“I spend a lot of time, and I have to admit take a little pleasure in, pointing out hoaxes to others. So it is incredibly ironic and quite humbling to fall for a hoax myself,” Rob Enderle blogs for IT Business Edge.
MacDailyNews Take: You want a real business edge, IT? Get a Mac. In fact, Get a Bunch of Macs and throw out recycle those Windows PC. Oh, sorry, then most of you would be out of jobs! Silly us. Back to Enderle…
Enderle continues, “In my previous post, I got upset about what appeared to be a personal attack on Dan Lyons by Apple. Today I found out that Dan was trying to draw more attention to the Think Secret shutdown which, I agree, we should have all been more concerned about than we were. But Apple never actually went after Dan. I clearly was drinking way too much eggnog to see the joke for what it was.”
“Before the Internet, shutting down a publication covering a company as a result of talking about real facts would have been nearly impossible — but Apple did it in passing, which should have troubled more of us than it did. Granted, it seems that the owner of Think Secret is OK with this, but settlements are like this and often what folks say has more to do with the settlement terms than with what they really think,” Enderle writes. “With the coming of the .com age, we saw change… We moved, and many older reporters lament about this, from covering the facts to being sensational without a lot of regard for the facts.”
MacDailyNews Take: Mirror, Rob. Rob, mirror.
Enderle continues, “This is offset significantly by the number of small sites that cover topics, but were a company to aggressively go out and buy a lot of these small sites, shifting them to their purpose, it could control a substantial amount of opinion and, done right, might not have to disclose its ownership. This is why the Think Secret thing is kind of scary. We don’t know how often things like this happen because there would be every reason to not want to disclose the change. What if, instead of shutting the site down, Apple had taken it over?”
MacDailyNews Take: They’d probably have a lot better rumors.
Enderle continues, “Given sites that cover Apple appear largely funded by Apple advertising (which may simply be because that is where you’d put those ads, but might imply a cause and effect), you might wonder how independent they really are.”
MacDailyNews Take: Before anyone asks, we are completely independent. Of Apple. Of anybody, in fact. Of course, we are Apple Store (and iTunes Store and .Mac) affiliates because we’ve grown fond of food and shelter; this is where Apple-related ads naturally fit, as Enderle suggests. By the way, if Apple wants to make us an offer, please email at your convenience. Although, seriously, we think we love doing this too much to ever quit! We say “think” because we’ve never seen any offers from a company the size of Apple (the number of which are shrinking rapidly).
Enderle continues, “In the end, while I’m clearly embarrassed by the fact that I fell for Dan’s joke, he got me thinking about the big picture of power and influence in the post-Internet era. The question comes down to trust and the reality that we probably can’t trust things, and maybe never could, at face value anymore.”
MacDailyNews Take: Welcome to the world, Rob. As it is and as it has been since time began. The ’50s were blissful we’re sure (we’ve seen Happy Days reruns), but the fact is that you couldn’t trust any one news source’s opinion back then, either. Everyone has an opinion. Everyone has biases. Everyone who’s worthwhile in the “news” business votes. Detached, unbiased reporting always was a pipe dream. We’re have our leanings, too, of course. The difference here is that we put it right in the name of the site and we don’t pretend to offer the myth of unbiased reporting. That doesn’t preclude us from criticizing Apple when we see fit. We’ve done so in the past and will likely do so in the future as Apple’s unlikely to be perfect from here on out. Plus, we keep up-to-date on all platforms, so that we can very confidently tell personal computer users that if they use a Mac, they will be happier, less frustrated, and more productive than with any other operting system on the market today. We dare any Windows-only PC user reading this right now to try a Mac for real, for a week. We do so because we know what will happen in the vast majority of cases. Welcome Home. You won’t see the Enderles and Thurrotts of the world making the opposite dare.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Okay, so Enderle admits he fell for the FSJ hoax and then actually comes to the realization that most people in the media have known for, uh… ever: the media can’t be trusted at face value. That Enderle, after years of being quoted by the media and also scrawling his propaganda pieces, seems to have just come to that conclusion is shocking, but, then again, it’s not. Perhaps he really thought that, like himself, all of you believe whatever you read, so you’d just believe his pap, too? One problem ol’ Rob’s never had is being accused of being a genius.
