@gruber@benthompson Just realize that the tweets from the guy giving MKBHD grief about his potential to move a market: he is treating AI Pin as if it’s a beta product. I have, in fact, seen some savaging of beta stuff that seemed premature (unless real production fees were being charged and it was broadly available in beta). The AI Pin is so bad, that it seems like a prototype…
@glennf@benthompson It's combination of asking for it to be graded on a severe curve, asking for it to be judged on future promise, and asking for special treatment for new companies. Or something. But I think Ben nailed it that he's implicitly demanding for readers/viewers to be ignored.
@gruber@benthompson Yes, if Humane wanted kid-glove treatment, they should have had a limited invitation l-only beta release among people who were made well aware of the product’s limits and told this would not be the production version. If someone tried to review the beta, they would either have to take that into account or be seen as unfair. Humane doesn’t seem to be asking for better treatment. It is third parties, like that troll, who are!
@gruber@glennf@benthompson It's also the fundamental misunderstanding that tech press is somehow part of "the team” - but we're not, we may be part of a marketing plan but we are not part of a marketing department
@jsnell@gruber@benthompson that does seem to be the whine of every tech exec in the mold of Marc Andreessen now. They complain about coverage because it doesn’t conform to their marketing materials. As far as I can tell, people in this group don’t believe there is such a thing as an independent press, whether for reviews or anything else. It’s incredibly cynical.
@glennf@gruber@benthompson I do think there's also a level of legitimate delusion, too - they often view the tech press as part of the tech industry and therefore media should help them row the tech boat into the glorious tomorrow
@glennf@jsnell@benthompson Musk had a revealing tweet today (retweeting a dumb tweet with bad charts, natch). His (nonsensical) vision is for a world where information comes from "hundreds of millions of humans providing real-time, AI-assisted, interactive information". It's the influence of top publications, and top writers/personalities, that he and his ilk resent and dream of replacing.
@glennf@gruber@jsnell@benthompson I think that much money buys a measure freedom from the truth and its consequences. When faced with the reality of a situation they reject it instinctively as being alien and something foisted upon them by an unenlightened mob.
"You know, the very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the facts. They alter the facts to fit their views, which can be uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that needs altering." - Dr Who
@glennf@jsnell@benthompson That jackass's criticism of MKBHD was more or less explicitly saying "How dare he wield the influence he's earned?” Whereas the same guy would surely never argue against someone like Musk wielding the money (and also influence) that he's earned.
@gruber@glennf@benthompson When company launches a beta, it needs to announce it as beta. It’s not asking for customers; it’s asking for testers. Humaine didn’t do that. It launched a production product that wasn’t production-ready at full retail. If the expectation among some is that the tech press should sugarcoat the state of a product so consumers will give a manufacturer money, that shows little regard for the welfare of consumers. To Humaine’s credit, it did not imply that.
@gruber@glennf@benthompson It's worse than that. He is demanding readers/viewers be lied to for the sake of some millionaires and their billionaire investors.
@ryanbooker I mean, I'd give Humane a chance if they weren't releasing a product unready for the market. If this were a beta and people were this negative—but it ain't. I agree: who would benefit from a lower standard of reviewing? Investing, not consumers. Buyers would then feel betrayed by any review that wasn't as honest as Marques et al’s.
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