oh cool, look, it’s orange. But 21 supersized photos. One term. Over-zealous.
Okay, I admit. I came into that article already agitated. Why? Because of irritating headlines like this: New Apple Products coming TOMORROW? I am so tired of headlines like these. Meanwhile, the article suggested the possibility of 8-core Mac Pros and other nonsense. Yeah, it just ended up being that amazing orange Shuffle. Here’s another term. Fiction.
There’s no professional prognostication going on there. It’s pure story-telling. Yeah, an 8-core Mac will undoubtedly come out someday. Yeah, Apple will eventually revamp their displays. But there is no news or scoop to back up your speculation.
I just wish the rumor runners would practice my final term for this rant. Discretion.
January 30th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
Nazin -
I take issue with this post. The title of the article “New Apple Products coming TOMORROW?” is 100% accurate. It was posted yesterday…and we got new products TODAY.
If you want to take shots at someone, take shots at Think Secret who suggested the 8-cores, and Apple Insider who speculated on a 2Gig Red Nano or Beatles iPod.
There was no pure storytelling on my part…simply reporting on what other sites (sites that have had a considerable level of credibility in the past) had posted.
You will be able to tell when I am Speculating on Apple Gazette. How? Because any post with my own speculation in it starts with the word SPECULATION in all caps.
January 30th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
Michael, thanks for replying. I don’t want to take shots at anyone; I DO wish that the rumor snowballing would stop. Hopefully Gizmodo taught everyone, yourself included, why eager linking just hurts the Mac rumor/news sites. I know I learned from it, as a reader.
Let me stop for a moment, though. I do realize, in hind-sight, that I’ve barked about your site a few times now. That doesn’t accurately reflect my feelings for you or your site. Your site is actually one of my favorite sites for Apple news; you don’t DROWN me with dozens of articles a day, and you are usually very news-centric. Furthermore, I’m not one to be too bull-headed to not acknowledge when someone is calling me out for being rude. You’re right that I came down on you hard when you weren’t the one doing the “prognostication”, and I hope you accept my apologies as a fellow blogger and fellow obsessive Mac enthusiast.
I certainly hope you’re not beyond hearing my feedback at this point. All things said, I am irritable about the level of cross-linking that goes on among the Apple rumor/news sites. Such indiscretionary linking has led, sadly, to increasingly poor confidence in any reported rumors. This is regrettable. Are you “reporting the news” when you indicate that so-and-so said this-and-that would happen? I suppose. But if it is a fabrication, or a stretch at best, you are also a party to the spread of that information. That is my point of contention.
Michael, again, accept my apologies for my relapse in manners and politeness. I’m not going anywhere, and neither is my opinion nor my feedback, but the disrespect can take a back seat.
January 30th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Josh,
I love feedback…both positive and negative. All I’m interested in is making Apple Gazette one of the first places Mac fans go when they’re looking for Apple news and info.
I’m not terribly interested in being just a rumor site. (I promise I will NEVER take 20 pics of a friggin’ iPod shuffle) I don’t mind posting rumors…in fact, I love rumors…not because I believe them all…but more so because I love the discussion of what might come next from Apple…which is why I try to mark my own speculation as such (and be on the watch for a bit of it in the next day or so ;)), but I can appreciate your frustration with the rumors.
I am glad you’re a reader, and will always welcome your thoughts and opinions on what I can do to make AG a better site. BTW - you’ll start seeing a few more posts a day on the site this week, because I’m going full time with the blog (and a podcast!) but I’m always going to try to focus more on the news than the rumors (although, again, I love speculating and discussing the rumors…so they’ll still be there) …but I do see your point about old Gizmodo and linking too quickly…those bastards…
Plus, it’s always great to have people giving you a little hell on their blogs…it means they’re reading.
January 30th, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Metafeedback (?) is cool too. It’s neat to see people responding to the things we write.