Do n’t you hate it when mummy and dad fight ? Sure you do . But you screw it when savant fight back , right ? ! First this calendar week , we ’re not argue about what ’s wrong with tech journalism , we ’re just arguing over who ’s the problem . Then a CNet author aid a company do a labor - by on Apple . ultimately , sometimes even Apple pundits do n’t agree .
Techo-pundit slap fight
MG Siegler has keyed up a ego - righteous harangue about the deplorable state of technology coverage and , well , who can argue with that ? Let ’s detect out .
Content Everywhere , But Not A fall To Drink(foul language alert )
What set Siegler off isaNew York Timespiececalling out the iOS app and societal net Path for having been caught upload iPhone user ’ entire destination books . Not fair , say Siegler , as other applications arestilldoing that ( Path has edit all user savoir-faire book data ) . Then he launches into a tirade about low-down - information , metre - and - pageview sensible journalism ; the Macalope stand no disceptation on that topic , but it ’s a bit odd , considering that Path reallywasdoing something it should n’t have been .
Or possibly notthatodd , according to Dan Lyons . AsLyons gong in , Siegler and his x - boss Michael Arrington ( who Siegler defends for also lash out theTimespiece ) are both partner in CrunchFund , which invest in Path .
Oooh , a smacking fight between sequential jerk Michael Arrington and serial has - been Dan Lyons ? There is not enough popcorn in the existence .
Still , despite the confutable motives , the horny one agrees with Siegler ’s introductory point , which is practically the Macalope ’s raison d’être .
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The only thing I can put up is the advice to take everything you take in the technology pressing with a grain of salt . Perhaps several . The likelihood that at least part of it is nonsense is very strong . And impregnable by the day .
Well , possibly not that last part . Is it really any bad than it ’s ever been ? It ’s been nonsensical for twelvemonth . The Macalope would debate that masses are just noticing it more now . He hopes so , because he ’s sure as shooting adjudicate to “ raise sentience , ” by which he means “ call a caboodle of citizenry names . ”
The Macalope ’s not here to lay claim he ’s perfect and above it all . He makes error himself ( see : last Saturday ’s column ) . The departure , he desire , is that the Classic Mac promontory , the horns , and the hoof make it apparent that he takes himself less badly than your Henry Blodgets and … well , jolly much everyone else in tech coverage .
He is proud to say that he has no idea what his dealings numbers are , other than decent enough thatMacworldkeeps swing off bales full of perfumed , crunchy lucerne on his threshold .
He ’s a short uncertain where a tech journalism sitegetsalfalfa , but he does n’t ask questions that he ’s afraid to know the solvent to .
“ Hey , it fall offa truck , you roll in the hay what I ’m sayin ’ ? Do n’t you care your furry piffling foreland about it ! Just go back to writin ’ the curious stuff anddon’t be pokin ’ your nose where it do n’t go . ”
( Also of concern is whyMacworldeditorial theater director Jason Snell speak like a stereotypical Italian gangster , but that ’s getting even further off the track . )
The distributor point is , if there are just five of you out there reading and enjoy the Macalope ’s particular mark of knee - jerking Apple fanboi religious fanatism LOL - ism , that ’s OK .
The Macalope does n’t know specifically what it ’s like at ZDNet , or Gizmodo , or Angry Arnold ’s Apple Bashing Supersite , but several years ago , when he was at CNet , it pay a base monthly fee with a fillip for dealings over a sure amount . He expects that ’s not uncommon .
The Macalope oft did n’t get the CNet bonus because he failed to FREEly embed traffic - jack up keywords when post from his IPHONE WHITNEY HOUSTON BREADED CATS HOT COLLEGE NYMPHOMANIACS .
Anyway , if there really are only five of you read this , peradventure we should charter an flat together somewhere if this gig ever falls through .
No weirdos .
Drive-by shooting
CNet ’s Lance Whitney provides a great deterrent example of how tech journalist ply “ Libra ” in a story .
While completely missing what ’s really going on .
Malware loves Android , but iOS users , do take care
How iOS users are supposed to “ take forethought ” is not discussed .
Malware aimed at Google ’s mobile OS soar up to 13,000 samples at the end of last class from only 400 in June , an increase of 3,325 percentage .
Wow ! That ’s a lot of percent ! Should n’t that be in the title ? No , we must drop almost one-half of the clause finger - wagging at the company with the significantly more strong platform .
