John Gruber jumps the shark
whydoeseverythingsuck.com
John Gruber jumps the shark
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Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#2Nit: "Jumped the shark" or "Jumping the Shark" does not mean "Has started to suck." It's a specific subset of suckage where the subject is clearly aware that they have no new ideas and resorts to ever-more desperate tricks to try to appear fresh and new.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#3"It was probably an off-hand comment, but it speaks volumes about where John's current psyche is. He said:
iPhone critics have seldom let facts get in their way."
That line actually bothered me too, but for me it was triggered by John's recent decision to start attacking Android for somehow using private APIs on the sly because he couldn't be bothered to A. understand the basic architecture of Android (those pesky facts; things that anybody who'd spent 20 minutes skimming the intro to the Android SDK could tell you) and B. the fact that he almost willfully ignores that Android is architected differently than the iPhone, and that things that would be system-level calls on the iPhone are handled at the application level via public system calls, even for Google's own applications.
This just happens to be something I can put my finger on; like the article's author, there's just been something about his tone recently that's been kind of off-putting to me. He seems quicker to jump at things simply for the sake of snark over correctness, which is a little bothersome for somebody who has a reputation for being a stickler for detail. It sucks because he's somebody that in the past I saw as being able to trust to get a take on things that was at least fair, even if I disagreed with him. Lately I find myself rolling my eyes at his posts often as not.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#4From the comments:
'Gruber even edits his posts without disclosing it. I saw him call Apple's decision to ban an app as a "nameless individual App Store reviewer" fault and not Apple's!'
The irony is that Gruber's fame originates from the outrage related to his app rejection.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#5"It was probably an off-hand comment, but it speaks volumes about where John's current psyche is. He said: iPhone critics have seldom let facts get in their way." That line actually bothered me too, but for me it was triggered by John's recent decision to start attacking Android for somehow using private APIs on the sly because he couldn't be bothered to A. understand the basic architecture of Android (those pesky fa…
I guess I take it a bit differently -- the stuff he's usually responding to is from "respected industry commentators" like Rob Enderle or Paul Thurrott and, well, the record kinda speaks for itself. Mainstream coverage tends to pretty consistently publish a lot of things which are flat-out not true (e.g., the oft-repeated claim that iPods can only play music purchased from the iTunes store). And, for better or worse, that's what Gruber is typically harping on.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#6The phrase "jumped the shark" has definitely jumped the shark.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#7From the comments: 'Gruber even edits his posts without disclosing it. I saw him call Apple's decision to ban an app as a "nameless individual App Store reviewer" fault and not Apple's!' The irony is that Gruber's fame originates from the outrage related to his app rejection.
> The irony is that Gruber's fame originates from the outrage related to his app rejection.
Huh? Gruber's fame, such as it is, originates from the fact that for years he has been writing a blog filled with mostly-Apple-related stuff that lots of people (mostly Apple users) like reading. Daring Fireball has been a big noise in Apple-land since before there even was an App Store.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#8iPhone critics have seldom let facts get in their way.
Essentially, anyone who has criticized the iPhone, or presumably Apple is just someone not dealing with the facts.
Hank, your critique falls apart when you switch what should be an existential quantifier with a universal quantifier.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#9Like all prominent bloggers, Gruber could use some insightful criticism. Too bad this post doesn't offer any. A thousand words that add up to "I can't really put my finger on it or name any specifics, but Daring Fireball seems more uncritically approving of Apple lately" is fine for pub conversation, but it's not much use as reasoned argument. How could Gruber respond to this?
The only specific point of Gruber's that the author cites is "iPhone critics have seldom let facts get in their way." I'm sure there's something to criticize in that statement, but it's a pretty slender reed on which to hang a blanket condemnation of dozens of articles.
Re: John Gruber jumps the shark
#10From the comments: 'Gruber even edits his posts without disclosing it. I saw him call Apple's decision to ban an app as a "nameless individual App Store reviewer" fault and not Apple's!' The irony is that Gruber's fame originates from the outrage related to his app rejection.
Out of curiousity, which could somebody link to the post about app rejection?