Or maybe he’s just trying to cover for falling for FSJ’s joke and using that falsehood to indict Apple? Too bad he didn’t apologize for that, or for ginning up ridiculous rumors about Apple’s board members wanting to distance themselves from by far the best CEO Apple’s ever had, or for suggesting that Apple may have inventory problems with certain products based on pure nothingness, or for his unfortunate mustache, or for baselessly attacking Walt Mossberg, who, by the way, is only choosing what he considers to be the best product at the time. It’s not Walt’s fault that Apple has been killing their competitors for years now. He’s only calling it as he sees it. While he’s not infallible, he’s one of the very, if not the, best in the business and does not deserve a shred of criticism from one of, if not the, very worst. (Don’t worry J.D., you’re still the very worst.)
Anyway, as most of you know, but what’s always good to repeat, your best bet is to consume from a melange of trusted sources (based on their past performance) — sources that are not owned by the same conglomerate (good luck with that one) — and you’ll hopefully be able to distill kernels of truth out of that mixture. (This also works for horse racing handicappers. Sometimes.) In other words, if you’re only watching CNN or Fox News, you’re not getting the full story. If you want the full story, watch them both (and read, watch, and listen to many others), cringe/applaud/yawn where appropriate, and you’ll get a much clearer picture. Try to get some regular input from outside your home country, too, it’s often a revelation.
“If Apple was going to try to control negative press they’d probably start by buying off Enderle himself.”
$1.14 and an expired coupon for a generic fabric softener should do it. Rob is an easy whore.
Mmmmm, fabric softener!
Since MS isn’t generating too much consumer news, Enderle is probably hoping for Apple to come calling with an astroturfing job.
@ LorD1776
You should probably stay away from Seattle then. Especially the intersection of Pike and Broadway.
Try this for a news site
More ads than MDN! – but if you want to hear the other side to the story. Don’t forget to read the disclaimer.
ChrissyOne,
Do they have a lot of pond scum in that area?
I liked ThinkSecret. A loss. And more people should have been upset about how it happened. Enderle is right about that.
I say rest in peace, Think Secret. And good riddance to bad rubbish.
LorD1776:
Well…thanks to ChrissyOne. That was some ride just after Christmas. It was like Enderle in HD…very well-defined stupidity.
Also, great job MDN discussing the bias in media.
enderle == tool
We know Enderle is either brain dead or a paid hit man for Microsoft. As always, 100% ignorable. Yawn.
But there are a few subjects of interest MDN pointed out.
First is about the press. There is indeed /always/ biased press happy to lie to you with propagandist rubbish in order to manipulate you. Equally, the press is itself manipulated by whatever happens to be ‘The Spirit Of The Age’ (how else can you explain the incessant coverage of a spoiled rich stupid untalented STD carrier named Paris Hilton) or whoever happens to be ‘The Boss’ (lord protect us from the Murdocks of the world). But NEVER in my years of following ‘reality’ by way of the ‘news’ have I seen first hand such a concentration of ridiculous sheeple herding as has happened leading up to and following the election of The Bush League, aka The William Kristol Cult of ‘Crazies’ (to borrow a description from Ronald Reagan). The US press has never been so shameful in their acquiescence to what many of us knew all along was sheer insanity, lies and traitorous conning of the citizens of the USA. Enough of that rant. My point is that we are upset about liars like dumdum Enderle when we can point to even The New York Times for not revealing facts about the much more important subject of how a country is being governed.
Second: I am proud of Walt Mossberg for becoming a very good technology journalist. His work is a pleasure to read. But please folks, no worshiping. Back when Apple was having trouble thanks to that $1 Billion in unwanted Performa Macs gathering dust in warehouses, Walt was one of the sheeple journalist following the rest of the ignorant herd ringing the death knell for Apple. His reviews for the still brilliant Macs of that time were awful. Shameful. If you dig around you can probably find them on the net somewhere. I personally berated him for falling into lock step instead of using his head when evaluating computers. Remember folks, these were the days of Windows 95 (OMG what a POS) and when PowerPC processors really were 2x faster than anything Intel had to offer, and Walt was still writing acclaim for Windows PCs. Conclusion: We are all fallible. Skip the hero worship.
Lastly, ask yourself. Who are the biggest /constructive/ critics of Apple? It’s us, the Apple users. We Apple stuff sucks, Apple know full well that we are not going to accept it and that we are going to /constructively/ scream bloody murder until the problem is fixed. We buy Apple because we want the best. Apple give us the best, or they hear about it. Does this happen in the Windows world? Not until lately! This has been the very first year in my memory that the MS butt-kissing press has turned viciously, and of course deservedly, at long last, on Microsoft for selling garbage. And what was it that started this shocking change of heart in the press? Vista.
@ derekcurrie
I must confess I have a bit of a problem with Uncle Walt.