“ While malicious app on the iOS platform are bound in big part due to Apple ’s unopen app marketplace and tight screening model , it does not necessarily make it fundamentally more dependable , ” Juniper said in its report . “ For one , when a user ‘ jailbreaks ’ their machine by withdraw the limitation on the operating system , the gimmick can be susceptible to malicious applications downloaded from third - political party source . ”
Yeah!Maybe that ’s why Apple does n’t support jailbreaking .
In fact , an iOS security flaw was discovered in November that allowed apps to download potentially malicious unsigned code . Apple patched the flaw with its iOS 5.0.1 update . And an app exploiting this type of flaw would ’ve been rejected during Apple ’s approval process . But the incident did show that even iOS is n’t invulnerable .
Of course it ’s not invulnerable . It ’s just so much less likely to be affected by malware than Android that to create false equivalencies between it and a program explode with malware is laughable .
What could maybe be driving this ? What ? Could ? It ? Be ?
“ This deficiency of software system protection and a private-enterprise security market will users with little protection if malware were ever to make it through Apple ’s app vetting operation , ” Juniper noted .
Oh . “ Little tribute ” . Really . The fact that Apple can remotely disable apps and supply timely update that it delivers to all currently supported speech sound is “ little ” tribute . That ’s an interesting view .
“ In the long run , this could produce a false sense of certificate for Apple user and prove to be an even bigger risk than Android ’s open model . ”
Really .
Uh - huh .
Here ’s the Macalope ’s translation of Juniper ’s report : “ We are really , really crazy that Apple wo n’t get us make antivirus software package for iOS . Furious , really . ”
Thaaat ’s rightfulness . Juniper makesmobile antivirus and antimalware software package .
What a happenstance !
According tothe fellowship ’s report(PDF ):
Malus pumila prevents development of anti - malware coating for its devices , which limits the accessibility of a private-enterprise surety market for its platform . This signify there is less design on security control and no usable protections for consumers against a potential malware outbreak .
This means Juniper does not make any money off of iOS .
Period .
As the Macalope has long said , the computer security diligence has always strike him as being a bit like the pack : “ This is a nice operating organization you got here . It’d be a shame if something were to bechance to it . ”
Whitney , of course , does not mention Juniper ’s motivation anywhere in his piece . Which is too unsound , as that would have provided some actual balance .
Saturday Special: Merging ahead
Apple surprised us this workweek by releasing a developer prevue of the next version of OS X , Mountain Lion .
And it ’s not even our natal day ! ( Unless , of course , it is your birthday , in which case : Happy Birthday , please go for this developer prevue of Mountain Lion . )
Several pundits have rushed to say that Apple is essentially doing slowly what Microsoft hopes to do overnight with Windows 8 . Like AllThingsD ’s Ina Fried :
“ Mountain Lion and Windows 8 ’s Common Aim : Make background More Like Mobile ”
Ehhh , peradventure sorta kinda , but not completely . At this dot , what Apple ’s doing is less about conflate the two operating system than it is about just make them uniform . Microsoft , on the other hand , is taking a vastly dissimilar approach — that of endeavor to shoehorn an elephant into a saucy car .
The Macalope trust the folk music in Redmond have enough bacon grease .
While Apple savant match that what the society ’s doing with Mountain Lion is n’t what Microsoft ’s doing ( gaw , as if ! ) , some do n’t fit in on exactly what it is Apple ’s doing .
Jim Dalrymplesays :
If Apple were trying to make Mountain Lion more like iOS we would be touching the screen of our reckoner to interact with out apps alternatively of using the keyboard and mouse .
But Ben Brookssays :
The room I see it , Apple is test to simplify OS X and bring to it some of the features from iOS that make sense . To that end Apple is very much reach Mountain Lion more iOS like .
In the idiom of the Macalope ’s pal Merlin Mann , this argument is about “ the narcissism of pocket-size difference ” . ( Technically , Sigmund Freud may have said it first but the Macalope was unable to touch Dr. Freud before going to contract . ) What ’s different in Mountain Lion is mostly in the program space , but at the same time , we did get turn back scrolling in Lion . Apple does n’t want the same substance abuser experience on both Mobile River and background , but it does desire them to be uniform . Microsoft wants them to be the same .
Which , as Adrian Kingsley - Hughes points out , raise some questions .
There ’s one question that Microsoft still has n’t answered with respect to Windows 8 , and I think it ’s a fundamental question . What problem does the Metro UI touch - interface solve on a desktop scheme that is n’t touch enabled ?
Well , are we talking about the user ’s problem or Microsoft ’s ? Because …
