JOURNALISM, BLOGS AND APPLE

MINETA SAN JOSE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - Bad news: I'm stuck at the airport for 3 hours. Good news: Free ticket! Thing about the free ticket is, you don't get your miles if you use the free ticket... that's going to wreak havoc on my quest to re-secure United Elite status. Well, as long as we're going to be here a while... THE OUTSIDE SCOOP: While I was reading Romenesko yesterday I realized that, perhaps, I should go ahead and check my work e-mail when I get up in the morning. I always hate to find out stuff about work from outside sources. (Regardless, kinda shocking news. You'd think he'd have at least waited around in case he needs to pick up his Pulitzer) (Speaking of, how many Pulitzers do we have to be nominated for before people start calling us the Mercury News? As GOB would say, "COME ON!") ARE BLOGGERS JOURNALISTS? While we're on the subject of the Merc's opinion section... sorta... our editorial pages sided with the trio of Mac rumor sites that have been sued by Apple for disclosing product information before it has been announced. Defending their lawsuits, Apple has argued that their "DNA is innovation, and the protection of our trade secrets is crucial to our success." I couldn't agree more. But the fact is, the protection of those trade secrets is the responsibility of Apple and its employees. It is not the responsibility of Think Secret. Not Apple Insider. And not the PowerPage. But hey, I guess I can't fault Apple for trying. Certainly they must wish all journalists were like the fawning sycophants over at MacWorld. Editor Jason Snell had an excellent opportunity to stick up for his fellow Mac journalists in that LA Times story I mentioned above. Instead, he chose to kick them while they are down. As well he should. MacWorld sister publications like MacWeek (remember MacWeek? A weekly Mac magazine! Oh, those pre-Internet days... *sigh*) used to report the same kind of information. (I remember reading about the "BlackBird" PowerBook and its mysterious new "trackpad.") But, with the rise of the Internet, MacWorld and its sister publications have largely abdicated their role in reporting upcoming Apple products. They also gave the pink slip to several columnists that could occasionally be critical of Apple in favor of... PR blurbs for Apple accessories. I'm going to guess their readership has suffered as Mac fans have turned to the Internet for more timely and critical information. So, faced with that, why bother sticking up for your profession when you have the opportunity to trash your competitors? I mean, right? Last month, I let my MacWorld subscription lapse for the first time in over a decade. So far, I haven't missed it. How did this turn into a rant against MacWorld? ARE COMMENTERS JOURNALISTS? With all the blogger as journalist stories floating around, TMFTML has a great bit that asserts that "2005 appears to be the year of the commenter." Speaking of commenters, when did my blog become a Burger King chat room?