Josh Topolsky replies to his unfavorable review on The Verge

[tekhna]

I think a doctor or lawyer don't really qualify as there is really specific training that goes into being a member of those fields. I guess my issue is with what he means by knowing more than us. If he means that maybe he knows certain things coming down the pipeline that haven't leaked yet then yes he knows more than us. However, that's not what I think he meant in the comments he made in that video. I think he meant that he knows more about "technology" (not just future products or releases), and that to me is patently absurd. To use your example of a political journalist, a political journalist might know more about the backroom dealings or gossip in the area that he covers, but I wouldn't say he knows more about politics as a theoretical field then most people.

I don't want to go into what makes or doesn't make him a professional as the lines of journalism are being blurred in the era of blogs and such, but I don't buy him as a professional akin to a doctor or a lawyer. He's more like the guy who runs WebMD (except they are most likely doctors too). Has he even worked at a tech company aside from "building his own computers" and running tech websites?

Of course the political journalist has a knowledge of politics in the abstract--it's their job to. They probably studied politics as an undergraduate before they went to J school. And they have strong normative opinions about politics.

Let's pretend you spend all day every single working day playing with technology, writing about technology, thinking about technology. Phones, cameras, computers, everything. And then there's the casual phone user. Who knows more about tech? It's patently absurd to me that you deny him any kind of specialized knowledge because, as far as I can tell, you just don't want him to have it, not because he's unqualified.

As for the comment about bloggers, what is this, 2007?

 

[Ochowie84]

Of course the political journalist has a knowledge of politics in the abstract--it's their job to. They probably studied politics as an undergraduate before they went to J school. And they have strong normative opinions about politics.

Let's pretend you spend all day every single working day playing with technology, writing about technology, thinking about technology. Phones, cameras, computers, everything. And then there's the casual phone user. Who knows more about tech? It's patently absurd to me that you deny him any kind of specialized knowledge because, as far as I can tell, you just don't want him to have it, not because he's unqualified.

As for the comment about bloggers, what is this, 2007?

Fine let's take the example of a political journalist further. You mention that a political journalist studied politics in college (a fair assumption) then went to J school. What has this guy studied? Using technology and thinking about it doesn't make you an expert in my book. Did he study Human Computer Interaction, Software design, Software development, Computer Engineering, ...? If he did and I don't know it then I take those things back. But if he didn't then his approach in these reviews is really no different than a casual user. I could spend a lot of time reading and thinking about medicine but that wouldn't put me on par with a doctor or anything. And I think the comment about it being a blog is still valid. He is only an expert as long as his site has readers. If people stop visiting his site to such an extent that industry insiders no longer feel the need to talk to him then he stops being an expert entirely. So for him to belittle his readership in such a manner is not a very good business strategy.

In general I have no inherent desire to deprive him of any kind of status. I think overall he has run a good site with plenty of interesting content. What I have a problem with is that he takes such a superior stance with his readers when he is only in the position he is in because of them. That is my problem. And let's be honest most of the people reading his site are not casual phone users. I have played with almost as many phones that they have reviewed on that site (not to mention other gadgets). Does that make me an expert too? I

 

[tekhna]

Fine let's take the example of a political journalist further. You mention that a political journalist studied politics in college (a fair assumption) then went to J school. What has this guy studied? Using technology and thinking about it doesn't make you an expert in my book. Did he study Human Computer Interaction, Software design, Software development, Computer Engineering, ...? If he did and I don't know it then I take those things back. But if he didn't then his approach in these reviews is really no different than a casual user. I could spend a lot of time reading and thinking about medicine but that wouldn't put me on par with a doctor or anything. And I think the comment about it being a blog is still valid. He is only an expert as long as his site has readers. If people stop visiting his site to such an extent that industry insiders no longer feel the need to talk to him then he stops being an expert entirely. So for him to belittle his readership in such a manner is not a very good business strategy.

In general I have no inherent desire to deprive him of any kind of status. I think overall he has run a good site with plenty of interesting content. What I have a problem with is that he takes such a superior stance with his readers when he is only in the position he is in because of them. That is my problem. And let's be honest most of the people reading his site are not casual phone users. I have played with almost as many phones that they have reviewed on that site (not to mention other gadgets). Does that make me an expert too? I

I don't know if he has studied those particular academic fields, that's true--but I do know he has probably used (perhaps extensively) every single phone of note released in the last five years+, which gives him an expertise that I don't have.

 

[Ochowie84]

I don't know if he has studied those particular academic fields, that's true--but I do know he has probably used (perhaps extensively) every single phone of note released in the last five years+, which gives him an expertise that I don't have.

He has expertise in the use-cases that are important to him. Look, these kinds of reviews are inherently subjective and the review was his opinion. And there is nothing wrong with that (I don't even disagree with his review in a serious way). If, on the Vergecast, he had said "this is my subjective opinion as the reviewer, but feel free to disagree with me respectfully in comments" I would have had no further issue. But he didn't say that. He went on this rant about "Oh you don't know what I know" and "only Walt Mossberg has more technology experience than I do" etc ... That is where he lost me. Not in his review but in the way he handled the aftermath made him seem like a petulant child.

 

[tekhna]

He has expertise in the use-cases that are important to him. Look, these kinds of reviews are inherently subjective and the review was his opinion. And there is nothing wrong with that (I don't even disagree with his review in a serious way). If, on the Vergecast, he had said "this is my subjective opinion as the reviewer, but feel free to disagree with me respectfully in comments" I would have had no further issue. But he didn't say that. He went on this rant about "Oh you don't know what I know" and "only Walt Mossberg has more technology experience than I do" etc ... That is where he lost me. Not in his review but in the way he handled the aftermath made him seem like a petulant child.

