“If you are a long-time Apple user then you have probably heard of the four pundits below. They have written reams of bad advice, poor comparisons, unclear analysis, insane predictions, and general crap. But if you are relatively new to the world of Apple then you might mistakenly assume that these guys actually know what they’re talking about. Rest assured, they don’t. This is a simple guide to the four biggest idiots out there writing about all things Apple. They all have different styles, but in the end you can’t really trust any of them. Here they are, in no particular order: the top four pundits you should always ignore,” James R. Stoup writes for Apple Matters.
• John C. Dvorak — Don’t mistake commentary for journalism
• Rob Enderle — Mr. “I-will-say-anything-for-a-quote”
• George Ou — He lost his mind during the wireless-MacBook-hack scandal and never recovered
• Paul Thurrott — Facts are sooooo optional
Full article here.
Add Andrew Kantor to the list, too.
Related articles:
Kantor: ‘Mac fans are nothing if not predictable’ – January 12, 2007
USA Today writer: Apple iPhone is an ‘ordinary, average product’ at heart – January 12, 2007
USA Today tech writer: Apple’s Boot Camp will get Mac users to switch to Windows – April 14, 2006
USA Today columnist calls Mac users and Apple fans a ‘cult of blind little lemmings’ – September 16, 2005
USA Today: Apple’s iPod nano ‘a beautiful piece of hardware’ – but ‘the competition has caught up’ – September 16, 2005
USA Today writer: Apple’s iTunes Music Store’s ‘restrictive license’ fosters rampant piracy – March 25, 2005
USA Today writer unhappy with MacDailyNews and some Mac users’ emails – October 18, 2004
USA Today writer attempts to downplay Apple’s role in Virginia Tech supercomputer – September 03, 2004
What? Should I comment on this? Does anyone here need to support the fact that these guys are a waste of DNA?
I give you the first inductees to Journalism’s Hall of Shame.
Maybe they are the four horsemen of the apocalypse?
Now THIS is one article I will be emailing to my friends! (and my editor)
MW – “wrong”
He, he!
America, what a country! Even mindless blowhards can raise a family and become (in)famous in small circles.
In other news, when you are reading about humanitarian topics there are four people you should ignore:
Pol Pot
Adolph Hitler
Kim Jong Il
Joseph Stalin
It’s a good rule:
IGNORE THE TROLLS!
If you feed them, they just come back for more.
That was a good article. I’ve known this for quite some time but is it good to see someone summarizing the Fabulous Four all in one place. I bookmarked it, and I’ll be sending it to Business Week, ZDnet (for what good THAT will do), or any other publication that seems clueless.
Add me too, I’m trying to make a name for myself.
WiseGuy
You talking to me?
You talking to me?
There are a few pund-nit-wits here, too.
Never listen to anything I say.
I agree with Stoup. But he’s feeding the troll.
Dvorak, he says, is not a journalist, but a blogger trolling for hits. And to prove it, here’s a link!
LOL!
“There are a few pund-nit-wits here, too.”
Yeah, but we’re just talking trash, chewing the fat. Those losers are talking trash (FUD)for money.
And here are four pizza places you should never visit-
The Pizza Nut Hut
Pizza Inn U
Goddammit’s Pizza
Shakey’s DT Buffet
Add Marc Stephens aka Robert X. Cringley to the list.
From now on, whenever you feel the urge to link to those tools – err, “analysts” – link to this article instead. We’ll all be much happier, and they’ll go away when they stop being fed.
In fact, perhaps this article will then come up as #1 for every stupid article they write – that would be cool. From now on, if I hear they wrote a dumb article, I will mention the name of it and link to this Apple Matters article instead. They already don’t get my traffic, but this is one step better.
While we are doing lists, modern yellow belly cowards of today:
– Nancy Pelosi
– John Murtha
– Harry Reid
– John Dumbass Swift Boat Kerry
It will be fun to watch stupid people like Enderle and Dvorak slowly disintegrate with Windows and that fat clown running it.
How about the Hollywood losers list…
– George Clooney
– Sean Penn
– Rosie O’Donnell
– Charlie Sheen
Uh-ohh “x”, now you’ve done it!
Nah, ‘x’ is exactly the kind of post to troll-rate . . . and ignore.
Somehow, I don’t think ‘x’ is short for Malcolm……or Nat.
-Rush Limbaugh
-Ann Coulter
-Glenn Beck
-Don Imus
-Sylvia Browne
-Uri Geller
-John Edward
-The Pope
Way Off Topic MDN Posters To Ignore:
“x”
Add more to this list at your convenience.
