“Analysts beholden to Microsoft are deeply concerned about the threat posed by Apple’s troublesome new iPhone: it’s far too much money, does nothing new at all, it’s missing all kinds of essential features, and it’s doomed to fail even by such minor details as its name,” Daniel Eran writes for RoughlyDrafted.
Eran writes, “Further, they are quick to point out, the iPhone is all just vaporware anyway. At least it is until June, at which time it is certain to whimper into an unappreciative market, just like Sculley’s 1994 Newton or Steve Job’s last bomb, the PowerMac G4 Cube.”
Eran writes, “Or, alternatively, the iPhone may storm the market like a plundering pirate fleet, killing off all competition and everything else we hold dear: 3G liberties, the freedom to write our own phone apps, and the desperate plight of developers, developers, developers. Oh the humanity!”
The iPhone has caused more reason to fear and doubt the uncertainty of Apple’s survival since the iPod,” Eran writes.
Full article, including Eran’s “Five Phases of Media Coverage” as they pertain to Apple and Microsoft, the Zune joke, Greenpeace, and much more here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LinuxGuy and Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
Related article:
The massive FUD campaign against Apple’s iPhone ramps up – January 10, 2007
RoughlyDrafted.com is a great place to read Apple analysis.
Please, MDN, stop posting this Roughly Drafted fanboy junk. It just makes this site look even more like a koolaid-drinking mac zealot-fest, destroying the last pretension of objectivity. It has been proven time and time again that Daniel Eran will stop at nothing, not specious arguments or even twisting facts or outright lies, to try and make Apple look good at the expense of Microsoft. One wonders just what Microsoft did to Eran in his childhood to cause this behaviour.
Ha… the ‘plundering pirate fleet’ is now Mac, iPhone, iPod, AppleTV, Leopard, Xserve and a few more on the way…!
Microfrot has Zune, Vista, Microfrot CE and XBox… more like a fleet of third world rustbuckets on their way to the knackers yard…
You are truly idiotic if you come to MDN expecting “objectivity”. That phrase died with Dan Rather and the faked National Guard service memos.
With that said, Roughlydrafted is bull.
Flannigan you have to be trolling, go back to Digging MS articles…
RDM is a great resource for telling it as it is.
RoughlyDrafted is incredibly insightful and well-researched, not to mention spot-on. Other than the statements containing obvious opinion, what examples do you have of twisted facts or outright lies? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
If by “as it is” you mean “as he sees it,” then yes.
to Flannigan.
While I believe MDN is not necessarily adverse to running Apple critical stories (and then destroying them with, oftentimes, sensible logic) the do tend to remove posts from those whose criticism is strongly supported by facts, logic, and reality.
Steve Jobs is not a genius. He is a master huckster supported by very desirable and highly over-hyped and over-priced products.
The iPhone sets a new level for all this and, until consumers start using it, the jury will be out on whether it transforms the world – as MDN has suggested.
Roughly Drafted is quality analysis.
He writes the way I feel.
With so much regular negative FUD surrounding Apple and their products on the net it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone battling for our side. Anyone on here who says any different is obviously on the wrong site. Go and read Paul Thurrott’s bull or Dvorak’s drivel instead. You will read what you want to read on their sites.
Bye Bye Windoh’s fanboys!!!
>Dan Rather and the faked National Guard service memos.
Doesn’t participation in this list require a minimum of 512Mb RAM?
Our Mr. President faked National Guard service — and that’s a fact.
But no, no one expects objectivity here at MDN — that’s why it’s so fun!
Steve Jobs a ‘huckster’ hey?
MDN ‘removes posts’ because they don’t fit. Really?
iPhone not as good as EVERYONE who’s touched it has said?
I smell T R O L L s
If you believe the iPhone isn’t already a major hit, you are deluding yourselves.
You know, just last night I was reading about how Roughly Drafted got booted from Digg, and how Dan Eran was a raving lunatic who would say and do anything to support his crazy paranoid notions.