When Apple releases a new product, I can count on two things: Enderle and Dvorak will crap on it, and Walt will love it. Now, granted, I usually agree with Walt, so maybe I’m talking out of my exhaust here… But it’s just a bit too predictable for me.
At least Walt makes good arguments for what he does and doesn’t like, unlike Rob, who just seems to come off with arbitrary crap like “touch screens are hard!” or “other phone companies know better!” without actually thinking through how one would actually USE a device. Enderle is all MS talking points that, by the time I read him, are all over the anti-Apple press.
He has an amazing talent for dodging this criticism. Ask me how I know…
Then we have MDN and Dan Eran to eviscerate them, and both do a fine job (though MDN plays a bit too sensational sometimes. call it ‘balance’ if you like, that’s fine. But the name calling is often a bit much).
You just can’t tell the plain truth in this business, it seems. There is always too much at stake, too much bad information to fight. It’s frustrating.
I really hate when someone asks me about my iPhone, and I hear them repeat verbatim something that George Ou wrote months before. That sh|t gets into the public mind and isn’t dislodged easily. How many times have I heard someone ask me how I deal with the ‘difficult to use’ touchscreen keyboard? I have to fire up a text message and show them how fast I can type on it, how the error correction works, the little touches like the auto-capitalization and the click-and-hold/period/release trick. Only then (maybe) have I fought the FUD.
@ ChrissyOne:
“I really hate when someone asks me about … and I hear them repeat verbatim … sh|t [that got] into the public mind and isn’t dislodged easily. How many times..”
FWIW, the way that I’ll frequently start such conversations is that my first reply is:
“You do realize that you’re repeating FUD, don’t you?”
It is a shocker that puts them off balance, which then gives them a chance to wake up and open their eyes through a demo (of whatever).
I had a similar incident with my nephew this summer, who had just gotten a job with Comcast as an Installer: he said that he hated Macs because they were a pain to configure for the Internet…went on about some stuff about how you could only do it from the command line in TERMINAL (!).
Suffice to say that he now knows that the Network Control Panel exists
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> … and that the problem wasn’t with the OS, but with the lack of training that Comcast provided him.
-hh
@ -hh
“went on about some stuff about how you could only do it from the command line in TERMINAL (!).”
I have heard the EXACT same thing. They must tell cable installers that to keep training budgets down. >.<
The One Thing I do Know: Is that I CANNOT TRUST any of Enderle’s “analyses” or blogs to be of any value whatsoever.
Gosh, I want to hate Enderle for spreading his drivel, but really, truly, I feel sorry for him. How empty he must feel knowing in his heart and mind he is spreading what he has to know are distortions and/or obfuscations; knowing he is selling his soul to the gods of MS, just so he and his “group” can pay their bills.
It takes a lot out of one’s soul to consciously speak what one knows to be untrue. The sad thing is Mr. Enderle believes he must profess what he does (FUD) in order to find meaning in his life.
Also of note is this,
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/12/28/rob_enderle_2008_s_apple_dell_google_hp_lenovo_sony_microsoft_and_linux/
The SAME incorrect drivel about Steve Jobs threatening Dan Lyons, but submitted on the 28th December, the same day he published the retraction on
http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/rob/?p=179
He’s not even professional enough to retract his incorrect comments from the other articles he’s written. I have, of course, written to Toms Hardware to point out this is fundamentally incorrect and potentially sueable-for. Let’s see how long before a retraction and apology is published.
MDN wrote: “Try to get some regular input from outside your home country, too, it’s often a revelation.”
Thanks, MDN. This is extremely important. In the days when the news media are all owned by 2 or 3 large companies, it is critical to go outside one’s country. Though there are no guarantees you often get more of the truth. And I’m not slamming any particular country’s news media.
@Ampar
Wait, $1.14 AND an expired coupon? Let’s not get crazy! How about the old “Caddyshack” line…”You’ll get nothing and like it!”
Late to the party…but leave it to Enderle to admit he’s a dimwit, but still insist that the jist of his argument has merit. Oy. He may require electroshock therapy or Thorazine to reconnect him with reality.
“probably can’t trust things, and maybe never could, at face value anymore”
So I never could trust things all along anymore, starting now as always? Huh?
Note to Rob – where you put your subordinate clauses in the sentence is somewhat important. Try: “probably can’t trust things anymore at face value, and maybe never could” (although even that is not the best-written sentence, it’s a start)
“Happiness is questioning all.”
-The Descendants
“Thinking is the best way to travel.”
– The Moody Blues
when I’m told by some support nimrod that they don’t “support” my OS, I tell ’em: you mean you don’t support your customers. I’m talking to you APC.