Dvorac, the Mac, and Platform Bias
In one of John Dvorac’s recent articles, he accuses the media of Mac bias and states it’s all because the columnists responsible for that coverage use Macs at the office. (Yes, there is a huge Mac conspiracy, and it involves 5% of the computer market.) I’ll take that as a truism, knowing how when I was looking at what platform to use when I was starting to use computers to write, I was advised to go with the Mac. And wish I had. I went with Windows because that was the platform being used at my day job I wanted home work to be compatible. And I’ve paid for it ever since.
Do I use Macs now? Yes. Do I think the Mac platform is better? Yes. In every sense? No. Does it bias what I’m writing? Well, that depends. I admit I’m a bit biased toward the Mac (having used both Windows and the Mac) but I do give Windows its just due. John makes the case that the media coverage on Microsoft is lame because the writers use Macs. Uh, huh. When was the last time anyone in your house got excited about a change to Windows XP? Could it be instead that Microsoft has simply failed to capture the public’s imagination? And Apple has?
Many of the mainstream PC magazines have voted Mac OS X as the outstanding operating system, and most of them use Windows machines. Secondly, Apple is in both the hardware and software business while Microsoft really is a software only company. It’s a lot easier to excite people about something they can hold rather than something they can only view on a computer screen. Individual users will get excited about new software that contains features they’ve been looking for; but the American public gets excited when you give them a new toy.
Frankly, I consider Dvorac’s argument a case of “speaking out of both sides of his mouth”. I’ve seen just as much prejudice against the Mac in his writing and in that of the Houston Chronicle’s local computer columnist, Dwight Silverman, an admitted Windows junkie. If Dvorac’s argument that computer writers cover the platform they’re using more than any other is true, then that also explains his own coverage and his latest bitch. However, I find that hard to buy for one overriding reason: journalists, especially those working for large papers or magazines, write about what they think will sell. They have to. Their jobs depend on it.
Nothing like a little controversy, eh, John?
Do I use Macs now? Yes. Do I think the Mac platform is better? Yes. In every sense? No. Does it bias what I’m writing? Well, that depends. I admit I’m a bit biased toward the Mac (having used both Windows and the Mac) but I do give Windows its just due. John makes the case that the media coverage on Microsoft is lame because the writers use Macs. Uh, huh. When was the last time anyone in your house got excited about a change to Windows XP? Could it be instead that Microsoft has simply failed to capture the public’s imagination? And Apple has?
Many of the mainstream PC magazines have voted Mac OS X as the outstanding operating system, and most of them use Windows machines. Secondly, Apple is in both the hardware and software business while Microsoft really is a software only company. It’s a lot easier to excite people about something they can hold rather than something they can only view on a computer screen. Individual users will get excited about new software that contains features they’ve been looking for; but the American public gets excited when you give them a new toy.
Frankly, I consider Dvorac’s argument a case of “speaking out of both sides of his mouth”. I’ve seen just as much prejudice against the Mac in his writing and in that of the Houston Chronicle’s local computer columnist, Dwight Silverman, an admitted Windows junkie. If Dvorac’s argument that computer writers cover the platform they’re using more than any other is true, then that also explains his own coverage and his latest bitch. However, I find that hard to buy for one overriding reason: journalists, especially those working for large papers or magazines, write about what they think will sell. They have to. Their jobs depend on it.
Nothing like a little controversy, eh, John?
posted by Andy Foster at
5:44 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home