By:Rodney O. Lain
My Mac Magazine
rodneyo@mymac.com

The Realist: Hey, Mac-Rumor Sites, Apple made fools out of you!

Many people hate Ryan Meader. He is the one-man show that produces Mac OS Rumors. I won't put their URL on this page; heck, you know where to find them -- you and the other 900,000 people who visit his site.

I like giving Ryan Meader a hard time, because he deserves it. Live by the slander, die by the slander. You see, I wrote a column at another website critical of Mr. Meader several weeks ago; subsequently, he tried to scare me via e-mail. He implied that I was breaking the law by criticizing him. He implied that he would take legal action if I didn't cease and desist my critique.

(Q: Hey, Ryan, do you want me to tell you which part of my butt to kiss? A: The black part.)

You see, what Ryan doesn't know is that I am a journalism major, and I took this little class called Communication Law. There, I learned that his threat hasn't a leg to stand on; he implied a lawyer would get involved, but I doubt if he even has a lawyer. If he were able to sue me, he would have done it long ago. Furthermore, if he did, he would lose. Have I slandered him? Have I committed libel? Pish, posh. All I've been saying is that Ryan Meader pulls his stories out of his ass.

All I've done is what many have secretly said: do some real journalism for once, Ryan Meader. Learn to write opinion pieces. Write to impress, not to get hit impressions.

Case in point: Mac OS Rumors swore up and down that "Pismo" would be announced in Steve Jobs' keynote address. "Pismo" is the rumored codename of the next version of the PowerBook. Guess what wasn't announced by Steve Jobs?

Yep, you guessed it.

They (I forget which one said it; all rumor sites are the same to me) also said Apple would "rebrand" itself. They didn't get it right. Follow me, Ryan Meader, before you fire off that e-mail.

Logic, not sophistry

You "rumor pimps" said that Pismo would be announced -- no ifs, ands, or buts. I don't read your writings nowadays, but I'm sure that you read mine and/or tap danced around your own words today. I'll bet I'm right. I also bet that you are tap dancing around with your excuses about why you were not wrong.

You also said that a major Apple rebranding would occur. You can argue that iTools, new Apple logos, etc., can be considered a type of rebranding such. But I won't give you that benefit of the doubt. You said things like "Apple Computer, Inc." would become simply "Apple," á la Nike. Don't deny it!

There you go: tippity-tappity, tippity-tappity. Tap, tap, tap...

Gregory Hines has nothing on you guys.

The sad thing is that you guys get more hits and readership the more ridiculous your claims get.

I don't hate you. I just hate the fact that real journalism is no longer hot anymore.

Hucksters are considered news makers. Lie and innuendo are what people want. David Pogue was too kind to you guys.

I'm a purist and feel that you (again, no one in particular) are a bastardization of true journalism. You are to Mac on-line journalism what prostitution is to sex, or what the National Enquirer is to The New York Times.

I hope that one day you guys will discover the value of credibility and integrity. You did a big disservice to the Macintosh community. For example, I met a guy who came all the way from England to buy a Pismo, because he'd heard from Mac OS Rumors that Pismo was a sure thing at Steve Jobs' keynote.

Alas and alack, you will continue to vomit the stuff that you call Mac OS Rumors. Appleinsider, at least, tries not to publish on a daily basis. You feel you have to put out daily stuff, which forces you to publish pure crap at times. Shall I count the ways? Maybe, on another day.

Until you change your wicked ways, I like to think that Apple does the next best thing: it seems like Apple fed misinformation to you rumor prostitutes, just to make fools out of you on announcement days.

Or, that's just my wishful thinking...

Rodney O. Lain
rodneyo@mymac.com