I mean, let's say for a second that I think your points are full of merit (instead of something else I think they're actually full of...), at this point I just have to consider you a troll. You clearly "know" that Engadget won't get off Apple's jock; do you want a cookie for your "insight"? Just find another website, or use an Apple-free Feed.
On the other hand, I think your comment is full of fail, because guess what, the reader's picked the first set of comments. Therefore, Engadget is probably correctly gauging their reader's interests.
I suppose it's not even the comments that bother me, trolls are everywhere, I've gotten to the point where I pretty much avoid them, but Jesus, people are modding it up (so to speak)?
As far as I can tell this is the only popular technology destination where trolls actually get modded up. Fantastic.
@Ryan: So democracy only works if they agree with you and the rest of the Apple fans? You wanted people to voice their opinion about which "gadgets" they like, but when people voice their opinions about how they think that is incorrect, you do not want to hear it?
And would you not want people to voice their opinion, even if it is dissenting opinion being that it drives ad revenue to your site? The "Apple fans don't count" attitude you display in your comment speaks volumes.
You need to get Apple the credit they deserve. You might not like their products (cause it is impossible to please everyone), but they have pushed the envelope and made other manufactures step up their game. I mean come on, look at what phone manufacturers now have to do to compete with the iPhone. I say great! I would love to see Palm's answer to the iPhone...a Treo that doesn't reboot constantly.
As for most anticipated...when was the last time you saw a line outside a cell phone store for a new model? Yeah, I thought so...it earned that title far and square.
Are you sure you mean Ryan Block? Are you sure you're not looking for Artie Macstrawman?
Here's a clue, it's a for-profit gadget website, not a government. It's only correct when it continues to provide financial gains for its employees and investors.
The people voiced their opinion in the fucking poll dumbass, they voted the iPhone up, TWICE. Clearly there are plenty of people out there who feel that iPhone news is relevant to their interests and wish to subscribe to a newsletter providing that information.
Besides, it's not like Block is actually deleting this garbage. Hell, I wish he would. He just rolls his eyes, and lets it stand, a better man than I. I'd be sending half of the comments section to the garbage can on every post, but that's why I'm a reader and not an editor. See? Arm-chair editing works for me too!
Yep, it was directed at Ryan, unless somebody is posing as Ryan. He is complaining about people who post because they don't agree with the results - results where they bend the rules to make sure that people can vote down Vista.
As for you calling me a "dumbass", thank-you. You prove the point quite well. You disagree that Apple is not the end-all-be all, and this site will try to demean and degrade you. Continue on with the attacks.
seriously, have you guys ever even used vista? i have it running on several of my machines from built quadcore striker-extreme 4gb ram gaming system, to little baby shuttles sff's and I NEVER EVER have any problems. Even friends of mine that are IT people and computer engineers (from 4 year universities) for large corporations that were once anti-vista actually sat down and have now fully converted and adore the system. I have zero driver issues, zero stability issues, zero performance issues, etc. then again, maybe I just know how to use it... oh, BURNED.
Nohone, I'm glad to hear peoples' opinion, as long as it isn't whining, especially about particularly divisive companies like Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, etc. Either way, diatribes about democracy don't hold a lot of water here -- these are moderated comments. If you want to voice your opinion completely free of moderation, feel free to start a blog.
AdamY, we tend only to delete comments that cross the line or become inappropriate. So far it hasn't really gotten that point, just the usual noise / complaining.
He's not griping because someone disagrees with the results of his contest, he's griping because he and his staff bend over backwards to balance the needs of the people who do care about iPhone news with the constant bitching and complaining of the people who don't. He's provided a non-Apple feed, he's been self-deprecating about the whole thing, and now he's finally given up. The thing is, if he quits posting iPhone stories, or allowing the iPhone to be an option, a huge number of his readers (read: $$ and food and rent) will go somewhere else to get it.
Your post should be addressed to Artie Mcstrawman because you're not posting Block's actual position on the subject (which is quite moderate and understanding based on, you know, stuff that he actually says and does), but rather a strawman argument about how what Block is really all about is censoring people who don't care about Apple stories.
Block's problem is that he's too nice. I don't have that problem. He should have come out a long time ago and simply said, in big, bold letters: There are a ton of people that come here for iPhone news. "It's not going away. Deal with it, unless you want to pay our salaries yourselves." But that's rude, and inconsiderate, and you can't behave that way to your customers.
