An Awful Review of the ANN and the Kobo Touch

[boswd]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

I'm not sure I'd be that harsh. His reviews of the original Nook and the Kindle have merit. I think the problem (at least from an e-ink perspective) is that he's inordinately fond of tablets. He seems convinced that dedicated readers are doomed, because "there's an app for that". What I find odd about that is that he's actually a photography enthusiast.

Even the most meager of cell phones can take pictures now. It actually takes some work to find a cell phone that can't take a picture. And yet, Pogue hasn't been calling for the death of dedicated cameras the way he has for the death of e-readers. (And he's not alone in that, of course.)

you are right about tha, I mentioned that in my post earlier. He gives the best camera tricks and tips. Had a show on the Science Channel called "It's all Geek to me" Wonderful show.

He's really not all bad but I think Bhartman is right about him. I think pogue feels eink was stop along the tech journey but hasn't advanced to keep up. And in a way he's right. I mean the best tech advancement eink has come out with in the past 5 years is the Pearl Screen and all that is is a better contrast ratio. Animation and color needs to be injected.

He's a Mac and Apple guy from way back, so any product competing against Apple I usually take with a grain of salt.

but anything camera and photography related, he's fantastic.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Very good. I agree.

Who are the good ones? We should start a thread somewhere. My favorites of the moment are Anand Lal Shimpi, Andy Ihnatko, and the former Engadget writers now housed at thisismynext.com.

I too like Anand great tech under the hood details.

the former guys at engadget can be funny I like Josh Topalsky (spelling) he's my favorite Apple fan boy, he makes me laugh. Paul Miller isn't bad. Niles guy, ehhh can be a touch arrogant at times. That girl they brought with them, she did an Asus Transformer review, she's really good.

I also like David Carnoy from Cnet, It's just that Cnet really doesn't allocate enough space for indepth reviews, But he likes ereaders and is a reader in general. So I like his views.

Lisa from Mobiletech review is quite possilbe my favorite The most indepth and detailed reviews you'll find. She could be an iOS person or an Android person, a kindle person or a nook person and you'll never know.

I enjoy Pogue for camera's and quirky gadgets, any apple comepeting reviews I usually take a pass.
Though like him or not he's one of the reviewers out there you want a good review from. The bulk of his audience is the more affluent 40+ upper middle class male crowd. The ones that have no problems buying "toys" at a drop of a hat.

[JSWolf]

But these are not, ahem, iPads. The screen image doesn’t actually scroll when you swipe up a list; you wait a second, and then the new list image appears all at once. Similarly, these aren’t multitouch screens. You can’t pinch or spread two fingers on the screen to shrink or reduce the type size.

If it's not an iPad, it's garbage. What a moron!

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

He's a Mac and Apple guy from way back

Mystifying. Why do we assume that just because he wrote for Macworld at the beginning of his career and some books subsequently, that he can't write about Apple without bias?

He also wrote entire books on Microsoft XP, Vista and Microsoft Office too. Twitter and the Palmpilot also. Digital photography too.

Maybe he shouldn't review anything but Linux apps.

He's a generalist. If you want a partisan, look no further than Gruber, Siracusa or the Macalope.

[OtterBooks]

Originally Posted by bhartman36

I'm not sure I'd be that harsh. His reviews of the original Nook and the Kindle have merit. I think the problem (at least from an e-ink perspective) is that he's inordinately fond of tablets. He seems convinced that dedicated readers are doomed, because "there's an app for that". What I find odd about that is that he's actually a photography enthusiast.

Maybe it was a bit harsh. As an Apple user, I read Pogue for years (going as far back as OS7). I suspect his feelings towards e-ink readers are a combination of his fondness for tablets, default antipathy towards any device that serves a function he feels can be accommodated by an Apple product, and his not being a reader.

That last one may seem like an unfair guess, but I know more than a few tech writers. Pleasure reading is an odd novelty for them, since their time is absorbed by the constant necessity of keeping up to date with tech news. For a person whose leisure reading consists of a yearly novel read over vacation, a dedicated device designed solely around recreating the experience of paper books is gonna seem more superfluous and 'primitive' than it is to someone for whom pleasure reading is an inextricable part of their life; a "reader," if you will.

