Post incites passionate reactions from both sides
On Friday, as the world awaited Apple’s Saturday delivery of the iPad, I surveyed the crest of a months-long tsunami of generally fawning press coverage, planted tongue firmly in cheek, and pecked out a blog post headlined: “I have absolutely nothing to say about the iPad.”
I didn’t expect much of a reaction, because, well, I didn’t have much to say.
Boy was I wrong. People hated that post. And other people — more people — absolutely loved it.
In a string of more than two dozen comments (nowhere near a Buzzblog record, but notable for a weekend) there were those who seemed genuinely offended by my insouciant lack of iPad insight, such as:
“I’d rather you said nothing. A story about having no opinion on a major tech release is something I’d be furious about, were I your editor. Find something you DO care about and write about that.”
My editor just poked his head into my office, and, rather than fury, he expressed amusement over the comments, in particular this next one reacting to my “hope” that I’d “still have a job come Monday:”
“After reading this review I have only one comment. You worry about having a job come Monday; I can’t believe you had a job to begin with.”
Review? What review? I wrote a non-review, an anti-review, an anything-but-a-review. … And what part of the headline were these folks not understanding?
At least this next guy understood what I was trying to do.
“You are absolutely correct, Paul, you have not a single thought worth sharing.”
Biting, yes, but he got the point.
Enough of the detractors, as it was the other group – those who loved the post – who made me realize that my humble little admission that I had nothing to say about the iPad – and that I didn’t much care — had given voice to a largely silent majority.
“I’m right there with you. I’m my community’s tech guy, and I am utterly apathetic on this gizmo.”
And this one:
“He has nothing to worry about (job-wise) IMO. This is a blog, if you didn’t notice, and he is expressing many people’s opinion about this so-called revolutionary product.”
And another:
“Thank you for being so honest about the iPad. I feel like it’s been getting a lot of press for something that’s been done before. I am the owner of an iTouch and a MacBook and I love them, however, I don’t feel like I need a hybrid between the two.”
You’re welcome, even if I didn’t actually write any of those things.
“I think you’ll still have a job on Monday,” offers another supporter. “Those guys writing your paycheck should realize that you represent a majority out there.”
They realize that a bunch of comments on a blog post is a good thing, even if some of the comments are critical … and even if the blog post didn’t say much of anything.
This one was one of my favorites: “Paul just earned my readership.”
And finally: “Bravo. I appreciate and applaud that a mainstream tech writer is honest about a product and their opinion of it rather than trying to stretch to find positive things to say about a something they are really ambivalent about. … If this were more common, readership would trust those publications even more. I visit here about once a month, but I’ll be visiting more often just to check out more of your work, Mr. McNamara.”
Wow. I may have to have nothing to say more often.
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