Kurt's Thoughts

Man, this guy annoys me.

Valleywag reports that CNBC’s Jim Goldman is a shill for Apple.  I flat out think he’s a media mouthpiece for Apple’s Public Relations group based on his reporting.  Not convinced?  Check out Valleywag’s research:

• http://gawker.com/5133232/a-puffed+up-reporters-puffed+up-sources
• http://gawker.com/5124074/how-steve-jobs-turned-cnbc-into-apple-touts
• http://gawker.com/5131654/cnbcs-state-of-denial-on-apple-ceos-health

Well, normally his bluster is just that:  Bluster.  However this time, he’s really gone way overboard.  We’re talking transparent-Jack-Thompson-nutjob overboard.

He’s flat out making up stuff to defend Apple.

Goldman’s Ludicrous Apple Hype… Gizmodo weighs in
After Jim Goldman “reported” on the supposed cost/value differences between a PC versus a Mac, and publicly made the claims that:

• Macintoshes come with Photoshop; PC’s don’t.
• Macintoshes come with iTunes; PC’s don’t.
• Macintoshes come with iPhoto; PC’s don’t.
• Macintoshes “don’t need” antivirus software; PC’s need to buy some.
• Macintoshes have 4x the battery life compared to PC’s, have faster processors & better screen resolution

…the technology folks a Gizmodo cried out, SAY WHAT? and called CNBC flat out “ridiculous”.  (http://i.gizmodo.com/5220277/cnbc-is-ridiculous-macs-come-with-photoshop-pcs-need-600-extra-to-perform-as-well-as-a-mac)  Gizmodo gets VERY specific about how ludicrously wrong Jim Goldman’s slanted Apple view was, citing such examples as:

• Windows can get AVG, Avast!, BitDefender, or any number of commercially available free antivirus software
• Windows can get iTunes, Zune, Windows Media Player, and any number of free music software
• Windows can get VCW Photo Editor, Paint.net, Photoscape, or any number of free photo editors
• Windows can get photography managers like Windows Live Photo Gallery or Picasa or other free tools

…and BTW:  Macintoshes do NOT have “4x the battery life”, “faster processors”, or “better screen resolution”.

Goldman can’t even COPY other people’s work correctly
The crux of Goldman’s incorrect comparison apparently originates with his source material:  It looks like Goldman ripped off someone else’s article, which compared a MacBook Pro to a specific HP laptop model… then he extrapolated the facts to encompass ALL Windows laptops versus ALL Mac laptops.

Yep – in a hilarious case of ‘cribbing’, Jim Goldman, apparently not satisfied with just shilling for Apple, allegedly copied his information directly from a BusinessWeek article written by Arik Hesseldahl who has since publicly accused Goldman of ‘borrowing’ his article.   Valleywag/Gawker highlights the “cribbing” activities of Goldman:

“The duplication of six data points between the BusinessWeek story and Goldman’s CNBC segment would be enough, on its own, to give away Goldman’s cribbing. But the real tell that Goldman didn’t do his own work was his sloppy copying of BusinessWeek’s comparison: Hesseldahl wrote that a PC buyer would need Adobe’s low-end Photoshop Elements to match the Mac’s built-in iPhoto. In the CNBC graphic, Goldman rendered this as "Photoshop" — a much more expensive program that doesn’t come with a PC or a Mac. (Hesseldahl has now accused Goldman of "borrowing" his column, and pointed out other errors.)”

For an interesting bit of investigative journalism, read the complete article.
http://gawker.com/5220979/how-apples-pet-reporter-stole-his-talking-points