Disqus - Latest Comments for Shawn King

Re: I'm with Rex (Scripting News)

Shawn King — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 08:22:57 -0000

You don't know that Apple forced ThinkSecret to shut down. You don't know that Nick didn't do it on his own. Look at Nick's own words - "I'm pleased to have reached this amicable settlement..."

"Pleased". Does that sound like someone forced to shut down by fascists?

Regardless, ThinkSecret was a shadow of its former self - and even its former self wasn't all that big a deal to anyone but Apple fans. Nick is obviously growing up and moving on - maybe people who throw around loaded words like "fascist" and "hate" should do the same.
--
Shawn King
Host/Executive Producer
Your Mac Life
http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com

Re: A sad day for Apple customers and bloggers

Shawn King — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:26:05 -0000

"I am so disappointed in the whole Mac community for letting down one of their own."

First of all, you make it sound like this "Mac community" is some kind of hive mind or Borg - we should all speak, sound and act alike. I don't expect all Ford buyers, Nokia owners or Windows users to all be the exact same - why would you expect it of Mac users?

Nicholas Ciarelli, in the guise of ThinkSecret, was *never* part of the Mac "Community". He was focused solely on Apple and their internal secrets - getting hold of them by whatever means necessary and publishing them.

You didn't see him speak at Macworld Expo, you didn't see him post on other forums, you didn't see him participate in any meaningful way in your mythical "Mac Community".

You say, "A lower court in California said Nicholas wasn’t a journalist and therefor entitled to any type of journalist shield laws. That decision was overturned by an appeals court but that wasn’t enough to get Apple to see any sense."

Why does Apple have to abide by the Appeals Court but Nick shouldn't have to abide the Lower Court? By your logic, as soon as the lower court ruled in Apple's favor, Nick should have capitulated. But you "allow" Nick the right to continue to fight in higher courts but you
don't seem to think Apple has the same right...
--
Shawn King
Host/Executive Producer
Your Mac Life
http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com

Re: A sad day for Apple customers and bloggers

Shawn King — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 11:18:59 -0000

"there is indeed a Apple/Mac community that can be very rabid in defense of both the company and the platform"

I would modify that to say, "there are people who are part of the "Mac Community" who do that. They are idiots too. :)

"Chances are that Apple weighted the potential bad press..."

I can promise you that Apple doesn't care about bad press. They know it will be forgotten quickly.
--
Shawn King
Host/Executive Producer
Your Mac Life
http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com

Re: Think Secret: Damn you, Steve Jobs

Shawn King — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 10:12:32 -0000

Apple itself has pointed to rumors and rumor sites as having had a material impact on it's financials in the past - the most prominent example being the rumors surround the a Powerbook's release date:
http://www.atpm.com/6.02/jasonpismo.shtml

A more reasoned response to this issue has been posted here:
http://theshapeofdays.com/2007/12/20/think-secr...

--
Shawn King
Host/Executive Producer
Your Mac Life
http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com

Re: Think Secret: Damn you, Steve Jobs

Shawn King — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:45:33 -0000

"So because Apple says rumour sites affected its financials, we should just automatically believe it, Shawn?"

Do you have any reason *not* to believe it? And as I "lived through" the period spoken about in the referenced article, I know many people who did not buy Powerbooks based on those rumors.

"You're a pretty trusting guy." You don't know me very well. I barely trust my wife. :)

And as to "seasoned by what?", you've got to agree he makes a better argument than "What a load of bollocks." :) Care to detail exactly what was bollocks? I'm all ears.
--
Shawn King
Host/Executive Producer
Your Mac Life
http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com

Re: More hardware that I have to have: Drobo

Shawn King — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:29:37 -0000

"Obviously someone else couldn’t keep it under wraps."

Not sure what you mean by that - they were showing the Drobo off at Photoshop World in Boston this past week.

Re: More hardware that I have to have: Drobo

Shawn King — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:30:33 -0000

"Robert, presumably you’re not thinking of using these for HD video editing?"

The company reps I talked to specifically said no to that idea...for the time being. Firewire is obviously coming eventually.

Re: More hardware that I have to have: Drobo

Shawn King — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 15:31:29 -0000

"it has no place on a professional editing station."