Now I’ve read one or two of his pieces, and I didn’t remember him sounding like a raving MacLoon. In fact, he sounded every bit as sane as, say, John Gruber. A fan, a writer who will use a little hyperbole now and again, but entertaining and informative. So I thought I’d see what I missed in my first random sample.
So I went to his website, and I read five or six random pieces from the last 3 months.
You know what? They were well-written, thorough, seemingly painstakingly researched, and (in my opinion, at least) very insightful. I’ve been using Macs since 1990 and there was stuff in there about the OS wars of the mid-to-late-90’s that I didn’t know. And I thought I was a fan.
But what I didn’t see was raving lunacy, paranoia, invented facts, etc. Maybe it’s the cheesy graphics that turn people off (they certainly detract from the site overall) – but certainly they’re no more puerile than the ones used here on MDN, are they? They’re just more work to make. MDN just takes the worst pictures they can find, Daniel obviously enjoys Photoshop.
Maybe someone can help me figure out why the guy is so maligned? I seem to be missing everyone’s point here.
RoughlyDrafted is an EXCELLENT read. For those trolls (Flannigan), please KMA!
A lot of work went into that article: interesting, insightful and entertaining. But what really cracked me up was the pikkie of the doggie pooping on the zune. Which brings to mind…the mirror-reverse of “zune” spelling “anus” and Janus [pronounced “y’anus” in Copenhagen]. Perhaps the dog was making microsoft.
Can you give us evidence of the “outright lies” that you refer to written by Daniel Eran?
The RDM images are part of the fun. Not surprising there are thousands of Microsoft zealots about like Flannigan ready to bad mouth him.
Daniel Eran is essential reading for any Mac fan and for anyone interested in technology. His analyses are enlightening.
RoughlyDrafted is for ultra-Mac zealots who have installed a shrine to Jobs in the middle of their homes, name their children after Apple products, and have committed every MacExpo keynote to memory.
I find Dan Eran to be an intelligent, thoughtful, and witty writer, and usually pretty much dead on. I thought this latest piece was absolutely brilliant! Almost sounded like something Colbert would have done.
Anyone who would criticize him is obviously suffering from Stockholm’s Syndrome (not to mention a missing sense of humor).
Um . . . it’s ‘averse’ which means being opposed to, rather than ‘adverse’ which means unfavorable. Yeah. Mac users are smarter.
I thought the article was dead on.
Worst headline. Ever.
Here’s the reality of the situation, and perhaps MDN can correct the page with something a little more accurate:
Those beholden to Apple are deeply concerned about Microsoft’s latest threat: Zune
Hay Apple lemmings, the Zune isn’t vaporware like your little phone with features just about everyone else has had for years. It’s for real and it’s groundbreaking interface, huge screen and points system for use at the Zune Marketplace are taking the MP3 player world by storm. Don’t give me that BS about the Zune’s rankings at Amazon. Real music enthusiasts and technically astute gadget aficionados don’t shop there. They go to Office Max or Circuit City, and that’s where Zunes are flying off the shelves.
Cupertino fears the day Redmond adds phone capability and Windows Mobile to the already awesome Zune. Cupertino, start your copiers.
Your potential. Our passion.
Oh and by the way – THANK YOU MDN FOR POSTING THE ARTICLE. And Flanigan, you can suck it.
“or Steve Job’s last bomb, the PowerMac G4 Cube.”
Grrrrrr…..repeat after me, “the Cube was not a failure”, “the Cube was not a failure”….
Failures don’t sit on my desk and work flawlessly for 6 1/2 years!
That was a GREAT article.
Apple will always be the “renegade,” even when it controls the defacto standard for digital players and media. That’s why it attracts such a loyal following, whereas Microsoft is treated like “big brother” even when it is not.
Hey guys. Any of you agree with me that the term “reality distortion field” really should refer to Microsoft’s imposed perception on their users that the typical computer experience should require tons of third party security software and allow for regular crashes rather than Steve Jobs ability to eggagerate the coolness of a product into peoples minds creating a desire that is overblown?
