Nay a nordic nerd nor a nemesis to the novus-ordum; I merely am a noble nexus to a nomadic nous;
and I nominate no claim to be normal, neither notably nonpareil.
Nevertheless, notwithstanding the noxious nod of the nocturnal noir, my notions shall remain nubile;
and you can call me "N".
Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
Do reviews need a bias?
MG Siegler writes:
I don’t know about you, but when I read my favorite technology writers, I want an opinion. Is the iPhone 4S the best smartphone, or is it the Galaxy Nexus? I need to buy one, I can’t buy both. Topolsky never gives us that. Instead, he pussyfoots around it. One is great at some things, the other is great at others. Barf.
Fucking pick one. I bet that even now he won’t.
This is the problem I have with most technology reviews these days. Everyone seems so afraid to say how they really feel about the device. And more often than not, that’s exactly what readers want.
You’re wrong Siegler - that’s not what a review is fundamentally meant to be. Maybe you are looking for relative opinions and head-on comparisons, but most readers, and more importantly, prospective buyers don’t think that way.
What a reviewer should essentially do is analyze the product, analyze how good or bad each feature is and try not to miss any key points (like you obviously did in your “review”). And when one passes comments or makes opinion, it should me made clear that that’s all it is - an opinion. The end-verdict should always be in the hands of buyer. An excessively opinionated review is perhaps an interesting read, but is much less useful when it comes to knowing what the product actually is.
Or, long story short: when you read a review intending to by the gadget, you only care what the gadget is actually capable of, not what a high-gloss blogger thinks about it.