Please, dude, if you're going to criticize a site (I've done it myself, I thought it was incredibly irresponsible of Engadget to run a story a while back that cost me a lot of money when my Apple stock tanked on their [false] report) you should make a genuine effort to paint the opposing view in the best way possible.
Seriously, these Engadget is soooo biased claims are just getting very, very old. The people who make these claims fail to separate Engadget's editors from Engadget's commenters. IF these frequent "Engadget is soo biased" commenters truly visited the site with any frequency, they would have seen that the most visited articles were ones involving Apple's products.
Place blame where is belongs, in fellow commenters not the editors.
Ryan Block is a better, more tolerant man than I. Probably why I never got into journalism.
Seriously, this site and its staff has bent over backwards to accommodate both sides of this issue, and I never hear nary a word thanking them for their efforts, all I hear is piss and vinegar every time an iPhone story comes out. It really is a shame, because they work hard at providing a quality product that is both informative and entertaining.
And all the response is: ZOMG APPLE FANBOY!
See, this is why I don't read the Engadget Comments section anymore. On the rare occasions I do read it, I just get hacked off and start going for the jugular.
Holy shit there are a lot of whiny people here. #1, I think the Editors got it right as compared to the readers, and #2 there are 22 categories and Apple was chosen in 5 of them. OMG! It's a conspiracy! Apple OWNS Engadget!
Lets break them down: #1 Gadget of the Year Editors' Choice: Apple iPhone Yep, like it or not there wasn't another product that generated this much buzz, or caused a companie's stock to skyrocket as much as this device. Deal with it.
#2 Most Anticipated Gadget of 2008 Editors' Choice: Apple iPhone (3G) Not 100% on board with this, the the news is everywhere, and I have to say that it is a dominant subject in both financial and tech news. Analyst estimates are that Apple will sell 40 to 45 million 3G iPhones in 2009. Name something bigger than that (yes I know, 2008... but I can't find the figures for Q3 and Q4 2008)
#3 Smartphone of the Year Editors' Choice: Apple iPhone See #1
#4 Desktop of the Year Editors' Choice: Apple iMac What, you think Dell has something more innovative? Or maybe HP or Gateway? I didn't think so. It's not like the picked the MB Air as Laptop of the year, which would have been bad. If they had done that then some of your whining would have been justified.
#5 Portable Media Device of the Year Editors' Choice: Apple iPod touch Not sure I completely agree with this one, but if you include the ability to browse the Web as criteria for a PMP this is the hands down winner.
You know how I know that Engadget is mostly neutral in their reporting? Because the Anti-Apple people here bitch abort Engadget's Pro Apple Bias, and the Apple fans on some of the other sites bitch about Engadget's Anti-Apple bias. (The Apple forum on Google Finance is a prime example of this.) When you piss off people on both sides you have it right.
Like it or not, Apple makes the news a lot. No one is forcing you to read it. You sound like a bunch of petulant grade schoolers with your whining.
No shit. I'm all for the iPhone winning some of its categories as it's well deserved, but there is no way that the iMac, which was essentially an already existing machine with a new skin on it, was desktop of the year. The HP Blackbird should have won that category hands down, no questions about it. Instead though we get a bunch of fanboys and Engadget bloggers basically regurgitating Apple's marketing message.
What I love is that any post with an Apple product will get two types of whiny comments: That Engadget is too Pro-Apple and that Engdaget is to Anti-Apple. From the same damn post. How they read so much into the posts, I don't know, as both are usually wrong.
"Are you telling me that their results supporting their side are less valid than yours?"
Not at all. The pro-microsoft readers had equal opportunity to vote.
What you're failing to see is the difference. The original vote was a simple vote. Click once on which products you liked in various categories. And, believe it or not, some of the categories did NOT include an Apple product.
What I was commenting on was the fact that every COMMENT like "Apple is teh suck" or "engadget gets paid by Apple" or "engadget is bias" that appears anywhere on engadget somehow gets voted up to a high ranking. It seems fairly consistent.
Which means, unlike a single vote for various products in various categories, it would seem that the pro-Microsoft people spend an inordinate amount of time:
a) reading every engadget post comment, including posts about Apple products they hate.
b) searching for anti-apple comments and voting them up, possibly by refreshing the page many, many times.
I use both Microsoft and Apple products. Along with Sony, Nintendo, and lots of other CE products. I have personal preferences, but in general, I do not dismiss a product just because of which company makes it. Conversely, I do not instantly love a product just because it comes from a certain company. Like I said, I find the up-voting cute and amusing.
