“Quickly. Answer this: Who was the last winner of the Buckeye News Hawk Award? Isn’t it the same WCPO Cincinnati TV reporter who bashes Apple’s iPod for a living? Hmmm. Could be,” Bambi Hambi writes for Mac360.
Hambi writes, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t WKRP Cincinnati’s colorful Less Nessman win the award a few times? How many?”
“Reporter John ”Don’t Waste Money” Matarese is working hard to win the award this year,” Hambi writes. “He’s already won the coveted Mac360 Jackass of the Week Award.”
Hambi writes, “Back in December of 2005, one of Matarese’s ridiculous reports bashed Apple’s iPods. Tera Patricks, Mac360’s then reigning Queen of Rightly Responses, responded in Typical Tera Fashion™.
Hambi writes, “Today, I received a sassy ‘So There, Bambi!’ email message claiming to be from John of WCPO in Cincinnati.”
“Hey Bambi! Remember me? The “dinosaur” reporter from WKRP in Cincinnati? Guess what? I’m posting a NEW iPod story, even better than my last great one that you guys loved. I know you folks would want to see it. Best of all it comes from Consumer Reports Magazine, so it’s going out to MILLIONS of Americans this month, through their latest issue, and is being broadcast to MORE MILLIONS of people on more than 100 other “dinosaur” TV stations nationwide. Isn’t that great? Enjoy!”
Hambi writes, “What an interesting use of sarcasm from a TV reporter. Uh, John, what’s with all the SHOUTING!!?”
Hambi writes, “JOHN WAS WRITING… uh, sorry. John was writing about his most recent Friday The 13th Psychotic Episode, titled ‘iPOD COMPLAINTS.’ So much to expose, so little time.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “ron” for the heads up.]
We’ve worked in TV stations; many of them. Trust us, most TV reporters have infinitely more problems than any iPod could ever have, regardless of its condition. And Consumer Reports is a joke.
Related articles:
Cincinnati ABC affiliate says ‘don’t waste your money’ on Apple iPod [UPDATED] – December 22, 2005
Consumer Reports does their readership a disservice, says viruses target Apple Macs – December 13, 2005
Consumer Reports dubiously finds 20-percent of Mac users ‘detected’ virus in last two years -UPDATED – August 10, 2005
I have always felt Consumer Reports is a great publication for CERTAIN things. It offers really nice reviews of various appliances and mundane products that no one else would really care to deal with.
However, I have never agreed with their writing on computer technology. It always seems very superficial and at least partly uninformed. I read many computer magazines and other serious publications, and they always seem to disagree with the Consumer Reports ratings. They’re testing methodologies just don’t seem to be designed for the way computers are really used.
Sorry, I meant to say their testing methodologies. Don’t want to be arrested by the grammar police. But don’t get me wrong, I do love grammar.
C.R. does what is does. But it should never be accepted as gospel nor should it be the final judge for a purchase decision.
Here is the Consumer Report –
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/mp3-players/mp3-players-11-06/overview/1106_mp3_ov_1.htm
There are so many things wrong with CR’s analysis, but that on par for them.
Matarese is a total tool. I once got into an email war with him when he had a ‘consumer alert’ the day Apple discontinued the Cube.
I think he wanted to slam it just so he could utter the phrase “don’t buy this bad Apple” because he never did give any facts or reason why you shouln’dt buy one. All he said was that Apple was discontinuing the cube and not to “waste your money”
Woudln’t want facts to get in the way of a good story.
He’s a tool of the n’th degree. Flame his ass at will.
jmatarese@wcpo.com
For the uninitiated, WKRP In Cincinnati was a great TV show from the 1970s, which featured a bumbling but pleasant character, the radio station’s news reporter, Les Nessman. The sharp witted Ms. Hambi is actually Barbara Marie Hambi of Mac360 whose writing partner, Tera Patricks, died of cancer last summer.
As to the Consumer Reports article and the poorly done “iPOD COMPLAINTS article, the former has troubles, and the latter is trouble.
one more thing…
“Hambi writes, “What an interesting use of sarcasm from a TV reporter. Uh, John, what’s with all the SHOUTING!!”
