2024–01–07
What's a professional?
I opened Mastodon this morning to find this fun thread about the iPad. It seems to be a reference to the latest episode of the Talk Show, with John Gruber and Casey Liss.
Gruber continues with his odd, angry fixation on the iPad:
You’re making excuses for a platform that has baby computer limits. It’s a 14-year-old platform and you still can’t make iPad apps on an iPad.
Lol, really? Again, I’ll just say that I find it bizarre that pundits are so frustrated, angry even, about a device that they don’t even use. It’s as though they can’t conceive that not everything is made for them. Guys, use your macs and be happy that you have a computer that works for you.
Not everything in this world is made for you. It’s okay to just move on.
Along with Gruber Casey Liss chimed in calling the iPad a toy but suggesting it’s a matter of perspective.
I engaged with Casey a bit and during that back and forth I shared my observation that many if not most tech/Apple podcasts are casual banter meant to be entertainment rather than journalism. Not meant to be derogatory, just a simple statement. He didn’t think it was fair.
LOL. Wait. Fair?
For context, I mean, really. Listen to any random episode of these guys' podcasts, the Talk Show or Accidental Tech Podcast and it’s immediately obvious that this is not journalism.They’re doing casual banter full of opinion, speculation and hot takes often dramatically expressed with great exasperation. I mean, with ATP that seems to be their schtick, right?
I mean, look, at least some of these guys seem to make a pretty good living from podcasting. Which is to say, it’s their profession. They are, ostensibly, professional podcasters and writers. And it’s fine that what they are offering is punditry but they shouldn’t claim otherwise.
The downside is that, at least in the tech “press”, punditry has largely displaced actual, fact-based journalism. And I suspect that many in the public don’t always discern between the two. So when popular podcasters that are viewed as having some authority are casually sharing misinformation, that’s not great.
I’ve written about it before:
For the iPad fans, in case it’s not obvious, that’s a reference to Apple’s “What’s a computer” ad from several years ago.