Agreed. But being a petulant child doesn't invalidate his review. My doctoral advisor was the biggest jerk on the planet--petty and vindictive. But he was good. Really good. So I put up with it for a couple years.

 

[fisci]

his review was bang on about the platform.. stop being cranky fanboys

 

[Ochowie84]

Agreed. But being a petulant child doesn't invalidate his review. My doctoral advisor was the biggest jerk on the planet--petty and vindictive. But he was good. Really good. So I put up with it for a couple years.

I don't think it invalidates his review. In fact I mentioned above that I don't disagree with his review. But his attitude to his readership is turning me off to further reading his site.

PS. What was your doctorate in? My advisor was a dick too but I always figured that was the fact that mine had to do with finance.

 

[Ochowie84]

his review was bang on about the platform.. stop being cranky fanboys

I am not a ******. WP7 fits my needs and likes and I will keep using it, but I mentioned several times that I agree with his review. However, there was no need for him to respond the way he did (or to respond at all for that matter).

 

[Thuoudo]

His response (for those who actually watched it) should be an incredible turn off.

We wouldn't have the colloquialism "I want to get a second opinion" if we trusted the professionals because they do something every day...

Turns out Einstein may have been wrong about the theory of relativity (but is still likely correct about gravity)

 

[Depatter]

I prefer to get my reviews from Josh's contempraries over at gdgt.com. Ryan Block is a much more fair and balanced reviewer than Josh, and the new metascores give me a way to get a quick impression of a device when I am on the go.

With the Lumia 900, a Windows Phone is finally worthy of gdgt recommendation. Here's why. - gdgt

 

[Ulairi]

I think Josh doesn't help himself by being dismissive and saying "he knows more than you" and he tried to talk that back during the podcast. There is nothing wrong with his review. It's his opinion on the product and it's not wrong, just like if someone really like the phone they are not wrong.

 

[gtbuzz]

So I was out to dinner with my girlfriend and her brothers. One of her brothers happens to work for the Apple store (one of those Genius guys). At one point I pulled out my phone to check the text and he knew exactly what it was and asked to see it. He played around with it for a few minutes and conceeded he felt like it was an awesome phone and that in his opinion the OS had matured enough that he felt like he could make the leap and be happy with it, except of course for the fact that he can't because of his job. Seems like high praise from someone who works for Apple.

Her other brother (who had never seen a Windows Phone before) played around with it for a while and said that in just that short time he wanted to switch from his iPhone, but alas - he works for a non-profit and apparently anything Microsoft is borderline heresy.

I guess neither of those will be an additional device sale, but amusing nonetheless and also shows how well the phone can show on first impression.

A little later on the brother that worked at the Apple store started prodding me about if I had read some reviews, to which I responded, you mean the one on the Verge? He immediately started harping on how it was a poor review and incredibly biased. I've said it before, and Josh is entitled to his own opinion and he's free to not like the phone, but here's an example of someone from the outside looking in felt like it just wasn't a good review.

Sure, he may know more about technology than I do, but it doesn't mean you can't write a bad review (and 3000 words doesn't make it a good or complete review either). PS - neither of those guys were concerned that their IRC connection will drop if they have to check their email.

 

[inteller]

his review was bang on about the platform.. stop being cranky fanboys

and what part was that? There was nothing of substance about his attack on the platform other than the old line about lack of apps....which is starting to sound like the old dual core line...

the guy is a hack. He was so full of himself that he left engadget to run his own pompous blog. I actually like Engadget MORE these days since he left and it has started to gain some of its credibility back. TheVerge is a hack site run by narsissys (sic)

 

[Seketh]

1:37:00

"It's not a problem with Twitter, it's IE9".

(If you don't know, Twitter made some changes and left out WP users without a proper mobile website until recently, it was Twitter fault.)

I lol'ed.

But the fact that he truly believed it was an IE9 issue, just proves that he lives in a world on negativity against WP.

 

[krayziehustler]

1:37:00

"It's not a problem with Twitter, it's IE9".

(If you don't know, Twitter made some changes and left out WP users without a proper mobile website until recently, it was Twitter fault.)

I lol'ed.

But the fact that he truly believed it was an IE9 issue, just proves that he lives in a world on negativity against WP.

exactly...

 

[techygeek82]

Anyone see the recent 'Tweet/Retweet' between him and AT&T?

 

[krayziehustler]

Anyone see the recent 'Tweet/Retweet' between him and AT&T?

no, care to enlighten us?

 

[techygeek82]

no, care to enlighten us?

Sorry...hit submit to quick...

"Joshua Topolsky" (Retweeted by AT&T)
--"Actually I mispoke. In light of how perfect the Lumia 900 is, I've had our developers add an 11 to our rating system. It is an 11."

"AT&T"
"Got it! @joshuatopolsky: Wow, hey @ATT -- I was being sarcastic. Might want to clarify that to your followers."

 

[krayziehustler]

smh....that guy is a tool

 

[techygeek82]

smh....that guy is a tool

No kidding. I'm done with The Verge. His unprofessionalism sickens me, especially as an editor in chief! If I told people I worked with, or CONSUMERS even of my product, to 'calm the f*** down', I'd lose my job in a heartbeat.