If you’ve ever seen this guy’s reports, you’d know that the caps aren’t shouts, they are spaz attacks. The guy is a total spaz.
Consumer Reports is biased, period. I would boycott them but I don’t ever buy their trash to begin with.
About the first thing taught in statistics is that a self-selected survey is useless for inference. Consumer reports does self-selected surveys. So they can make grand statements about . . . just the people who responded.
I still have a Cube going strong. Great computer. Get’s a lot of use at our high end construction company doing accounting work, Filemaker, Word Processing, etc. Not your typical “Macs are only useful for creative types” use. We have over 100 macs going strong. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Windows sucks. That reporter is on MS payroll.
One of the Classic episodes of the mentioned WKRP was a radio promotion Turkey Drop from a Helicopter. Here it is on the You Tube
Enjoy and have a great weekend
As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.
Les Explains Music
I am from Cincinnati. There is no WKRP there. It is WKRC. I know this reporter even states it in his letter, but I think he was being sarcastic and referring back to her original article. But, I’ve been on the East Coast for 8 years now, so maybe a WKRP was started since 1998.
Cubert
“and is being broadcast to MORE MILLIONS of people on more than 100 other”
More Millions?
Gee… I hope that not more many people read this article in fear that they not might realize what a complete and moron utter he is!
Hey! This is more funner that I thought it would be!!!
And this guy is a “journalist?
Gary,
Same here. Hence the name.
” That reporter is on MS payroll.”
Nah, there’s no conspiracy here, the guy is just an idiot.
And calling him a reporter is an affront to real reporters everywhere.
After reading the CR article, I don’t see what all the fuss is about (at least when it comes to CR). They are very even handed. They objectively talk about the pluses and minuses of the ipod and talk about the other players on the market. I found the article right on the mark (I own 4 ipods and a Rio and agree with their statements). I’ve been a long time CR reader and look to them as part of my product research. I’ve bought many items based on their input and have never found any of them bad buys. Even this so-called reporter in Cincinnati won’t be able to attribute much of his negative rant to CR.
I can’t figure out why people bash something when they obviously haven’t read the article. You all DO read the articles before ignorantly ranting, yes? If you are trying to find reports that don’t fault the ipod at all, then you are just a zealots without a cause. Apple hardly needs your help or defense. Their products stand on their own.
I also am a CR subscriber , and in my experinece with products that I actually know something about, I have always found CR to be fair and unbiased. I must say though, the continued statements such as OS X has “fewer” or “less” viruses has irritated me for some time.
For all non-subscribers, or Apple zealots who think Apple can do no wrong, l’ll point out that CR has never-NEVER-lost a court case claiming bias toward any product it has ever reviewed.
CR is the pits. They have an anti-business agenda.
Standard Mess is right.
CR doesn’t know shit about stereo equipment, either.
In more than fifteen years in the electronics business, my experience with CR is they either (a) don’t have any idea what actually matters, (b) are so far out of touch (due to publication”testing cyles) or (c) have an obvious bias. Since they don’t accept advertising (but are a supposed “nonprofit”), I always figured it was more institutional basis based on ignorance or donor size.
They’re good at cars (which don’t exactly change that fast), but most other “technology based” items completely elude them. Their demographic is also skews slightly older than Reader’s Digest, and based on the people clutching them (at my job), not the most tech saavy reader/survey contributer base, either.
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My experience with CR has been that if the product is technical, and I know it or the market area well, their criteria for judging the product tends to make little or no sense, or else hinges on some barely-relevent detail.
The best example I can recall offhand was a review of competing professional 35mm SLR camera systems, Canon’s F1 and FD-series lenses, vs Nikon’s F2 and Nikon’s lens series.
Their summation? Canon can’t be considered as a real professional offering because Nikon offered more fisheye lenses (3 Nikon for 1 Canon).
And that was it. Completely useless.
(I made my living with Canon F1/FD gear for the better part of 10 years, just for full disclosure.)
Like many others, I have always found Consumer Reports to be less than authoritative in their testing of computer-related equipment (also other electronic gear such as hi-fi and photo equipment). Their problem seems to be that they treat everything like a washing machine.
P.S. Turkeys CAN fly.