When ever I watch SJ’s Keynotes I am usually excited and impressed by what he shows us and have never been disappointed in an Apple product or thought it was over hyped. Surely if he had a reality distortion field I would be dissapointed once I bought the products. Wouldn’t I?
If you listen to the noise the Windows trolls make squirting on about how crap they think Apple’s new iPhone will be and how great anything coming out of the Redmond campus is I really think they have a distorted view of computing in General.
Clem was right about Stockholm Syndrome but there is definitely a chunk of cognitive dissonance thrown in too eh!!
Read the article. What are you scared of Windoh suckers? Truth?
You know you are morons, does it hurt reading it loud and clear?
You are so used to eat shit you like it. You deserve Windows. Stay there and stay outta here. PLEASE, STAY on WINDOWS, keep eating shit: it actually is good for your health.
There is some wisdom on old saying. One that I remember is “It is not worth to give pearls to pigs”.
Well, not even lipstick: Microsoft still has to learn that. Vista has lipstick all over the place. Still sucks.
To everyone accusing me of being a “troll”…
Maybe you should try actually using facts and logic instead of name-calling. But I guess I wouldn’t really expect any better from supporters of RDM. But don’t mind me, just bury your head back under the sand and pretend that Apple is the be all and end all of technology and Steve Jobs can do no wrong.
OK Everyone. I am just messing with ya.
I am really a Mac user and the Zune is a bag of crap…
Sorry!
I’ll behave in future.
The article is so much “tongue in cheek” I almost bit mine off laughing so hard.
The facts at the bottom are probably the most humorous because they are mostly accurate. Are they from a skewed perspective? Yep. But what isn’t these days. Everyone wants to sell something, so they cast their choice in the most favorable light or go trolling to get the sensationalist ferver going.
Take it for what it is and let yourself be amused. I work, and by work I mean my primary job/career/moneymaker, is supporting and administrating almost every shipping OS. If you can’t see the humor in all this Windows/MacOS/Linux/*nix fanaticism, then you need a funny bone transplant. Every OS does the same basic things, process input, generate output, and interface with the human race or other OSes. Plain and simple. Arguing over which is better/more vulnerable/invovative is childish at best, although, I do have to say, Apple has more fun with it (watch the Mac v. PC ads).
Best thing to do when you find your self espousing one OS vehemently, is to take a step back, get over yourself, and do what you like with what you like. Let the “professionals” stab at each other in the media and enjoy the show.
So who is getting an iPhone when they come out then?
The Cube, Newton, 20th Century Mac didn’t sell in the amounts forecasted so they’re considered failures. They’re great products but if you spend $xx on creating them and you don’t break even, it’s a failure. Apple, inc. is a business and they have to make $ or there are no additional products. I admire all of these products but they still have to be profitable
Ah, Zune Tang. It’s good to hear your voice – er – read your post. Yes, as a serious music afficianado, I do all my shopping at Circuit City. That’s where all the serious equipment is sold. And I mean serious stuff from companies like Aiwa. I love Aiwa. Are they still in business? I hope so. In any case, Circus City is where I bought my inferior iPod when I should have been pouring my hard-earned cash into Steve and Bill’s shared bank account. But, y’know, I’s got me a mental defect that keeps me from seeking out quality products from the obvious leaders of technoligical innovation in all the world, bar none, since the Romans built the aqueducts tens of millions of years ago when T-Rex was Lord of ALL CREATION and we worshipped ants.
Sorry. Ranting. Zune Tang’s got it. ‘Nuff said.
Flannigan, why do you come here?
This is a site by Mac fans for Mac fans. Do you really think your destorted views on reality will change our minds.
If you were a Mac user you would understand why we are so loyal to Apple.
Oh and by the way. Steve Jobs has the vision and desire to make great products. The bottom line is secondary to him so in that alone he can do NO wrong.
Busting the skulls…,
Uh, the documents CBS aired regarding Bush’s “service” have not been
proven to be false.
