I printed it out this time around. It clocked in at 112 pages from Safari Reader. I can’t wait to dive into it this evening. If you are a Mac nerd by any stretch of the imagination, this is the review to read.
Category: Journalism
Thoughts on Review Writing
Last week, I wrote a little bit about the complications that can arise when writing about software.
But there’s a whole other side to writing in-depth reviews, like the one I published on OS X Lion.
While I am proud of the almost 3,000 words in that review, it was utterly exhausting to spend so much time digging into beta software, trying to explain things I discovered in a way that would be helpful for my readers. Coming up with ways to describe Launchpad and Mission Control isn’t as easy as it may seem.
The iPad and Magazines
This is a great piece by Shawn Blanc. Instapaper it now.
Thurrott Accuses NYT of Being Anti-Microsoft, Pro-Apple
I’ve subscribed to The New York Times for over a decade now and … I just give up. This paper is so pro-Apple and so anti-Microsoft that it’s hard to excuse anymore. It’s blatant, it’s constant, and it’s too much.
When my kids ask me what “the pot calling the kettle black” means, I’m going to send them to this post.
Apple Insider Theorizes on iPad 3 Based on Photos of an Internal Cable
The More Things Change...
Dave Feldman, unveiling the TechCrunch redesign:
TechCrunch is bold. It’s raw. It’s fast-paced. With 50 articles crossing the home page daily we couldn’t simply redesign the reader-facing site; we had to think about the CMS too. We wanted to support you, the readers, because you read every article we post. We wanted to give you better context across posts and topics, new ways to slice and dice content so you can dig into what interests you. We get a huge amount of RSS traffic and wanted to keep providing a full experience to those readers too.
David Pogue, Public Relations Appearances and the Independents
New York Times tech writer David Pogue is in the news, but not as usual.
NYT Public Editor Arthur S. Brisbane:
Journalists are accustomed to seeing public relations pitches in their inbox. I was surprised, though, when I recently got one on June 8 touting tech columnist David Pogue’s speech to PR professionals in which he credits PR with providing most of his ideas.
The pitch revealed that for $159 I could view a video of Pogue’s “Pitch Me, Baby” speech set for an online airing on July 11. The speech is derived from an earlier appearance at a public relations conference called the Media Relations Summit, staged by Ragan Communications.
Chickenshit
I wouldn’t have pegged AllThingsD as being this unprofessional.
The Bearded One Gives Advice
Jim Dalrymple’s advice for tech writers:
Don’t be afraid to take a stand on a topic; Be honest with yourself and your readers; if you are wrong, admit the mistake and move on; Don’t write link bait; write about things you enjoy; and put some personality in your writing.
When it comes right down to it, I write for my readers and so should you. Those people may enjoy my style of writing, the topics I choose to write about or the honesty and humor that comes through in my stories.
On Gannett Layoffs
Newspaper publisher Gannett Co. is laying off 700 workers, or 2 percent of its work force, in the latest cutback triggered by a relentless advertising slump.
[…]
Gannett has reduced its work force by 20,000 employees during the past five years through layoffs, attrition and other actions, such as the sale of a Hawaii newspaper. Before the latest cuts, it had 32,600 employees.
Belt tightening helped Gannett boost its earnings by 66 percent last year. The performance resulted in a $1.75 million bonus for Gannett CEO Craig Dubow, a 21 percent increase from $1.45 million in 2009.
The Hurley Bird and the App Orchard
On Typos and Quality Writing
In this week’s Read and Trust newsletter, Ben Brooks asked this question:
Are typos and quality writing mutually exclusive?
I would say that while these two aren’t mutually exclusive, typos and poor grammar can severely damage one’s writing. For many people — myself included — a writer’s message is damaged if it is hampered by comma splices, poorly-chosen words and simple typos.
Of course, everyone has issues with grammar and typos. They are inevitable, but if these errors are consistent and widespread, it makes me wonder how much time a writer is really putting into their work.