Every Wednesday in the various ZD newsletters there is a plug for the column I wrote for PC Mag online. This week’s column is a good one, but I rolled my eyes when I read the blurb in the newsletter:
Dvorak Online: Media Bias and Technology
According to columnist John C. Dvorak, Microsoft isn’t in the limelight as much as people think. In fact, top columnists and technology writers are nearly all Mac users, entire newsrooms are filled with Macintoshes, and people go gaga over the video iPod. Is there some sort of media bias against Microsoft? See what Dvorak has to say in his bold, but possibly insightful, commentary.
Possibly insightful? Geez, don’t go overboard with praise.
Ed, which operating system was it that BillG wrote? They BOUGHT all the interesting software they sell (DOS, Excel, IE, Visio, etc. etc. etc.)
And Robert, sorry but the viruses and security holes are NOT simply a reflection of their success. Take the server area: Apache has 3 TIMES the market share of IIS, and yet IIS has WAY WAY more exploits, holes, and vulnerabilities. It people writing malware were just aiming for the biggest target, to make sure their evilness hit the most people, don’t you think there would be more attacks on Apache?
Hey Dvorak, you gonna cough up that list of a dozen products Microsoft invented that the media ignored in favor of an Apple product? I’m having trouble finding them in between security notices, Vista delays, and the powerpc xbox 360.
Not to mention, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard a junk battle against Apple. I’m still waiting to hear your reasons for dropping Safari in favor of other browsers, considering you’re no where near a designer or a developer.
Many of us have multiple systems, with unbiased opinions… but please, show me something worth being excited about from Microsoft that was ignored? Office 12 got a little praise… but only a little, because it’s office 12. Aside from the dynamic toolbars, I see little advanced innovation… but it is, again, an Office program.
Your bias arguement can’t hold water if the competition is sparse.
I’m not sure why it is difficult to understand why Apple gets the press it does. The press latches on to fads that people will read or watch stories about. The iPod is pretty much it. In the mid 90′s, there was far less ink on Apple, because it was an un-hip company with no fad product.
Also, I’m not sure what kind of damage this bias does…I mean, does Dvorak really think that people won’t give Microsoft a chance? They own the whole market already, do they need sympathy press as well?
Why all the fuss about Apple? Well, why should there be so much fuss about Microsoft? afaik, they’ve never made a good mp3 player, music sorting/playing software and/or amazingly non-restrictive music store. No version of WIndows even comes close to OS X Tiger yet. XP has so many flaws that it looks like a piece of swiss cheese. Hmmm…
I especially like the amazing leap of logic at the end of your article about the Xbox 360. Hint: most people who love Apple are not gamers. It’s largely a completely different market.