If you are wanting objectivity, read the Yellow Pages. The very name of this
site (MDN) informs possible readers of its slant. If you want to read blather
about Windows, go read George Zero-u’s delusional ramblings.
Just think, Zune Tang, in five years Apple will finally license Win$in their vertical and/or horizontal iTunes album art scrolling so your crippled Zune can break down while you finally get to finger scroll.
iTunes built right into the multitouch widescreen iPod?…wow…I bet M$ thought of that first, but passed on it because users like you, Zune Tangy, couldn’t handle the thought process. Vaporware?…I don’t think so. We have seen this thing in action and only your M$ can buy out FCC approval.
Zune, you would be on this site if you didn’t have Mac envy…you are really drooling over features you never imagined and located all in one device.
Eran writes a lot of smart, well thought out articles. His site is a good read.
“Real music enthusiasts and technically astute gadget aficionados don’t shop there. They go to Office Max or Circuit City, and that’s where Zunes are flying off the shelves.” – Zune Tang
It’s true. I was in Circuit City the other day and watched as one of the managers walked up and shoved a whole display full of Zunes off the shelves and onto the floor to make room for the upcoming iPhone. Some of them flew pretty far.
Flannigan,
You’re kidding, right? MDN objectivity I mean. I don’t come here for the objectivity.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
“They go to Office Max or Circuit City, and that’s where Zunes are flying off the shelves.”
Funny. When I searched for MP3 players at Circuit City in the 100.00 – 299.00 range and listed by most popular, the Zune came in behind all the iPod Nano models and the 30 gig iPod. It also came in behind numerous Sony, Sandisk, and Creative units. So I guess we have to define “flying off the shelves”. Perhaps you meant flying back into the boxes returning to Microsoft?
Should I check the ratings at Office Max?
I saw some Zunes flying off the shelves too Mr. Zune Tang. Hell, after a few more tokes were yours dancing too? Cool man, way cool.
Your potential, our uh…ummm…errr…whatever man.
ROFLMAO
great article. Fun reading.
Windows and Microsoft are such an easy pick nowadays. They are getting beaten from each and everyone. You can’t hear/read anything about Microsoft without comment like “What are they thinking in Redmond? If they are still thinking, that is”.
So funny. Truly they are the IBM of this century. Spiralling down and no safety net in sight.
There once was a young man named Flannigan,
Who was trying to become a man again,
By stroking real quick,
He enlarged his dick,
Til it looked just like a small pen.
I grew up on a farm. We had a jackass named Flannigan.
He used to eat his own poo.
The cube? Jesus, got anything recent?
Oh, I know how about:
Origami (supposed to change everything)
Zune. (Nice try, but if your launch week is a 50+ year old nerd pretending to be hip, that is just sad)
WMA and PlaysForSure both failed.
BOB
From Roughly Drafted’s own website…
Phones & PDAs.
Microsoft’s decade of investments in WinCE and Windows Mobile Smartphones have only barely matched the market share of Palm, which itself is a run down company out of ideas. Microsoft couldn’t out-maneuver the incompetent Palm within a decade of trying; now both are ineffectually fighting over the dying PDA industry while Linux and Symbian slaughter them in the smartphone arena:
Symbian 75%; Linux 14%; Microsoft 5%; Palm 5%.
I would say the above is a bit more oa collasul failure than the Cube…
There really ARE some obvious trolls here. I can’t wait to get my iPhone here in England. I have been looking for a compact device to type articles on the train, bus and at shows where I photograph. This will be perfect. There is nothing like it. I know cos I’ve been searching. So glad it doesn’t have a weighty hard drive as well. That’s another thing the Trolls don’t want to understand.
OK, Flannigan, let me try to decode your secret message, which made no sense in its original form. Here is my slight modification:
“”Please, MDN, stop posting this Dvorak fanboy junk. It just makes this site look even more like a koolaid-drinking MS zealot-fest, destroying the last pretension of objectivity. It has been proven time and time again that Dvorak will stop at nothing, not specious arguments or even twisting facts or outright lies, to try and make Apple look BAD and Microsoft look good. One wonders just what Apple did to Dvorak in his childhood to cause this behaviour.”” Flannigans message decoded for its true meaning. LOL
OK. lets vote. Who thinks my version is better and who thinks Flannigans is more correct???? LOL
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Dan is my goto Mac Man… even have his widget on my dashboard… geez, that sounds kinda … well you know.
