(Photo of my happy little poodle who takes great joy in spreading love)
Yikes. Lots of drama in the mobile tech online community recently:
- MG Siegler of TechCrunch posted his opinion about the Galaxy Nexus
- The Verge’s Josh Topolsky countered with his reaction
- Mobile tech aficionados across the Internet noticed
All too often, tech articles remind me of that off-color adage: “Opinions are like *%#holes, everyone has one.” The recent drama also makes me wonder:
Have we become so entrenched in our individual tech biases that we’ve forgotten the joy of tech… how tech can improve lives in both simple and very profound ways? And how sometimes, the tech that supports those improvements isn’t always the current best-seller or perhaps is no longer an industry darling?
It’s disappointing seeing tech writers so entrenched in their biases that they can’t envision how tech (that they don’t use personally) could be beneficial to others with different lifestyles, use cases, preferences, etc. Some make it worse by discounting any opposing reader perspectives by labeling them “fanboys.” Oy.
So, I say to you, tech writers: It’s not all about you.
It’s a big interesting world out there, and there’s a lot of interesting tech to cover. If you’re a writer posting your articles online, you have an audience… what information can you share that’s useful to them? If you have a strong reaction to a product, help your reader make an informed decision as to whether that product would be a good choice for them (even if it’s not your preferred choice).
As a fairly savvy tech user, share with me pertinent information (fact) to make my own decision. Your rant or rave is not persuasive otherwise, and most likely will be perceived (by me) as link bait.
In closing, an anecdote about a friend’s recent experience and the joy of tech:
I shared with him an old unused Verizon “network extender” because his home does not have good Verizon network coverage. I’d used it when I had a Verizon phone but stopped when I realized that network issues in my neighborhood prevented me from receiving calls when out walking the dog.
Having the network extender meant coverage issues were no longer driving my friend’s phone options. He bought a Motorola “Droid” Razr. He loves his new phone and excitedly recounted the various ways he’s been using it: As a home phone replacement, to listen to Pandora, to research questions on the web, to stream music to a bluetooth speaker.
Same tech. Two people, different perspectives, individual use cases, different outcomes.
He took tech that was no longer useful to me, and used it to make his life better.
And isn’t that what tech is all about?
it is what it is 