That's good because it's not meant for that.

Re: Harry, would love to talk with you!

Shawn King — Thu, 03 May 2007 13:11:34 -0000

"commentators (like Mr. Scoble) comment in near real-time based on the information that is available."

Agreed - and that's generally a good (or, at least, an interesting) thing.

But, when that commentary makes assumptions or is based on "facts not in evidence", it makes the commentator look like a knee jerk reactionary.

Re: Harry, would love to talk with you!

Shawn King — Sat, 05 May 2007 13:40:31 -0000

As much as it pains me, I'll disagree on John here.

"But I’m still curious as to when it is acceptable for someone to comment on a story like this."

It's "acceptable" to comment at any time - seconds after the fact even. What John, I and others take issue with is so many bloggers, "journalists", columnists and others in the Peanut Gallery drawing black and white distinctions/conclusions *seconds* afterwards.

To (barely) paraphrase John, "I advocate getting all the facts before making Harry into a hero or Colin into Satan..." That's the issue I personally have with the "tone" of the vast majority of "reporting", blogging or commenting I've seen on this issue.

"Harry is a Journalistic God sticking up for the readers" vs "Colin is a venal, self serving hack, doing Apple's dirty work" is the tone you see from so many people - *none* of whom have any more facts than are presented in the Wired story.

Full disclosure: I know Crawford personally but Im not defending him (I don't know him *that* well :) ). I just want to hear more facts, both from Harry (why hasn't he commented on any of this?) and from Colin (who has commented on it).

Re: Ryan’s wrapup of tough day at Engadget

Shawn King — Fri, 18 May 2007 10:57:18 -0000

"yesterday in his life was probably pretty rough"

Ignoring the mangled syntax, his "pretty rough" day was of his own making. Not much sympathy here.

"Apple’s PR was slow to react."

I'm sorry...what? Apple PR is supposed to jump when Engadget says jump?

"If anything went wrong here"

Are you implying you don't think *anything* went wrong?

"it’s the pressure on everyone (bloggers and journalists) to be first."

No - bloggers feel (completely made up) pressure to be first. Real journalists feel the pressure to *both* "get it first and get it right". *Huge* difference.

"For two, I want to be known for my video work, not my blogging work"

Then stop blogging. Written blogs will *always* be easier to keep up with and noticed more than video.

"I’ve taken my shots at Engadget in the past (not my proudest moments in life, truth be told)"

*Never* take a shot if you're not going to be proud of it. :)

"and Ryan’s post raised his stock way up in my eyes."

Why? I've been in a similar situation (it didn't cost the stock market billions in valuation but it did cause quite a sh*tstorm at Apple) and the first thing I did when I found out I was wrong was - I APOLOGIZED.

Re-reading Ryan's post, I don't see an apology. So, why has his stock gone up, Robert?

Re: Fake Steve decries “attacks”

Shawn King — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:50:14 -0000

"He blog’s as FSJ as a creative outlet but he probably wouldn’t if his identity was known."

I know who FSJ is and I can *guarantee* that once he's outed, he'll stop writing the blog.

And, Robert, as to "But now Fake Steve is angry that people are trying to figure out who he is and is angry at Valleywag for attacking him."? Did you ever stop to consider that maybe, just *maybe*, that's part of the joke?

Re: Fake Steve decries “attacks”

Shawn King — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:51:48 -0000

"Fake Steve is HARDLY ethical."

What is unethical about satire?

"I’d fire the guy if I learned he worked for me."

And people wonder why he wants to stay anonymous.....

Re: Think Different Apple

Shawn King — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:49:48 -0000

How are these videos "brilliant"? They are modestly clever at best. At worse, they take a stale, no longer used, 10 year old marketing campaign and try to make points with it.

What's next? "Switch" ads with people going back to their Palm Treos?

Re: It’s your business

Shawn King — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:30:42 -0000

"Add streaming video, like AMD used the other day in another press conference, and things would be dramatically different."

Robert, we've been doing live audio and video streaming for years. Not only that but we've been doing it with the audience not only watching live but participating in multiple chat rooms, asking questions of our guests and responding in kind to our questions.

Bottom line is, it ain't "a new thing". :)