As far as me getting an iPhone.. not in the Market, not enough ambition to get or need one. Now if was merely an ipod with that interface I’d probably get one.
Notice how Dan’s detractors have yet to put up any evidence that he misrepresents facts.. hmm. So easy to criticize when you can’t DO.
@Flannagan
Who wrote:
“To everyone accusing me of being a “troll”… Maybe you should try actually using facts and logic instead of name-calling.”
You were asked above to give evidence of the lies you said existed in Daniel Eran’s writing. Now how about you prove YOUR case against him so you use logic and facts??
I know you won’t. Because you are the worst kind of mindless shit-thrower.
(Sorry about the language)
“Now how about you prove YOUR case against him so you use logic and facts??”
I can’t give you what doesn’t exist.
Now this is the story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And Id like to take a minute just sit right there
Ill tell you how I became the prince of a town called bel-air
In west philadelfia born and raised
On the playground where I spent most of my days
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool
And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys said were up in no good
Started making trouble in my neighbourhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said youre moving with your aunte and uncle in bel-air
(only the first three episodes of season one)
I begged and pleaded with her the other day
But she packed my suitcase and sent me on my way
She gave me a kissin and she gave me my ticket
I put my walkman on and said I might aswell kick it
First class, yo this is bad,
Drinking orange juice out of a champagne glass
Is this what the people of bel-air livin like,
Hmm this might be alright!
I whistled for a cab and when it came near the
Licensplate said fresh and had a dice in the mirror
If anything I could say that this cab was rare
But I thought now forget it, yo home to bel-air
I pulled up to a house about seven or eight
And I yelled to the cabby yo, home smell you later
Looked at my kingdom I was finally there
To settle my throne as the prince of bel-air
Nice headline…
Paul Thurrott?
Flannigan, Busting, maczealot, all posted anti-RDM FUD:
Flannigan:
“Please, MDN, stop posting this Roughly Drafted fanboy junk. It just makes this site look even more like a koolaid-drinking mac zealot-fest, destroying the last pretension of objectivity.”
BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots:
“With that said, Roughlydrafted is bull.”
maczealot:
“RoughlyDrafted is for ultra-Mac zealots who have installed a shrine to Jobs in the middle of their homes, name their children after Apple products, and have committed every MacExpo keynote to memory.”
Note not ONE of them can come up with a single example of why RDM is “bull.” I could very easily come up with dozens of examples of why RDM is on the top of my reading list. He has insights and commentary you simply will not find any where else, and not because it’s “bull.” A lot of the rest of the crap written out there certainly is tho, including the 3 names mentioned above.
I challenge any of you 3 to link one of the articles and point out something Daniel wrote that you disagree with and can prove is wrong.
Throwing around terms like “zealot” “bull” “koolaid-drinking” and “fanboy” are all narrowly disguised FUD. They take no thought whatsoever. They follow the model “if you have nothing intelligent or useful to add to a discussion, throw mud and name call.”
Flannigan:
“To everyone accusing me of being a “troll”…”
You are a troll.
“But don’t mind me, just bury your head back under the sand and pretend that Apple is the be all and end all of technology and Steve Jobs can do no wrong.”
Apple certainly does do wrong, I don’t even think Daniel would disagree with that. He simply points out why the rest of the tech world and the media just don’t get it. That would include you Flannigan. Apple is not that hard to understand, but examining them through conventional wisdom always fails.
You’re a troll, and haven’t redeemed yourself with anything insightful yet, but I reserve the right to change my mind if you can actually say something interesting and insightful and improve my impression of you.
For objectivity I go to Fox News.
