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I'm neither an Apple fanboy nor a hater. I have an iPhone5, but I use a Windows 7 desktop PC. (I am, however, an Apple Maps hater after using it for a few day

I'm neither an Apple fanboy nor a hater. I have an iPhone5, but I use a Windows 7 desktop PC. (I am, however, an Apple Maps hater after using it for a few days.) The annoying thing about articles like this is that it's basically the professional journalist's version of trolling... making an outrageous statement in order to garner attention/clicks. He can come in and shit all over Apple, and suffer no consequences if he's wrong. I would be infinitely more interested in his opinion if he actually shorted the stock and put his money where his mouth is, journalistic rules against trading aside.

scrrr 14y ago
Well, at least it is in the "Opinion" section, and not filed under "News". I think the literature category is similar to say Paul Graham's essays. Which is not to say that the quality is comparable though.
mycodebreaks 14y ago
One thing he correctly points out is how much better Apple Maps would have been if Mr. Jobs were around. Apple Maps is too big of a blunder for Apple to contain its criticism.
- dasil003 14y ago
  Is it a blunder or was their hand forced? We can't know.
- SpikeDad 14y ago
  Garbage statement - both you and the NY Times article. Speculation from a position of ZERO information is stupid and transparently so. No one know why Apple rolled their own Maps and no one could possible know how different it would be if Steve was still alive. The only think I really know is that Apple is smarter than you or the NY Times.
- mikeash 14y ago
  How, exactly, would Jobs have made it better? Would he have somehow made the Maps team overcome the inherently intractable obstacles they faced given their position? Would he have jumped in and single-handedly crafted excellent data? Would he have extended the use of Google Maps, despite the indications that this transition was forced on Apple? I keep seeing people say this, but I never hear anyone say exactly what he would have done to make it happen. People basically treat Jobs as magical fairy pixie dust that could be sprinkled on a project to make it awesome. As if Jobs never oversaw the production of anything bad.
czhiddy 14y ago
If every journalist/blogger who has been bearish on Apple (versus trolling for pagehits) actually shorted the stock, there would be no naysayers at this point :)
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
anonymouz 14y ago
While the headline is inflammatory, the article itself is not so bad. He makes some valid observation about how the market and Apple's position in it have changed, making it harder for them to be the new and innovative player as they have more and more to lose by taking risky moves. In general however I agree with your sentiment.
- batista 14y ago
  >While the headline is inflammatory, the article itself is not so bad. He makes some valid observation about how the market and Apple's position in it have changed, making it harder for them to be the new and innovative player as they have more and more to lose by taking risky moves. They have made the EXACT same arguments since after the iPod. The Zune was to kill it, cheap alternatives were going to kill it. Didn't happen. Then they put out the iPhone. It was doomed, they said at first, then Android was going to kill it, then the Antennagate, then the 4S was not impressive enough, etc. Then the iPad came out, and at first it was "just a large iPhone" and it will fail, then it was gonna be killed by Windows tablets, then by Android tablets, then the Kindle Fire. They never stop in the same bloody vein. How about instead of BS predictions they do some REPORTING? I.e tell how Apple does based on numbers, and report it when they --inevitable at some point-- start losing out? Why do they feel they have to play prophets?
  - Ntrails 14y ago
    Numbers can be manipulated as easily as opinions. Note the recurring statistic in which Apple's (continuously dropping) market share is compared to that of 15 handset manufacturers who run Android as though that is a reasonable comparison.
    - batista 14y ago
      >Numbers can be manipulated as easily as opinions. Not Quarterly results and SEC fillings. >Note the recurring statistic in which Apple's (continuously dropping) market share is compared to that of 15 handset manufacturers who run Android as though that is a reasonable comparison. "Continuously dropping"? They sell more units with each new device up to now (and the 5's preorders see that trend continuing). So, if their "market share" also drops, then that just means the market is expanding at a faster rate. >Note the recurring statistic in which Apple's (continuously dropping) market share is compared to that of 15 handset manufacturers who run Android as though that is a reasonable comparison. In what way is it not?
sxcurry 14y ago
I agree - the article was basically a cheap trolling shot at Apple. It ignored a lot of history (remember the initial release of OS X?) and overplayed the map problems. FWIW, iOS6 Maps work great for me, and I live on a private rural road. Apple has always incrementally improved its products, and Maps will be no exception.
- coolnow 14y ago
  >iOS6 Maps work great for me If you serve shit on a plate to millions of people, you're inevitably going to meet a scat fetishist that doesn't mind.
  - taligent 14y ago
    Well that was completely unnecessary. Apple Maps works great for me because in terms of quality of data it matches Google. Remember that there are lots of cities in this world and not all of them will be missing lots of data.
    - coolnow 14y ago
      So it /matches/ the quality of Google's data in select few countries? Does it ever exceed Google's quality? Because it sure is worse than Google's quality in most other countries. Pardon me for expressing my disappointment.
CaptainZapp 14y ago
Now that (shorting the stock) from a journalist covering the subject. Or, for that matter, investing in stock of a company that you cover as a journalist is just about the worst journalistic blunder you can pull off. It may also be borderline criminal.
unabridged 14y ago
>I have an iPhone5, but I use a Windows 7 desktop PC. Can I ask you why? The galaxy 3 is the same price and very comparable. Plus you can just drag files back and forth with your computer without syncing.
- pooriaazimi 14y ago
  You can do the same thing with an iPhone 3G and iOS 4, let alone iPhone 5 and iOS 6!

