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He's currently doing a good job of at least appearing neutral. See his recent comments on Apple's patent litigation against HTC -- he doesn't like that at all.

by samps 17y ago

He's currently doing a good job of at least appearing neutral. See his recent comments on Apple's patent litigation against HTC -- he doesn't like that at all. http://daringfireball.net/2010/03/this_apple_htc_patent_thing http://daringfireball.net/2010/03/this_apple_htc_patent_thin... (And I, of course, am a completely neutral third-party John Gruber evangelist.)

pavs 17y ago
Yeah, John Gruber is neutral about Apple the same way Cory Doctorow is neutral about open platform.
- ugh 17y ago
  I’m quite confused about the meaning of neutral in this context. Being neutral in itself doesn’t seem like a virtue to me. Being neutral is a useful position if you don’t know what you are talking about. Being neutral is a useful skill if people expect you to present facts. Both of those things don’t apply to either Cory Doctorow or John Gruber. It’s just normal that they hold and present certain views in their writing. Calling them out on not being neutral (or saying they successfully appear to be neutral) seems to not make any sense. I expect them to not be neutral. I don’t read BoingBoing or Daring Fireball for news.
  - pavs 17y ago
    My comment was meant as a sarcasm. Of course both of them are not neutral, its hard to say if one can be truly neutral but at least we expect most journalist/author/reviewer/whatever-you-may-call-them to be somewhat objective in their views when doing reviews. Both Doctorow and Gruber have very polarized views on this subject. Expecting Gruber (or Doctorow) to have neutral (or even an appearance of neutrality) views is quite silly. Fan-boys will remain fan-boys and Gruber is a classic example of a fan-boy who will take any criticism of apple or their products, personally. Yes, even fan-boys can say things against their idol occasionally, doesn't make them any less bias.
    - ugh 17y ago
      Ad hominem, dude. Ad hominem. “He is a fanboy!”/“He is not neutral!” is a classic ad hominem when not backed up by actual arguments :)
      - pavs 17y ago
        How long have you been reading his blog for? In order for my arguments to make sense to you, you will have to read more than just couple of his recent blog post. I don't think it is ad hominem, I think it is widely accepted that he is an Apple fanboy. Your mileage may vary. I am a happy macbook/iphone owner (but not exclusive apple user) and I think he is an apple fanboy.
        ugh 17y ago
        I have been reading Daring Fireball since 2004 or so.
        DavidSJ 17y ago
        I don't think it is ad hominem, I think it is widely accepted that he is an Apple fanboy. The truth or falsehood of a claim is logically separate from whether it is an ad-hominem attack.

by samps 17y ago

pavs 17y ago

Yeah, John Gruber is neutral about Apple the same way Cory Doctorow is neutral about open platform.

ugh 17y ago
I’m quite confused about the meaning of neutral in this context. Being neutral in itself doesn’t seem like a virtue to me. Being neutral is a useful position if you don’t know what you are talking about. Being neutral is a useful skill if people expect you to present facts. Both of those things don’t apply to either Cory Doctorow or John Gruber. It’s just normal that they hold and present certain views in their writing. Calling them out on not being neutral (or saying they successfully appear to be neutral) seems to not make any sense. I expect them to not be neutral. I don’t read BoingBoing or Daring Fireball for news.
- pavs 17y ago
  My comment was meant as a sarcasm. Of course both of them are not neutral, its hard to say if one can be truly neutral but at least we expect most journalist/author/reviewer/whatever-you-may-call-them to be somewhat objective in their views when doing reviews. Both Doctorow and Gruber have very polarized views on this subject. Expecting Gruber (or Doctorow) to have neutral (or even an appearance of neutrality) views is quite silly. Fan-boys will remain fan-boys and Gruber is a classic example of a fan-boy who will take any criticism of apple or their products, personally. Yes, even fan-boys can say things against their idol occasionally, doesn't make them any less bias.
  - ugh 17y ago
    Ad hominem, dude. Ad hominem. “He is a fanboy!”/“He is not neutral!” is a classic ad hominem when not backed up by actual arguments :)
    - pavs 17y ago
      How long have you been reading his blog for? In order for my arguments to make sense to you, you will have to read more than just couple of his recent blog post. I don't think it is ad hominem, I think it is widely accepted that he is an Apple fanboy. Your mileage may vary. I am a happy macbook/iphone owner (but not exclusive apple user) and I think he is an apple fanboy.
      - ugh 17y ago
        I have been reading Daring Fireball since 2004 or so.
      - DavidSJ 17y ago
        I don't think it is ad hominem, I think it is widely accepted that he is an Apple fanboy. The truth or falsehood of a claim is logically separate from whether it is an ad-hominem attack.