“Flannigan
Jan 19, 07 – 11:28 am
Please, MDN, stop posting this Roughly Drafted fanboy junk. It just makes this site look even more like a koolaid-drinking mac zealot-fest, destroying the last pretension of objectivity. It has been proven time and time again that Daniel Eran will stop at nothing, not specious arguments or even twisting facts or outright lies, to try and make Apple look good at the expense of Microsoft. One wonders just what Microsoft did to Eran in his childhood to cause this behaviour.”
I had to reprint the whole thing so that the intense ignorance and stupidity of such commentary can be fully appreciated.
“It has been proven time and time again that Daniel Eran will stop at nothing”
By whom? Where? How? Surely if Daniel Enran has been exposed as a vicious prevaricator, you can provide a reasoned argument or even a simple link to demonstrate such. As anyone who regularly *reads* his articles will attest, your claims are nonsense.
“try and make Apple look good at the expense of Microsoft”
Microsoft profits from an illegal monopoly. Microsoft envisions a world where the simplest forms of entertainment are slaved to corporate interests (Janus). Microsoft maintains a lock on desktop sales through vendor lock in, not user choice.
In other words, Microsoft makes Microsoft look bad, and Daniel merely points this out. Apple looks better by comparison because it simply *is* better.
It amuses many of us to no end that the very people who rant and rave about blinkered Apple “fanboys” make claims that are flat out lies in defense of Microsoft, a massive monopolistic corporation that requires nor cares about the support of it’s users.
Sorry everyone, I was bitten by an iBook as a child. I can’t help but lash out.
Why doesn’t Zune Tang Welcome us to The Social any more?
=(
Flannigan ecrit:
“To everyone accusing me of being a “troll”…
Maybe you should try actually using facts and logic instead of name-calling. But I guess I wouldn’t really expect any
better from supporters of RDM. But don’t mind me, just bury your head back under the sand and pretend that Apple
is the be all and end all of technology and Steve Jobs can do no wrong.”
Wonderful display of irony there, boy. Excellent illustration of ad hominem attack and logical fallacy. I am indebted to you for this great example I can use in my class as an aposite to correct, logical argument form.
Thanks again.
Dear Buster:
To Buster who thinks he’s so smart
Impressing everyone with his art
By writing a limerick
Thats as bad as his little dick
He probably kinda smells like a fart.
or how about,
Buster is really a big looney
Who comes from the land of the tooney
He really has no class
And smells like an ass
But what can you expect from a booby!
One other thing Buster and this is called reinforcement. You are such a ……You know!
To everyone who thinks that they are not wrong in accusing someone of being a troll. Big deal if he is or isn’t. Get your head out of your ass. You must reallybe a “fan” or “loyal” by being so staunch in your defence of something you’ll never influence. Does this give some kind of meaning to your life? Ooh ooh maybe steve will read my vigorous line of wit and I’ll impress him. Yeah and your mother probably wipes your ass too. All this site puts out is news. Like the mainstream media some true but also alot of sh.. And that comes from all over. One of the reasons I come here is to sometimes piss off retards who always act like little kids. Its easy and who cares what the main story is. One example is that Buster will always reply. He is as predictable as my macbook working. Maybe it is time to wipe off MacDailyNews from the bookmarks. Even pissing off little zune stains like Buster loses its appeal when you sit and think about it
@arnold ziffle
“Uh, the documents CBS aired regarding Bush’s “service” have not been proven to be false. “
It has been througly demonstrated that typewriters of that time could not have produced those documents. Furthermore, the purported aurthor of those documents is dead, very convienant. Third point, the original documents were not made available for independant forensics. It would be very easy to date the paper and ink.
I would like to respond to the charge that Bush “faked” his National Guard service. He was trained to fly a specific fighter. That plane never went into service in the Viet Nam war. By the time that model was decomomissioned, Bush did not have enough time to be certified in another fighter before his hitch was up. My brother was in the Navy at the same time and got out several months early because his hitch would have been up in the middle of the next cruse of his ship, the carrier Enterprise.
The hatred inspired by Bush is astounding in its intensity, the lies involved are not as surprising.