Put more simply: many (not all) tech writers just don't get it, because most of them are about as qualified to judge e-ink readers as a bachelor is qualified to review a baby monitor. Some of those have LCD displays, too.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

The bulk of his audience is the more affluent 40+ upper middle class male crowd. The ones that have no problems buying "toys" at a drop of a hat.

I get that impression from Mossberg.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Mystifying. Why do we assume that just because he wrote for Macworld at the beginning of his career and some books subsequently, that he can't write about Apple without bias?

He also wrote entire books on Microsoft XP, Vista and Microsoft Office too. Twitter and the Palmpilot also. Digital photography too.

Maybe he shouldn't review anything but Linux apps.

He's a generalist. If you want a partisan, look no further than Gruber, Siracusa or the Macalope.

he'll always have a bit of partisian in him. I've been reading Pogue for years, overall I like him. It's not as biased to a point where he won't acknowledge great features and performances of non apple products. But you'll never find a review of his where he'll say x or y is better than Apple's x or product. Never.

but he's an Apple guy through and through and it comes out alot in his reviews.

I like the guy but to claim he's a generalist is not accurate.

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

I get that impression from Mossberg.

yeah definintly him too, Mossberg also pulls in the aging affluent Baby Boomers as well. Again retired rich men want "toys"

[RockdaMan]

Ahh. Found it. He speaks:

Every now and then, someone online calls me an “Apple fanboy.” The implication is that, in my New York Times column, I give Apple a free ride, that I applaud Apple’s every move with enthusiasm.

Now, I’m a technology critic. And credibility is all a critic really has. My job and reputation are far more important to me than — well, whatever it is that the fanboy-callers think I get out of praising Apple. So I’ll admit that the criticism bothers me, and I’d like to respond.

[RockdaMan]

Originally Posted by boswd

But you'll never find a review of his where he'll say x or y is better than Apple's x or product. Never.

Look up at my previous post. You lose!

“Why can’t you download your pictures onto this thing straight from a digital camera? Why do you have to use iTunes, a music program, to manage the photo loading? And, inevitably: Why can’t it play video? After all, for the same $500, you can buy a Windows Mobile Portable Media Center that plays not only music and photos, but videos too.”

Apple wants $130 for Panther. That’s a fine how-de-do for everyone who dutifully paid $130 last year for version 10.2 and $130 a year before that for version 10.1. Microsoft, at least, has the decency to wait a few years between upgrades.”

Apple TV: “It has an Internet connection and a hard drive; why can’t it record TV shows like a TiVo?

“iPhoto 5 can accommodate about 20,000 photos per library before it starts bogging down; for the true digicam fanatic, that’s about one afternoon’s shooting at Disney World. Picasa [for Windows] handily juggles 250,000 photos without breaking a sweat.
”

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Ahh. Found it. He speaks:

All the while 7 of the 10 ebooks he's hawking on his page are all Apple releated.


Look as I said I like Pogue, is he an over the top Apple fanboy blog writer, no, but make no doubt he's an Apple guy and it does show through his reviews of competing products.

Displaying snips from some reviews doesn't exactly put himself on the un biased list. Even the biggest fanboy blogger ususally find a few cons here and there about products they love.

[RockdaMan]

[boswd]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Look up at my previous post. You lose!

none of that says it's right out "better". He may point out better bang for your buck but that doesn't mean he's saying the product top to bottom is the better choice. Or maybe a feature here and there may be better on a competing product.

As i said before, I don't think he's an over the top gushing Apple fan boy reviewer.

[bhartman36]

Originally Posted by RockdaMan

Mystifying. Why do we assume that just because he wrote for Macworld at the beginning of his career and some books subsequently, that he can't write about Apple without bias?

That's got nothing to do with it. You don't have to know his history to know his biases. It's not like he tries to hide them. Look at any review where he compares anything Apple to any other product in that category. It's not something he writes about objectively.

Case in point. He spends half the video mocking the Xoom before he even begins taking the Xoom seriously.

And here's his review of the Galaxy Tab.

If you want to save yourself some time, I'll give you the synopsis of both videos: "It's not an iPad, so it's sh**."

[RockdaMan]