Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Joanna Stern and her vendetta against Apple
- Thread starter parseckadet
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This whole "s" cycle crap is just nonsense but I think the only way for it to stop is for Apple to retire the "s" moniker. Think about what we've gotten with "s" cycle updates: 3GS was probably the first really good iPhone; 4S gave us Siri, 5S Touch ID and now 6S 3D Touch (and the monster A9 chip). There really is no tick-tock. Features ship when they're ready. I would argue Siri, Touch ID and 3D Touch are just as important as retina, FaceTime and larger screens.
IMO the reality is the "S" cycle has more to do with keeping the same basic body design than it does with the addition of new "S" features. As stated above, features get added as they are available, but the basic body design has stayed fairly consistent with the "S" cycle.
I wonder what she would back that up with? And what, in her eyes would make it more than "slightly better"? Battery life? My guess is then people would say "this is the battery life the iPhone should always have had". Also other reviews, like Christina Warren at Mashable, said their battery life was better.
And body design, IMO, has very little to do with whether an update is significant or not. I mean, let's say the 6S got rid of the camera bump and antenna lines but there was no 3D Touch, Live Photos and the A9 was just a modest improvement over the A8. Would that be considered a significant update? I think not.
Well it depends on your priorities doesn't it? To some people the power just doesn't matter, while to others, myself included, it's arguably the most important aspect.
I know car analogies are overused, but my cousin for example could not give a crap about how much power her car makes it how it handles. Instead she was very picky on paint, leather color, and such things. While to me, the engine and suspension are extremely important. Looks are a factor, but secondary.
I agree, and yet people are different.
Some emphasize the body design and look for a change there to differentiate models.
Others are looking for specs and features.
To one, the change from the "S" to the next model is significant because the design changes and they can show off the latest and greatest.
For others, they want the "S" as the newest toy with the fastest processor, highest megapixel camera, newest killer feature, etc.
Shrug... in the end, it is mobile device.
It makes calls, takes pictures, sends and receives email, runs Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and some games.
Some people are defined by their car/truck, others by their position/title, some by their country club, college they attended, etc.
In the same way, some are defined by their phone, and it is the most important thing in the world to them.
To each his/her own.
You should buy a battery case.
Its very easy for the end user to increase battery life. But virtually impossible for the end user to make a phone thinner, lighter, or more pocketable.
So, a lot of people have attacked me for what I said in the first post. I'd like to clear up a couple of things. I will admit that the title of this thread is a bit hyperbolic. If I had it to do over again I would choose something else.
People have accused me of essentially being a fan boy, that I attacked her because she didn't give a favorable review. But that's not the case. I felt she was intentionally being unfair. From my reading and viewing of the video it seemed like she decided she wanted to give a negative review of an Apple product, then went into it looking for problems. She didn't start out from a neutral vantage point. She then went out of her way to complain about things, and in so doing overreached in some ridiculous ways. Two examples:
1: The marshmallow thing: Perhaps she meant it as tongue in cheek, but it didn't come across that way to me. She used the same tone that she used for every other complaint she had. In fact, it was spliced right in the middle of her complaints about the battery. The pattern of that segment was: serious complaint, more about the same serious complaint, "The real bummer is... marshmallow...", serious complaint. Is it really that hard to see how someone would assume the entire segment was meant to be all serious complaints?
2: Photo file size. For the last year people have been saying that Apple's camera was falling behind, that they needed to up the megapixel count. As soon as they do it Joanna Stern bashes them because now the files take up more storage, yet conveniently failed to mention that other phones with even higher megapixel counts take up more storage still. I get the complaint about the 16GB capacity, but her comments about the photo sizes were not cast in the light of this increased size as a problem because of that. It was touted as a problem in its own right, and I got the impression she thought it was an issue regardless. In fact, she didn't even mention the 16GB capacity at all in her video.
If she had started her review process from a neutral vantage point, and then come to a negative opinion I would be perfectly fine with that. It didn't appear to me that was what she did, and she has a history of failing to do that, which I will get into in a moment.
Once quick note about battery life. I've never had a problem with it on a new iPhone, and it only ever becomes a problem for me after the battery starts reach the end of its life. In fact, my launch day 5S still usually has around 20% when I go to bed at midnight. I was having problems at one point, but then I uninstalled Facebook Messenger. Doing that ALONE got me an extra 3-4 extra hours every day. And I never used that app, it was all background processing.
Now on to why I feel Joanna Stern has it out for Apple. That opinion is not based on this review alone. Her Apple Watch review was absolutely ridiculous and focused entirely on the experience in the first hour out of the box. It was her and Joshua Topolsky who started the whole "it's a constant nag machine" theme, which is only true if you can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes configuring it. Given her review I would be shocked to learn that she chose to wear an Apple Watch for anything other than evaluation purposes. Further, during her past appearances on podcasts, such as The Vergecast, she's been WAY more negative about Apple products.