And whether you like it or not, the iPhone clearly was the gadget of the year. It was covered by every major news outlet. Everyone talked about it and knew about, including people that know nothing about tech. And while it clearly has flaws, it was/is enough of a game-changer that all the other cell manufacturers are reacting to it.
The formatting of your comment threading is a little awkward when all the comments have a bazillion responses. collapsible/expandable comments would be nice. That way my response might have been here instead of with the comment above. :(
In the same spirit as Winston Churchill on democracy, i do concur. The Macintosh is the absolutely worst computer in the world and OS X is the absolute worst operating system ever.
Except for all of the others. (with an acknowledgment of respect to slackware and linux in general).
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Apple, Apple and more of the same shit.
Thank you for playing.
Exactly what I was thinking, just a mess load of apple.
And commence 200 more comments whining about Apple in 5... 4... 3...
Ryan, a bit late there... haha
God damn, apple. God damn.
Who gives comments like these "Highest Rank"?
I mean, let's say for a second that I think your points are full of merit (instead of something else I think they're actually full of...), at this point I just have to consider you a troll. You clearly "know" that Engadget won't get off Apple's jock; do you want a cookie for your "insight"? Just find another website, or use an Apple-free Feed.
On the other hand, I think your comment is full of fail, because guess what, the reader's picked the first set of comments. Therefore, Engadget is probably correctly gauging their reader's interests.
I suppose it's not even the comments that bother me, trolls are everywhere, I've gotten to the point where I pretty much avoid them, but Jesus, people are modding it up (so to speak)?
As far as I can tell this is the only popular technology destination where trolls actually get modded up. Fantastic.
@Ryan: So democracy only works if they agree with you and the rest of the Apple fans? You wanted people to voice their opinion about which "gadgets" they like, but when people voice their opinions about how they think that is incorrect, you do not want to hear it?
And would you not want people to voice their opinion, even if it is dissenting opinion being that it drives ad revenue to your site? The "Apple fans don't count" attitude you display in your comment speaks volumes.
After two years I'm tiring of reading this blog with its fanboyism and Apple myopia. Wonder how many bothered to vote.
You need to get Apple the credit they deserve. You might not like their products (cause it is impossible to please everyone), but they have pushed the envelope and made other manufactures step up their game. I mean come on, look at what phone manufacturers now have to do to compete with the iPhone. I say great! I would love to see Palm's answer to the iPhone...a Treo that doesn't reboot constantly.
As for most anticipated...when was the last time you saw a line outside a cell phone store for a new model? Yeah, I thought so...it earned that title far and square.
(I've owned a Treo for over 3 years now).
@ Nohone:
Are you sure you mean Ryan Block? Are you sure you're not looking for Artie Macstrawman?
Here's a clue, it's a for-profit gadget website, not a government. It's only correct when it continues to provide financial gains for its employees and investors.
The people voiced their opinion in the fucking poll dumbass, they voted the iPhone up, TWICE. Clearly there are plenty of people out there who feel that iPhone news is relevant to their interests and wish to subscribe to a newsletter providing that information.
Besides, it's not like Block is actually deleting this garbage. Hell, I wish he would. He just rolls his eyes, and lets it stand, a better man than I. I'd be sending half of the comments section to the garbage can on every post, but that's why I'm a reader and not an editor. See? Arm-chair editing works for me too!
Gadget of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone
Worst Gadget of the Year
Readers' Choice: N/A
Most Anticipated Gadget of 2008
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone (3G)
Cellphone of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone (hell, not sure whether it's a smartphone or not, so let's just give it both awards)
Smartphone of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone
Desktop of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iMac
Digital Camera of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iSight
Display of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple Cinema Display 30"
Game Console of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone/Apple iPod Touch (RUNS QUAKE III ZOMG!!!!!11!)
Game Device of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone/ Apple iPod Touch (SPOOOOOOORE is coming up!!!!!!!)
GPS Device of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone (ZOMG has Google Maps!!!!!!!)
Handheld of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone
HDTV of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple Cinema Display 30" w/ Apple AppleTV and external HDTV receiver
Home Entertainment Device of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple AppleTV
Laptop of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple MacBook Pro
Peripheral of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple thin aluminum keyboard
Portable Media Device of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPod touch
Robot of the Year
Readers' Choice: N/A
Storage Device or Technology of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple TimeCapsule
Tablet PC of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone
Wearable Device of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple iPhone w/ Luis Vuitton luxury case
Wireless Device or Technology of the Year
Readers' Choice: Apple AirPort Extreme 802.11n
See? *That* would be biased...the poll results itself are just ever so slightly...slanted towards Cupertino products.