Back on topic: this article should be required reading for all Mac newbies. In that way they’d avoid a lot of headache, frustration and wasted time pounding out responses to those hit-whores (or hit-ho’s).
Those four make Cara Garretson, the looney who just wrote a column for Network World called “Can an iPod bring down your company?” like a dabbler in anti-Apple FUD.
She’s claiming Apple haven’t secured iPods so that they can’t be used for data theft when used in removable hard-disk mode.
Here’s the Macalope:
“Really, one might be inclined to wonder why a thief would decide to spend $79 on a shuffle when a generic flash drive — one that doesn’t require you to load iTunes and Quicktime on the machine you’re trying to steal data from — with the same capacity can be had for $10. …
“One might also point out that sales of flash drives must surely dwarf sales of the iPod, but at this point you’re just trying to impose logic where none exists.”
http://www.macalope.com/2007/04/16/ipod-killers-no-killer-ipods/
But she’s just a beginner compared to Dvorak, Enderle, Ou, and Thurrott.
Dear Mr. X:
What have you done for your country? How many conflicts have you been in serving your country? How many awards/medels have you received (and please name them)? Let’s cut Mr. Murtha and Mr. Kerry a little slack and remind you that they have served their country and their opinions should be listened to. If you don’t like their opinions fine. Oh by the way this is a Mac Computer site not a political opinion site….
Wow, Chrissy, Rush Limbaugh AND Don Imus in the same post. How did you keep your fingers from tying themselves all up into unbreakable knots?
It’s Uri Geller and the Pope that got me. I doubt the Pope has ever commented on the Mac … although I suppose Uri Geller may have claimed to be able to SSH into one using mental telepathy only.
here’s mine
MacDude
Peterson
Mindless Fanboy
ZuneTang
oh, and one more. Any post with “trusted computing” commentary in it.
More people not to listen to:
George Bush
Don Rumsfeld
Condi Rice
Any White House spokesperson for the Bush Admin.
…like
” rel=”nofollow”>these guys?
Come on. These guys gotta make the list:
Al “Hasn’t Been Funny Since SNL” Franken
Michael “Fat Ass” Moore
Al “Dumb As A Post” Gore
Janeane “Lesbian Scientologist” Garofalo
Now, why did you go and get political on us? If you want to pick a fight with someone online, why don’t you go talk trash on a windows blog?
I don’t necessarily agree with Rush Limbaugh, but at least the man has enough sense to use and promote Macs.
Word Of Mouth, C1…a lot of info there, I am sure you know.
Step off, Bi-atch! I’m comin’ for YOU!!
(Get it?)
“Now, why did you go and get political on us? If you want to pick a fight with someone online, why don’t you go talk trash on a windows blog?
I don’t necessarily agree with Rush Limbaugh, but at least the man has enough sense to use and promote Macs.”
I look forward to the day when the only thing Rush Limbaugh is announcing is Greyhound bus terminal arrivals and departures. Hannity will be handling baggage, Coulter can be hospitality hostess.
Republicans hate Democrats. Democrats hate Republicans. How nice. I’m so glad America is such a “united” country. You people should be ashamed of yourselves.
Then again, why should I listen to any of you.
I’m wicked clever. And too cool for MDN school.
sigh.
I’d add Andrew Orlowski (writes for The Register) to the list of people who aren’t qualified to write about Apple (or most anything really).
Rob Enderlie is a Marketing Analyst.
In order to understand his comments you must know his client list.
When he says something absurd about Macs, you must know that he consults for Dell and HP.
When he praises the Zune ecosystem you should know he is consulting for Microsoft.
He’s not nuts. He’s not vainly looking for his name in an article. He’s just doing his job.
Enderle Ou Thurrott Dvorak
is an anagram for
O.K.! Unloved, hatred torturer!
i’m with you theloniousMac… “sigh”.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”rolleyes” style=”border:0;” /> here it comes… another political pissin’ contest.
MONTEX:
Please do not mistake the back and forth posturing you see on this website for “hate.” You see, while the media paints Americans with 2 colors, conservative or liberal, we are not so simple.
We are passionate. We are passionate about Mac vs. PC, we are passionate about liberal vs. conservative, we are passionate about many things.
We are not simple though. I believe in smaller government, personal freedom, the rights of the individual, personal responsibility, strong defense, religious freedom, patriotism, strong borders and lower taxes, and American sovernty to name a few things. Most people would immediately call me Republican. I can go on to say I have no problem with gay marriage, abortion, sex and violence in the media, and that I am an athiest. Well that list makes me a flaming liberal.
