Is the media biased towards Apple or is Dvorak off his meds again?

If you don't already, listen to TWiT. You'll soon realize Dvorak is an equal opportunity complainer. He's not a bad guy, that's just his style.

As to Dvorak, I think he honestly gets a bad rap. He's like the old crotchety granddad of tech journalism. Half of what he says is BS but it's funny as hell to watch him get all worked up about, and occasionally when you least expect it he'll say something insightful. He's the first person I've heard trying to say that Microsoft's days are numbered, and it makes me think he's wrong, but it's fun to hear him say it. I'm sure he has a point in some weird way. An inordinate amount of computers in television, movies, commercials and catalogs are Macs. Why? Because a lot of the people in those industries love them. As to Bush, all I have to say is "Mission accomplished." Didn't his poll numbers fall below 40% recently?

Dan M - you're right, of course, and I knew that as I was frantically typing this post. But I am weak and very bad at biting my tongue. I admit it.

Haha, TUAW got punk'd by JD. He should have his own show or something...

I guess Dvorak is back on the Microsoft payroll again, although he's probably off his meds, too. Hell, if he's getting the kind of graft that I suspect that Uncle Bill is supplying him, he can afford to be loopy. But from deep inside his jumbled, conspiracy filled, atrophying brain, one simple truth did come out right - Apple is getting a plethora of publicity. Is this because 90% of the newspapers in this country are using Macintosh computers? No. Apple is getting the publicity because they're making news with the iPod, iTunes, and OSX. Meanwhile, from Microsoft it's the same old same old. Another Operating system that's prone to hack attacks, viruses, spyware, and crashes on a whim. Whoopee. But to be fair and balanced, unlike Pox News (motto: "Pox News - We distort, you abide."), I do believe that there are a couple of "suck up" factors here. The first one has to do with demographics. Newspapers - nay, the news media in general - are hurting because their readership consists of old codgers, like Dvorak, and they're dropping dead like flies. So, to expand their circulation, newspapers are trying to come up with stories that'll appeal to 18-35 year olds - their "key" demographic. The iPod, iTunes, and Apple in general already holds an audience with this age group, and, therefore, it's safe for newspapers' to assume that stories on these things will make these people want to buy newspapers. With Microsoft, newspapers could run stories on on the XBox, or how to hack into Windows and raise havoc. One's a legitimate story, the other one will get the newspaper's butt sued. And, quite frankly, I think people are sick and tired about reading about how they can protect their Windows Machines from viruses and spyware. The second suck up factor here is Steve Jobs. The guy's charismatic, has a great comeback story, and has the ultimate "Screw you, I'm going to do it my way and it's going to come out perfect because it was done my way" attitude. The media loves that. Jobs, and the coverage he's getting with Apple, reminds me of Lee Iococca and Chrysler back in the 1980's. Everybody said that the media was sucking up to Chrysler, too, but that doesn't account for Chrysler's paying off a billion dollar loan in three years and for a success that it's still enjoying today. Even though there are these suck up factors, it all boils down to this truth - Apple's has all the attention because Apple is demanding the attention. And Dvorak speaks of the iPod being late to the market. When's the Microsoft music player coming out? John, either take your meds or be quiet!

I hate to break up the party folks, but the topic is Dvorak being an idiotic troll, not politics. The Fox reference was a point of irony, based on a common observation about bias. Comment on that point if you wish, since it would be on topic in the right context, but leave the rest out, please.

Anyone who thinks conservatives have not criticized the Bush White House has been living under a rock for well over a month now. Conservatives have shredded the president over spending, Katrina response, and of course, his Supreme Court pick. Here's Robert Bork (no liberal he) on Bush in yesterday's Wall Street Journal: "With a single stroke--the nomination of Harriet Miers--the president has damaged the prospects for reform of a left-leaning and imperialistic Supreme Court, taken the heart out of a rising generation of constitutional scholars, and widened the fissures within the conservative movement. That's not a bad day's work--for liberals." So please check yer facts, folks. Thanks.

NEWS ALERT!!!! *Liberals admit that Bill Clinton was in fact caught with his d**k in the mouth of an intern. *Liberal commenter Jacob Varghese tries to do the same with no luck.

I think you just fell for the classic Dvorak technique. When things are getting slow for him (and who regards him as the major technology writer any more?) he shoots out something like this that is, frankly, a troll. This will generate tons of hits and publicity for him at a time when his writing alone no longer does that. It is a pattern we've seen before. In general, it is probably best to not support him by responding much at all.

That's the worst you can think of, doug? Clinton fucked an intern? You think that really compares to bankrupting your country and sending your troops into an unwinnable, illegal "war"? Give your head a shake, man. Liberalism has nothing to do with it. Conservatives should be equally mortified by Bush, because last I checked, they are going to have to pay for it just like the Democrats. Most Americans, whatever their political stripe, do not fall into Bush's target demographic: the rich. He must love that you partisans keep it about right versus left when it is actually about class. As for Dvorak, fuck him and his irrelevant muckraking.