This guy is on one of the local TV stations here as the "tech reporter" -- he looks like he's in his forties or fifties, and every tech report he gives has a distinctly anti-Mac attitude to it... ranging from his refusing to say anything about Apple's products, to his knocking them in passing as he's talking about other stuff, to his actively promoting rival products. (For example, two recent reports have focussed on something to replace the iPod, and a competitor to iPhone.) It's really unprofessional.

I don't really care all THAT much about it (e.g., it doesn't affect me all that much), but at the same time, it's really giving the public who watches this station the wrong impression.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

If it's a call-in program, call and confront him. Otherwise write to the station's management about his views being so biased.

JEBB, yeah, not surprisingly it's not a call-in.

I may write the station's management. It's not as if they couldn't find someone to replace this joker.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

I would def write in to the producers, (unless he is producing his own stuff) and try to point out how biased the reporting seems to be. How you want to know more about Apple products, how other stations seem to be doing that and how you might just never watch their program again.

Hey, Peter, is that the "Technology Gumbo" guy on WWL?

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email him this link
[xvsxp.com]

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Zoid, yep, that's him.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

I remember that guy, I think. I would often watch the WWL news but would click off if I saw either his face or Frank Davis.

You're not going to change his mind, his opinion, or his reports. It's akin to trying to educate the guys who would work at CompUSA in Kenner on the Mac platform.

Y'know, a long time ago I was ejected from that store for correcting a salesperson. Years ago, he was telling a woman (who had owned an old Performa) who wanted an iMac that "Apple Macintosh" was going out of business, Microsoft had bought them a few years ago and was just working on easing "Apple Macintosh" users into Windows before they shut them down. While I was telling the woman about the return of Steve Jobs and the health of the company, the sales kid went and got the manager and he politely asked me to leave the store.

That said, the guy @ channel 4 is the same kind of person. Forget educating him; you might as well try to make a left turn on Tulane.

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Zoid, yeah, that's kind of what I figured. His history (linked in here: [www.wwltv.com] ) suggests that he's so entrenched as to become unremoveable.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

Some people take pride in being contrary. His way of being a rebel maybe, since it seems Apple has gotten a fair amount of positive press elsewhere.

Write the producer and let them know of *inaccuracies* if your hear any specific ones, and explain that you are concerned about the integrity of their reporting on facts, if this individual seems to take liberties with the ones he provides about Apple products.

C'mon, guys, it's New Orleans. Just bribe the dude. Two dozen at Pascale's every week ought to do it...

Isn't being a Windows user punishment enough?

: -)

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He sounds like one of those blowhards who thinks the Iraq war is going great and that we would be greeted there with flowers and hugs. Taunt him relentlessly with Mac propaganda via email and letters. Enlist a local mac users group to help. Eventually he will say something REALLY inaccurate or inane. Start with this:

Gates Vs. GM


For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way
computers have enhanced our lives, read on.

At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up
with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving
$25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release
stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be
driving cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this
part):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........Twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to
buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You
would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows,
shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could
continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.

4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause
your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would
have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable,
five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only
five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all
be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal
Operation"warning light.

I love the next one!!!

7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out
and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door
handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn
how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate
in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.

Don't watch the channel.

I love that Gates vs GM thing, but using that would probably cost the user much credibility, as it failed the Snopes Fine Tooth Comb.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I would guess he is one of the legion that got burned by Shreve Systems
and is taking it out on all Mac users.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map

Quote

Some people take pride in being contrary. His way of being a rebel maybe.

How is kissing up to the platform that comprises 90% of the market considered being "contrary" or a "rebel"? It's just petty bullying, and most bullies have very little actual courage.

But in the end, this guy is probably not worth worrying about.

Quote
Silencio
How is kissing up to the platform that comprises 90% of the market considered being "contrary" or a "rebel"? It's just petty bullying, and most bullies have very little actual courage.

But in the end, this guy is probably not worth worrying about.

Well I guess I meant that Apple (and its products) have been the darling of media coverage in general for some time, even though it gets short shrift when it comes to corporate IT departments. Coverage of the iPod, iTunes and iPhone have for the most part been glowing... not to mention the occasional good story on OS X or new Macs.

Retail vendors tend to paint a different picture, but I believe that is because they are more familiar with the bulk of PCs they have been selling for years. They simply go with what they know. If 90% of their sales were macs, and a superior PC came out, they would still push Macs. That's the nature of the beast.

But tech reporters ought to be able to distinguish between quality features, and those that are so much fluff. And then extrapolate how that could/should impact consumers, and report on that. This guy sounds like he has his head stuck in the sand.

It could be as simple as a PC retailer or maker sending him sample products to use or keep while Apple doesn't.

That happens often in smaller markets and less professional media organizations. new Orleans is the 43rd size TV market in the US, there are 204 stations in larger markets than his.

he's a minor player in a small market and likes freebies.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.” -- François de La Rochefoucauld

"Those who cannot accept the past are condemned to revise it." -- Geo. Mathias

The German word for contraceptive is “Schwangerschaftsverhütungsmittel”. By the time you finished saying that, it’s too late

His review of the Sansa digs at Apple without even mentioning Apple.

"second largest seller of MP3 players in the United States." -- And who's the first? Maybe somebody doesn't know.

"The player is designed to work seamlessly with a wide range of popular music formats, such as MP3 and Windows Media Audio (WMA), in both unprotected and protected files." -- wide range??? iPod handles those two as well, just not protected WMA.

"The unit utilizes a non-proprietary digital rights management system that allows users to purchase songs or access subscription download services from specific premium internet sites." -- HAHAHAHA HOHOHO LOLOLOL!!! Non-proprietary???? What a hoot! So it will play "PlaysForSure", Zune, and protectedAAC??? HAHAHA

Get this joker off the air.

Start listening to his pieces and write down every error, whether it's Mac-related or not. Develop a long list, then write management and describe every error that he has made. If he's got a sponsorship, you know, a "this segment is brought to you by..." get a hold of the advertiser and tell them that this yahoo gives out incorrect information and that you'd recommend the advertiser pulls his sponsorship. Money is probably the only thing that managers will understand. Once revenue starts falling because of him, they'll do something about it.

Quote
incognegro
email him this link
[xvsxp.com]

"No free video editing software comes with OS X."

Yeah, right.

They don't consider iMovie because iLife is not "part of the operating system."

In TV news, objectivity does not exist, period. On air tech reporters are in the hinterland when it comes anything resemblng journalism. Are tech reporters even under any professional obligation to be objective and unbiased? I thought they could even be paid to feature a product by name, sorta like a mini infomercial.

For years, we've had a tech reporter for a major newspaper who definitely did not like Macs. His Mac coverage was bitingly sarcastic and generally unkind. Then, he was given a MacBook to evaluate for a couple of months. As soon as it was returned, he bought a MacBook of his own and he loves it. He now is very positive about his Mac experiences even though there have been some glitches. His coverage of Apple products has also increased and, believe it or not, he is now going to be the featured speaker at the local Mac user group this month. Chances are that your local reporter has never (or almost never) used a Mac. Pity the poor idiot......

While tracking "mis-information", it may also be interesting to note who the advertisers are during that show. I'll wager Apple is not one of them.

Here's an idea ... just follow Andy Ihnatko's lead. ;)

[www.macuser.com]

If you do write, use the term "unprofessional" and "petulant" a lot. Self-righteous types hate that.

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chas_m




[crawlingfromtheusa.blogspot.com] <-- Moving to Canada blog

I certainly do.

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=DH
Donkey (Ye Olde Farte of ye Internette) Hotay is a Tilted Windmill® enterprise.