@AdamY
Yep, it was directed at Ryan, unless somebody is posing as Ryan. He is complaining about people who post because they don't agree with the results - results where they bend the rules to make sure that people can vote down Vista.
As for you calling me a "dumbass", thank-you. You prove the point quite well. You disagree that Apple is not the end-all-be all, and this site will try to demean and degrade you. Continue on with the attacks.
seriously, have you guys ever even used vista? i have it running on several of my machines from built quadcore striker-extreme 4gb ram gaming system, to little baby shuttles sff's and I NEVER EVER have any problems. Even friends of mine that are IT people and computer engineers (from 4 year universities) for large corporations that were once anti-vista actually sat down and have now fully converted and adore the system. I have zero driver issues, zero stability issues, zero performance issues, etc. then again, maybe I just know how to use it... oh, BURNED.
Nohone, I'm glad to hear peoples' opinion, as long as it isn't whining, especially about particularly divisive companies like Apple, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony, etc. Either way, diatribes about democracy don't hold a lot of water here -- these are moderated comments. If you want to voice your opinion completely free of moderation, feel free to start a blog.
AdamY, we tend only to delete comments that cross the line or become inappropriate. So far it hasn't really gotten that point, just the usual noise / complaining.
@ Nohone:
Congratulations, you've missed the point.
He's not griping because someone disagrees with the results of his contest, he's griping because he and his staff bend over backwards to balance the needs of the people who do care about iPhone news with the constant bitching and complaining of the people who don't. He's provided a non-Apple feed, he's been self-deprecating about the whole thing, and now he's finally given up. The thing is, if he quits posting iPhone stories, or allowing the iPhone to be an option, a huge number of his readers (read: $$ and food and rent) will go somewhere else to get it.
Your post should be addressed to Artie Mcstrawman because you're not posting Block's actual position on the subject (which is quite moderate and understanding based on, you know, stuff that he actually says and does), but rather a strawman argument about how what Block is really all about is censoring people who don't care about Apple stories.
Block's problem is that he's too nice. I don't have that problem. He should have come out a long time ago and simply said, in big, bold letters: There are a ton of people that come here for iPhone news. "It's not going away. Deal with it, unless you want to pay our salaries yourselves." But that's rude, and inconsiderate, and you can't behave that way to your customers.
Please, dude, if you're going to criticize a site (I've done it myself, I thought it was incredibly irresponsible of Engadget to run a story a while back that cost me a lot of money when my Apple stock tanked on their [false] report) you should make a genuine effort to paint the opposing view in the best way possible.
Seriously, these Engadget is soooo biased claims are just getting very, very old. The people who make these claims fail to separate Engadget's editors from Engadget's commenters. IF these frequent "Engadget is soo biased" commenters truly visited the site with any frequency, they would have seen that the most visited articles were ones involving Apple's products.
Place blame where is belongs, in fellow commenters not the
editors.
Ryan Block is a better, more tolerant man than I. Probably why I never got into journalism.
Seriously, this site and its staff has bent over backwards to accommodate both sides of this issue, and I never hear nary a word thanking them for their efforts, all I hear is piss and vinegar every time an iPhone story comes out. It really is a shame, because they work hard at providing a quality product that is both informative and entertaining.
And all the response is: ZOMG APPLE FANBOY!
See, this is why I don't read the Engadget Comments section anymore. On the rare occasions I do read it, I just get hacked off and start going for the jugular.
Holy shit there are a lot of whiny people here. #1, I think the Editors got it right as compared to the readers, and #2 there are 22 categories and Apple was chosen in 5 of them. OMG! It's a conspiracy! Apple OWNS Engadget!
Lets break them down:
#1 Gadget of the Year
Editors' Choice: Apple iPhone
Yep, like it or not there wasn't another product that generated this much buzz, or caused a companie's stock to skyrocket as much as this device. Deal with it.