I have done enough pain staking research to know that Global Warming is at best one ounce of fact returning 1000 pounds of conjecture.
What does all this make me?
An individual, and that is what we Americans are above all else.
We are quite possibly the most introspective nation on the face of the planet. We beat ourselves up over every mistake so frankly, we don’t need your pathetic uneducated observations on whether we should be ashamed of ourselves.
Worry about your own nation, and maybe take a moment to wonder what despot you’d be living under, if this crazy one wasn’t here.
When he [Rob Enderle] says something absurd about Macs, you must know that he consults for Dell and HP.
In other words, he’s a pimp and a liar.
He’s not nuts… He’s just doing his job.
If he’s not nuts, then he’s a pitiful human being.
The question is MDN, how do you RANK them?
Worst imo is Enderle, then Thurrott, then Dvorak and then Ou and Cantor.
Enderle and Thurrott are comlete and utter tarts.
Hitler ? C’mon. I understand the Pope. All Christians must die. But Hitler ? You want to convict him for a non-crime like Martha Stewart. Let’s try to be nice.
Oh and, death to America.
“Enderle Ou Thurrott Dvorak
is an anagram for
O.K.! Unloved, hatred torturer!”
TMF, man you are kinda freakin’ me out. How do you do that?
Surprised no one has added Hiwatha Bray to the list. Perhaps he’s been taking his meds lately, but us old salts remember his fixation on the iMac “hockey puck” mouse and no floppy drives ravings.
I can’t remember the last time I even thought about using a floppy and decent USB mice have been available for under $20 for at least 10 years.
The last two cars I bought haven’t had locks on the glove compartment (and they are the top of the line tim level models) or floor mats.
Leaves me with the impression that PC owners are Stingy, misers, or henpecked when it comes to trivial amounts of money.
— Hano
P.S. For all of the posts who insistently seek to insert ongoing national politics into the discussion… The following is directed squarely at you:
<u>PLEASE</u> give it a rest!
Isn’t it bad enough that we have nearly two dozen candidates running for president a full 20 months before the election? Isn’t nauseating enough that no one can turn on the news and not see footage of some candidate or another at a fund-raiser? I come here to escape such foolishness, not watch it splash over.
Grow up!
The most disappointing to me over the years would have to be Guy Kawasaki. I used to love his commentary in Macworld, but he turned to the dark side.
Surprised no one has added Hiwatha Bray to the list. Perhaps he’s been taking his meds lately, but us old salts remember his fixation on the iMac “hockey puck” mouse and no floppy drives ravings.
I can’t remember the last time I even thought about using a floppy and decent USB mice have been available for under $20 for at least 10 years. The last two cars I bought haven’t had locks on the glove compartment (and they are the top of the line trim level models) or floor mats.
Leaves me with the impression that PC owners are Stingy, misers, or henpecked when it comes to trivial amounts of money.
— Hano
P.S. For all of the posts who insistently seek to insert ongoing national politics into the discussion… The following is directed squarely at you:
<u>PLEASE</u> give it a rest!
Isn’t it bad enough that we have nearly two dozen candidates running for president a full 20 months before the election? Isn’t nauseating enough that no one can turn on the news and not see footage of some candidate or another at a fund-raiser? I come here to escape such foolishness, not watch it splash over.
Grow [the F] up!
Yeah, PLEASE keep the American political garbage to…hmmm…oh yeah, an American political forum.
Haven’t you guys figured out why the rest of the world hates you yet?
cant post
halp!
“Haven’t you guys figured out why the rest of the world hates you yet?”
Yes. Jealousy breeds contempt.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”tongue wink” style=”border:0;” />
Thorin: There are several decent anagram generators and some excellent English to binary translators and even a few Klingon translators out on the intarweb. And a few dirty ASCII art collections are still around.
Here’s one of the better anagram makers:
http://www.anagramgenius.com/server.html
Er, I don’t think they’re jealous.
I have seen Enderle quoted in a two or three print articles in the past few months.
Er, who gives a sh*t what they are. Why do people fixate on this need to be liked? Like me, hate, kiss my ass. I don’t care.
Take a bath, Europe, you stink.
Oooh, dirty ASCII, sounds nasty. Back that ASCII up, oh yeah.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”red face” style=”border:0;” />
Oh, well at least I stay out of the politics…
And, er, I don’t think it’s hate.
Here are some examples of who HATE us
Iran
Korea
China
Russia
Syria
Sudan
And a lot of that is just the governments and a percent of the population who control the money.
