To be fair to the NY Times, they're a newspaper for Americans, most of whom have never heard of these codes. Is the NY Times supposed to withhold info just because a bunch of people 8,000 miles out of their target readership already know about it?
I'd wager that probably even about 85% of Engadget readers don't know about these codes. Hell, my wife's Japanese and even *she* didn't know what they were for, because she's been in the US for too long (about six years).
Good point Jeff. I have to admit that I hadn't actually heard of these before, and I've been an Engadget reader for a while. Either way, it's silly to take this kind of attitude about the NYT; they are going out of their way to highlight some cool and interesting technology that undoubtedly a large percentage of the people who read their business section probably don't know about. Just because it's been around for a while doesn't mean that the NYT should forego doing a story about it now. And I'd give the NYT credit for not just covering it, but actually including a sidebar story with instructions on trying the software out with your own cellphone, etc.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jeff @ Apr 1st 2007 7:59PM
To be fair to the NY Times, they're a newspaper for Americans, most of whom have never heard of these codes. Is the NY Times supposed to withhold info just because a bunch of people 8,000 miles out of their target readership already know about it?
I'd wager that probably even about 85% of Engadget readers don't know about these codes. Hell, my wife's Japanese and even *she* didn't know what they were for, because she's been in the US for too long (about six years).
Zadillo @ Apr 1st 2007 9:13PM
Good point Jeff. I have to admit that I hadn't actually heard of these before, and I've been an Engadget reader for a while. Either way, it's silly to take this kind of attitude about the NYT; they are going out of their way to highlight some cool and interesting technology that undoubtedly a large percentage of the people who read their business section probably don't know about. Just because it's been around for a while doesn't mean that the NYT should forego doing a story about it now. And I'd give the NYT credit for not just covering it, but actually including a sidebar story with instructions on trying the software out with your own cellphone, etc.