A Criticism of the Press, or Perhaps Not?

This author might just be looking for publicity, or perhaps he feels he has a real point. In any case, this article claims Apple receives too much interest from the press. That's the stated point. To me, though, it seems the real goal of the story is for the author to criticize Apple for not seeing things the way he does:

After all, the portable video player isn't a new product category—Archos, RCA, Samsung, and iRiver got there months and months ago. The excitement can't be due to the undersized screen, which measures only 2.5 inches diagonal...

The excitement is due to the fact that Apple makes things people might actually want to own and use. They understand the idea of a complete design. Not design in the sense of the outer casing, but design in the sense of thinking through how somebody actually uses something.

An iPod is much more than its individual specs. We have endless brigades of companies willing to cram more things together at a lower margin, but few stop to consider how all those things work together. That is, what will the experience be once the person has taken the thing home?

Apple's approach has always been different -- somehow more human -- it's just that only recently has interest in technology grown beyond the stereotypical geek, meaning a change in the overall flavor of the audience. Geeks will put up with bad user interfaces and quirky behavior, others will not.

Apple is run by engineers who are artists and artists who are engineers. They're willing to rethink things, take risks. This is in the culture, and this is why they're more interesting to write about than the average technology company.

The reason a new iPod is news is not because Apple has managed to shove more transistors into a smaller box, but because they set out to look at something in a new way. A person with a pure engineering mindset might feel that the value of device can be determined by running down the specs list, and we have plenty of these people running engineering groups.

The combination of iTunes and iPod was a new perspective on a complete music system. Even though it could be deconstructed into the various mechnical parts, it's the complete experience that makes it appealing.

The inordinate amount of attention paid to Apple's launches must be, in part, a function of the company's skill at throwing media events, stoking the rumor mills, and seducing the consuming masses.

Or, maybe it's because the products are interesting?

Apple incites fanaticism about its products via ad campaigns and evangelist outreach programs designed to make its customers feel as though they're part of a privileged and enlightened elite.

No, Apple incites fanaticism with carefully consideration of the design. More specifically, the fanaticism comes from the fact that this sort of thinking is so rare in the industry. I remember Jonathan Ives talking about his first experience with a Mac, thinking to himself "why did they care so much?"

If the press corps possessed any institutional memory, it would recall the introduction of the Apple III+, the Lisa, the Macintosh Portable, the Mac TV, the Newton, the Apple G4 Cube, and eWorld.

Apple is hardly unique in having hype for products that didn't sustain. How many heavily-marketed features added to Microsoft Office over the years are still widely used today?

Hoopla is easily fabricated and can sustain interest for a few days or weeks at most. Craftsmanship, creativity and clever thinking endure.

Only a year ago the company received excited press notices when it introduced the iPod Photo, now acknowledged to be a failed product.

Acknowledged by who? I'm not sure he understands that the photo functionality is built into all color iPods? I don't have statistics to understand how many people use this feature, but I know my girlfriend used it extensively when she went to Europe. The point is more that the iPod has become a general media device, and photos are an important component of that.

before you e-mail me at slate.pressbox@gmail.com, please note that the target of this article is not your beloved Apple gadgets but press coverage

Actually, the entire article seems to be a criticism of Apple products.

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