Most countries want to emulate us, in some fashion. Not in foreign policy, of course. That would require they spend way more on other countries than they want.
easy, Thorin, or she will be thor in something, too!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”big surprise” style=”border:0;” />
What’s perverse, TT, is the billions of dollars in aide we give to those countries through the UN and through our own channels. I say we quit the UN and ask them to move their headquarters to a more deserving nation, like Egypt or Venezuela. Imagine the monumental amount of tax dollars we could use to benefit Americans in need if we only had the spine to tell the UN to get stuffed. Our pockets are getting picked by every one goat dust bowl, meanwhile we have Americans living with no electricity or running water! John Edwards is right, there are two Americas…the one he lives in and the one next door where his dirt poor neighbors can barely scratch out an existence…
“the one he lives in and the one next door where his dirt poor neighbors can barely scratch out an existence…”
not to worry…they won’t be living there long. Had to put the place up for sale. For some reason his property taxes went up. Something about a multimillion dollar house in the ‘hood built, I think, by this guy……
It costs $400 to look that good TT. Notice the silky radiance? His hair is touchably soft!
Yes, he would make quite the vogue commander-in-chief.
And to many, that IS substance.
Just the man we need to lead us in retreat, hair billowing in the breeze, as he signs the new tax hikes to ‘equalize’ the disparity of our shameless society.
Run, Fred, run.
Add to the list anyone who posts political diatribes on a Mac news site.
You people of earth are idiots!
Here’s my list!
– Cpt. Obvious – the irony! Fails to see the obvious half the time.
– Reality Check – more irony. Reality Check is worst when he tries to live up to his name.
– Enuz – either he’s really good at faking, or he’s the craziest Windows lemming I’ve ever seen. In this one, he was just looking for it.
– =[corrected] – spends way too much time on stupid stuff, like flipping through archives like pages of a book.
Thank you for your lack of support, and remember that I will never be quite as bad as a chrome-plated turd.
OBill-Wan Kenobi
What’s perverse, TT, is the billions of dollars in aide we give to those countries through the UN and through our own channels.
No, what’s perverse is that the US spends many billions more trying to impose US will on the rest of the world, even when it’s painfully clear that the world does not want it.
Never mind the billions the US spends to arm governments around the world with little care for who ends up getting killed.
This restraint business is killing me.
I may fall off the wagon.
@ His Shadow
Imposing our will on the rest of the world? Exaggerate much? See, that’s the problem with arguing in hyperbole – you say something like that and any rational person immediately dismisses you because it a ridiculous statement. Now if you had picked a specific example of where and how we were trying to “impose our will” it would be worth reading and discussing because you may have a valid point. But what if the U.S. had zero global presence? Who would put pressure on the dictators of the world? Europe? They would word a benign statement of displeasure and threaten sanctions followed by caving in and apologizing for being overbearing coupled with a huge financial package that would ultimately be used to buy weapons and/or solid gold toilets. For a clear example of Europes diplomatic skills see Iran and North Korea.
As far as selling weapons: England, France, Germany, Russia, China, Pakistan and North Korea all sell arms/weapons systems to other nations. In fact it’s French and German weapons killing American troops in Iraq right now. Do they care any more than we do who gets killed by their weapons? Should they? Why do you hold the U.S. to a higher standard than those other countries? Because it’s convenient and it feels good to slam the big bad U.S. Right? Right.
We’re just so damn evil, it’s no wonder people are leaving this country in droves.
OBill-Wan Kenobi
Imposing our will on the rest of the world? Exaggerate much
Did you have another USA in mind? Is there another USA that maintains massive bases all over the world, and uses it’s Navy to project it’s power over nations? Is there another USA that decides to pursue illegal wars in contravention of international law under false pretexts?
See, that’s the problem with arguing in hyperbole – you say something like that and any rational person immediately dismisses you because it a ridiculous statement.
The problem isn’t my supposed hyperbole, it’s the USA’s willful ignorance with regards to the direct and indirect results of their actions, and it’s citizens willful ignorance with regard to understanding anything about the world out side their borders.
Canada is the USA’s largest supplier of energy and goods and most US citizens couldn’t find Canada on a map.
Arrogance and Ignorance are a dangerous combination, and the current Administration has both in spades.
We won’t bother to address the active economic sabotage directed at said trading partner, or the refusal to abide by international agreements.
@ His Shadow
Is there another USA that maintains massive bases all over the world
See, here’s where you and I agree. I’m of the opinion we should pull our troops out of Europe, Japan and S. Korea.
Canada is the USA’s largest supplier of energy and goods and most US citizens couldn’t find Canada on a map.
Most Americans can’t find Canada on a map? Wow. You’re really reaching, pal. Really.