Even casual readers know that Irreal holds a generally dim view of journalists. But this isn’t another post about their bias and ignorance of their subject matter. This is a post about silliness masquerading as serious journalism. It’s about writing stories that sound like a bunch of 8th grade boys giggling about a photograph of a woman in a bikini. Well, actually that last is probably unfair to 8th grade boys who are generally more mature and serious than this Gizmodo article.
As you probably know, Apple just announced the AirPods Max, a pricey, over-the-ears set of earphones. A reasonable argument can be made that they’re way too expensive but that’s not what the Gizmodo article was about. Rather, they chose to devote the article to the earphone’s case. The case is soft, which, I suppose, makes them slightly easier to pack and carry around.
The thing is, if you’re one of the sillier of those 8th grade boys the case may remind you of a bra. So if you’re a Gizmodo journalist, what else can you do but write a story entitled “I Thought It Was an Ugly Titty Purse” complete with an even sillier article illustration that looks like it was intended to appeal to those boys.
It’s generally accepted wisdom that the tech press doesn’t like the tech industry but if this represents their level of argument the industry has little to fear. The rest of us can continue cultivating the notion that they have nothing worthwhile to say and that they can be safely ignored with no FOMO.