5 ms·

At least now he's finally getting the official label for what he's always been: an Apple columnist.

kenjackson 15y ago
Apple columnist seems generous to me. Apple evangelist/advocate seems a lot closer to what he does. He forms what I consider the trifecta of Apple evangelists online: MG, Gruber, Dilger.
- joebadmo 15y ago
  I'd throw in Horace Dediu of Asymco and Marco Arment and maybe David Pogue. I don't know who Dilger is.
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    You don't know Dilger? Consider yourself lucky -- until now: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/ http://www.roughlydrafted.com/
    - ZeroGravitas 15y ago
      He also write the more partisan "news" items at appleinsider.com. Even the people who register on a site called Apple Insider seem to think he's a bit out-there.
  - 2arrs2ells 15y ago
    Fun fact: Marco went to my high school, and was vehemently anti-Apple.
- btucker 15y ago
  Out of curiosity, what "Apple Columnists" out there would you not consider to be "Apple evangelists/advocates"?
  - kenjackson 15y ago
    I actually don't know if know of anyone with such a title. But of the people who often write about the Apple I think there's quite a few I don't consider evangelists/advocates. Probably the biggest name is Walt Mossberg. He's very Apple friendly (Jobs described him as a friend of Apple to Apple employees), but I think he does try to generally be fair -- and is not a cheerleader. There are some others that another poster mentioned -- Pogue and Marco. Pogue is borderline. He performs at MacWorld, writes books about Apple products, and does seem to go out of his way to defend them. But not with the same regularity and gusto of the three. Marco I view as a dev with a specific agenda to make money as a dev, and what he writes is about that -- if indirectly. Robert Scoble is someone who writes a lot about Apple, but I don't consider him an Apple evangelist or advocate. He will go out of his way to prop them, but he'll also oddly go out of his to dig on them too. Maybe it depends on what side of the bed. In any case, I hope that helps.
    - rickmb 15y ago
      So basically the only person you don't consider an Apple evangelist besides Mossberg is a former paid Microsoft evangelist.
      - Steko 15y ago
        When a company is as phenomenally successful as Apple has been over the last decade it's hard to discern legitimate praise from evangelism. If you were an Apple-centric blogger and you were just calling balls and strikes your blog should look like John Gruber's or Marco's. That's how dominant Apple has been over these years. If instead your blog is filled with press releases and looks like Engadget's review of the original 7" Galaxy Tab then your blog is bullshit and pushing false equivalence for pageviews.
      - kenjackson 15y ago
        I could list 100 people that write about Apple at least on occassion that I don't consider evangelists or advocates, but you probably haven't heard of them. I tried to list those that are big names. I could list pretty much everyone on the staff of the Verge and Engadget and Gizmodo. None of them fit this mold. Geller isn't, Laporte isn't, Lyons isn't, Paczkowski isn't, Om isn't, Block isn't. My list wasn't meant to be comprehensive, but just meant to attempt to explain how other reporters differ from the trifecta.

Apple columnist seems generous to me. Apple evangelist/advocate seems a lot closer to what he does. He forms what I consider the trifecta of Apple evangelists online: MG, Gruber, Dilger.

joebadmo 15y ago
I'd throw in Horace Dediu of Asymco and Marco Arment and maybe David Pogue. I don't know who Dilger is.
- kenjackson 15y ago
  You don't know Dilger? Consider yourself lucky -- until now: http://www.roughlydrafted.com/ http://www.roughlydrafted.com/
  - ZeroGravitas 15y ago
    He also write the more partisan "news" items at appleinsider.com. Even the people who register on a site called Apple Insider seem to think he's a bit out-there.
- 2arrs2ells 15y ago
  Fun fact: Marco went to my high school, and was vehemently anti-Apple.
btucker 15y ago
Out of curiosity, what "Apple Columnists" out there would you not consider to be "Apple evangelists/advocates"?
- kenjackson 15y ago
  I actually don't know if know of anyone with such a title. But of the people who often write about the Apple I think there's quite a few I don't consider evangelists/advocates. Probably the biggest name is Walt Mossberg. He's very Apple friendly (Jobs described him as a friend of Apple to Apple employees), but I think he does try to generally be fair -- and is not a cheerleader. There are some others that another poster mentioned -- Pogue and Marco. Pogue is borderline. He performs at MacWorld, writes books about Apple products, and does seem to go out of his way to defend them. But not with the same regularity and gusto of the three. Marco I view as a dev with a specific agenda to make money as a dev, and what he writes is about that -- if indirectly. Robert Scoble is someone who writes a lot about Apple, but I don't consider him an Apple evangelist or advocate. He will go out of his way to prop them, but he'll also oddly go out of his to dig on them too. Maybe it depends on what side of the bed. In any case, I hope that helps.
  - rickmb 15y ago
    So basically the only person you don't consider an Apple evangelist besides Mossberg is a former paid Microsoft evangelist.
    - Steko 15y ago
      When a company is as phenomenally successful as Apple has been over the last decade it's hard to discern legitimate praise from evangelism. If you were an Apple-centric blogger and you were just calling balls and strikes your blog should look like John Gruber's or Marco's. That's how dominant Apple has been over these years. If instead your blog is filled with press releases and looks like Engadget's review of the original 7" Galaxy Tab then your blog is bullshit and pushing false equivalence for pageviews.
    - kenjackson 15y ago
      I could list 100 people that write about Apple at least on occassion that I don't consider evangelists or advocates, but you probably haven't heard of them. I tried to list those that are big names. I could list pretty much everyone on the staff of the Verge and Engadget and Gizmodo. None of them fit this mold. Geller isn't, Laporte isn't, Lyons isn't, Paczkowski isn't, Om isn't, Block isn't. My list wasn't meant to be comprehensive, but just meant to attempt to explain how other reporters differ from the trifecta.