5 ms·
> Yeah John Gruber has really become a shill over the last few years I remember reading sentiments to that effect since 2004. I doubt he's getting paid directl
by pilsetnieks 6y ago
> Yeah John Gruber has really become a shill over the last few years
I remember reading sentiments to that effect since 2004. I doubt he's getting paid directly, so he could only be a shill in a very loose sense of the word. He does get paid in review units and access, though.
I think he's maybe overly enthusiastic about the good stuff, and skews toward the positive when matters are questionable but he has called out Apple's corporate malfeasance and pointed out technical shortcomings in the past. He's biased but that's a one man blog for a specific audience.
- GekkePrutser 6y agoPersonally I do think that very access to inside information makes him at least partially an Apple-controlled outlet. He's released some serious scoops about upcoming products, and his verification of a rumour is basically taken as a confirmation in the Mac rumours scene. It's of course possible he has some kind of access that Apple don't control (like an employee leaking information), but given their extreme focus on secrecy, I'm sure that this would have long been shut down if it wasn't fully authorised. That kind of access does not come without ties, IMO. Though I agree I was coming on too strong when I said shill.
- saagarjha 6y agoI'm sure leakers go to him to give him stuff, just like they'd go to any other press source.
- jeromegv 6y agoFYI, they have to ship back the review units. Of course there is a financial aspect to the fact he gets the unit first and can publish the review and get the eyeballs, but it's just something to know about Apple, they don't give anything.
- pilsetnieks 6y agoI get that, I didn't mean to imply he gets to keep them but as you say, just getting them a week in advance is a benefit.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- lostlogin 6y ago> he has called out Apple's corporate malfeasance and pointed out technical shortcomings in the past. He does this all the time. In his last podcast or two he has complained about Apples’s keyboards, hot laptops, short charger cords, Siri and the Touch Bar. I’m sure there are others but I haven’t gone back.