scrrr 14y ago

Well, at least it is in the "Opinion" section, and not filed under "News". I think the literature category is similar to say Paul Graham's essays. Which is not to say that the quality is comparable though.

mycodebreaks 14y ago

One thing he correctly points out is how much better Apple Maps would have been if Mr. Jobs were around. Apple Maps is too big of a blunder for Apple to contain its criticism.

dasil003 14y ago
Is it a blunder or was their hand forced? We can't know.
SpikeDad 14y ago
Garbage statement - both you and the NY Times article. Speculation from a position of ZERO information is stupid and transparently so. No one know why Apple rolled their own Maps and no one could possible know how different it would be if Steve was still alive. The only think I really know is that Apple is smarter than you or the NY Times.
mikeash 14y ago
How, exactly, would Jobs have made it better? Would he have somehow made the Maps team overcome the inherently intractable obstacles they faced given their position? Would he have jumped in and single-handedly crafted excellent data? Would he have extended the use of Google Maps, despite the indications that this transition was forced on Apple? I keep seeing people say this, but I never hear anyone say exactly what he would have done to make it happen. People basically treat Jobs as magical fairy pixie dust that could be sprinkled on a project to make it awesome. As if Jobs never oversaw the production of anything bad.

czhiddy 14y ago

If every journalist/blogger who has been bearish on Apple (versus trolling for pagehits) actually shorted the stock, there would be no naysayers at this point :)

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

anonymouz 14y ago

While the headline is inflammatory, the article itself is not so bad. He makes some valid observation about how the market and Apple's position in it have changed, making it harder for them to be the new and innovative player as they have more and more to lose by taking risky moves. In general however I agree with your sentiment.

batista 14y ago
>While the headline is inflammatory, the article itself is not so bad. He makes some valid observation about how the market and Apple's position in it have changed, making it harder for them to be the new and innovative player as they have more and more to lose by taking risky moves. They have made the EXACT same arguments since after the iPod. The Zune was to kill it, cheap alternatives were going to kill it. Didn't happen. Then they put out the iPhone. It was doomed, they said at first, then Android was going to kill it, then the Antennagate, then the 4S was not impressive enough, etc. Then the iPad came out, and at first it was "just a large iPhone" and it will fail, then it was gonna be killed by Windows tablets, then by Android tablets, then the Kindle Fire. They never stop in the same bloody vein. How about instead of BS predictions they do some REPORTING? I.e tell how Apple does based on numbers, and report it when they --inevitable at some point-- start losing out? Why do they feel they have to play prophets?
- Ntrails 14y ago
  Numbers can be manipulated as easily as opinions. Note the recurring statistic in which Apple's (continuously dropping) market share is compared to that of 15 handset manufacturers who run Android as though that is a reasonable comparison.
  - batista 14y ago
    >Numbers can be manipulated as easily as opinions. Not Quarterly results and SEC fillings. >Note the recurring statistic in which Apple's (continuously dropping) market share is compared to that of 15 handset manufacturers who run Android as though that is a reasonable comparison. "Continuously dropping"? They sell more units with each new device up to now (and the 5's preorders see that trend continuing). So, if their "market share" also drops, then that just means the market is expanding at a faster rate. >Note the recurring statistic in which Apple's (continuously dropping) market share is compared to that of 15 handset manufacturers who run Android as though that is a reasonable comparison. In what way is it not?

sxcurry 14y ago

I agree - the article was basically a cheap trolling shot at Apple. It ignored a lot of history (remember the initial release of OS X?) and overplayed the map problems. FWIW, iOS6 Maps work great for me, and I live on a private rural road. Apple has always incrementally improved its products, and Maps will be no exception.

coolnow 14y ago
>iOS6 Maps work great for me If you serve shit on a plate to millions of people, you're inevitably going to meet a scat fetishist that doesn't mind.
- taligent 14y ago
  Well that was completely unnecessary. Apple Maps works great for me because in terms of quality of data it matches Google. Remember that there are lots of cities in this world and not all of them will be missing lots of data.
  - coolnow 14y ago
    So it /matches/ the quality of Google's data in select few countries? Does it ever exceed Google's quality? Because it sure is worse than Google's quality in most other countries. Pardon me for expressing my disappointment.

CaptainZapp 14y ago

Now that (shorting the stock) from a journalist covering the subject. Or, for that matter, investing in stock of a company that you cover as a journalist is just about the worst journalistic blunder you can pull off. It may also be borderline criminal.

unabridged 14y ago

>I have an iPhone5, but I use a Windows 7 desktop PC. Can I ask you why? The galaxy 3 is the same price and very comparable. Plus you can just drag files back and forth with your computer without syncing.

pooriaazimi 14y ago
You can do the same thing with an iPhone 3G and iOS 4, let alone iPhone 5 and iOS 6!