#2 Most Anticipated Gadget of 2008
Editors' Choice: Apple iPhone (3G)
Not 100% on board with this, the the news is everywhere, and I have to say that it is a dominant subject in both financial and tech news. Analyst estimates are that Apple will sell 40 to 45 million 3G iPhones in 2009. Name something bigger than that (yes I know, 2008... but I can't find the figures for Q3 and Q4 2008)
#3 Smartphone of the Year
Editors' Choice: Apple iPhone
See #1
#4 Desktop of the Year
Editors' Choice: Apple iMac
What, you think Dell has something more innovative? Or maybe HP or Gateway? I didn't think so. It's not like the picked the MB Air as Laptop of the year, which would have been bad. If they had done that then some of your whining would have been justified.
#5 Portable Media Device of the Year
Editors' Choice: Apple iPod touch
Not sure I completely agree with this one, but if you include the ability to browse the Web as criteria for a PMP this is the hands down winner.
You know how I know that Engadget is mostly neutral in their reporting? Because the Anti-Apple people here bitch abort Engadget's Pro Apple Bias, and the Apple fans on some of the other sites bitch about Engadget's Anti-Apple bias. (The Apple forum on Google Finance is a prime example of this.) When you piss off people on both sides you have it right.
Like it or not, Apple makes the news a lot. No one is forcing you to read it. You sound like a bunch of petulant grade schoolers with your whining.
No shit. I'm all for the iPhone winning some of its categories as it's well deserved, but there is no way that the iMac, which was essentially an already existing machine with a new skin on it, was desktop of the year. The HP Blackbird should have won that category hands down, no questions about it. Instead though we get a bunch of fanboys and Engadget bloggers basically regurgitating Apple's marketing message.
I really do like how the Microshills spend the extra time the vote up their anti-Apple comments.
It's kind of cute, in a sad, too-much-free-time-on-their-hands kind of way.
I like the rest of the coverage on the site. The apple and os related stuff, not so much.
"I really do like how the Microshills spend the extra time the vote up their anti-Apple comments.
It's kind of cute, in a sad, too-much-free-time-on-their-hands kind of way."
Well, Rip, how is this any different than Apple users (shills?) spending there time voting for Apple products for awards?
You, and like minded people took time to vote, these guys are doing the same thing.
Are you telling me that their results supporting their side are less valid than yours?
What I love is that any post with an Apple product will get two types of whiny comments: That Engadget is too Pro-Apple and that Engdaget is to Anti-Apple. From the same damn post. How they read so much into the posts, I don't know, as both are usually wrong.
Yeah this thing got raped by Apple fanboys. Worship the iPhone and badmouth Vista. I'm surprised they don't have T-shirts that say that.
@ fred:
"Are you telling me that their results supporting their side are less valid than yours?"
Not at all. The pro-microsoft readers had equal opportunity to vote.
What you're failing to see is the difference. The original vote was a simple vote. Click once on which products you liked in various categories. And, believe it or not, some of the categories did NOT include an Apple product.
What I was commenting on was the fact that every COMMENT like "Apple is teh suck" or "engadget gets paid by Apple" or "engadget is bias" that appears anywhere on engadget somehow gets voted up to a high ranking. It seems fairly consistent.
Which means, unlike a single vote for various products in various categories, it would seem that the pro-Microsoft people spend an inordinate amount of time:
a) reading every engadget post comment, including posts about Apple products they hate.
b) searching for anti-apple comments and voting them up, possibly by refreshing the page many, many times.
I use both Microsoft and Apple products. Along with Sony, Nintendo, and lots of other CE products. I have personal preferences, but in general, I do not dismiss a product just because of which company makes it. Conversely, I do not instantly love a product just because it comes from a certain company. Like I said, I find the up-voting cute and amusing.
And whether you like it or not, the iPhone clearly was the gadget of the year. It was covered by every major news outlet. Everyone talked about it and knew about, including people that know nothing about tech. And while it clearly has flaws, it was/is enough of a game-changer that all the other cell manufacturers are reacting to it.
@computer.dude: seems an ironic comment from someone whose avatar is of a BSOD
Well, you could try to learn to understand what's so good about Apple products.
And a lot of product designers should learn how the design and process works at Apple.
It would be good for the customers: better designed and easyer to use products.
But, hey: Stoneage man always angry about stuff that not understand.
Side note:
Dear Engadget,
The formatting of your comment threading is a little awkward when all the comments have a bazillion responses. collapsible/expandable comments would be nice. That way my response might have been here instead of with the comment above. :(
In the same spirit as Winston Churchill on democracy, i do concur. The Macintosh is the absolutely worst computer in the world and OS X is the absolute worst operating system ever.
Except for all of the others. (with an acknowledgment of respect to slackware and linux in general).
so there.