Finally, I'll point out that Walt Mossberg's video is an example of a review done right. Sure, he might have the opposite problem that Joanna does; he starts out with the assumption that it's a good product. But he did bring up most of the same points. The difference is he did so in the proper context and did not come across as complaining just for the sake of complaining.
I should have said a lot of this in my first post, but I was pressed for time. I'll take the lesson to not start new threads until I have time to fully explain my point. I also apologize for this post turning into a novel, but I felt it was needed to correct some misunderstandings.
People have accused me of essentially being a fan boy, that I attacked her because she didn't give a favorable review. But that's not the case. I felt she was intentionally being unfair. From my reading and viewing of the video it seemed like she decided she wanted to give a negative review of an Apple product, then went into it looking for problems. She didn't start out from a neutral vantage point. She then went out of her way to complain about things, and in so doing overreached in some ridiculous ways. Two examples:
1: The marshmallow thing: Perhaps she meant it as tongue in cheek, but it didn't come across that way to me. She used the same tone that she used for every other complaint she had. In fact, it was spliced right in the middle of her complaints about the battery. The pattern of that segment was: serious complaint, more about the same serious complaint, "The real bummer is... marshmallow...", serious complaint. Is it really that hard to see how someone would assume the entire segment was meant to be all serious complaints?
2: Photo file size. For the last year people have been saying that Apple's camera was falling behind, that they needed to up the megapixel count. As soon as they do it Joanna Stern bashes them because now the files take up more storage, yet conveniently failed to mention that other phones with even higher megapixel counts take up more storage still. I get the complaint about the 16GB capacity, but her comments about the photo sizes were not cast in the light of this increased size as a problem because of that. It was touted as a problem in its own right, and I got the impression she thought it was an issue regardless. In fact, she didn't even mention the 16GB capacity at all in her video.
If she had started her review process from a neutral vantage point, and then come to a negative opinion I would be perfectly fine with that. It didn't appear to me that was what she did, and she has a history of failing to do that, which I will get into in a moment.
Once quick note about battery life. I've never had a problem with it on a new iPhone, and it only ever becomes a problem for me after the battery starts reach the end of its life. In fact, my launch day 5S still usually has around 20% when I go to bed at midnight. I was having problems at one point, but then I uninstalled Facebook Messenger. Doing that ALONE got me an extra 3-4 extra hours every day. And I never used that app, it was all background processing.
Now on to why I feel Joanna Stern has it out for Apple. That opinion is not based on this review alone. Her Apple Watch review was absolutely ridiculous and focused entirely on the experience in the first hour out of the box. It was her and Joshua Topolsky who started the whole "it's a constant nag machine" theme, which is only true if you can't be bothered to spend 5 minutes configuring it. Given her review I would be shocked to learn that she chose to wear an Apple Watch for anything other than evaluation purposes. Further, during her past appearances on podcasts, such as The Vergecast, she's been WAY more negative about Apple products.
Finally, I'll point out that Walt Mossberg's video is an example of a review done right. Sure, he might have the opposite problem that Joanna does; he starts out with the assumption that it's a good product. But he did bring up most of the same points. The difference is he did so in the proper context and did not come across as complaining just for the sake of complaining.
I should have said a lot of this in my first post, but I was pressed for time. I'll take the lesson to not start new threads until I have time to fully explain my point. I also apologize for this post turning into a novel, but I felt it was needed to correct some misunderstandings.
A year or so ago if you were talking abou Joanna Stern while talking about Apple products, most would have described her as a fangirl. Her review does seem slightly more critical than most of the others, but she was probably trying to show that she is not biased.
Yes, hence the comments/complaints about battery life.
Apple says it's the same usage. I, like most everybody, would like increased battery life. But can't have everything.
She'll likely share some more info on a podcast with Gruber or Topolsky soon enough. She's opinonated which is kinda useful for reviews, if it's consistent. Sometimes the reviewer projects their problems, thinking they're generally applicable to all or the majority of users, when in fact it's just applicable to a minority. Battery life - not like this is a solved problem in the tech world lol
Unfortunately battery life is not going to improve much over the coming years. Look at it from Apple's point of view. If battery life is the most common complaint, then surely if they doubled the battery life people would have less of a reason to upgrade every 1-2 years.
She must have had a spat with her wife...
It is fashionable to diss Apple at the moment. A lot of long time fanboy's are doing it, some seem to be miffed at not being invited to events. See Andy Ihnatko, Leo Laporte. Trust me, they can't help themselves after being excluded from the inner sanctum.
I also tire of the self important attitude of the real techies that use their device in a manner the unworthy normal people can't understand.
Most users don't have their faces buried in a phone 24/7 and end the day with plenty of battery life. I don't use my phone or watch or iPad when driving to places I've been to eight hundred times, nor do I walk around all day taking pictures of my scrawny dog and uploading them to services where no one wants to see them!
Don't know about you, but I have a monster mophie battery pack that I use on long days to mitigate power usage, a far more welcome solution than buying proprietary battery packs that only fit one device.
It is fashionable to diss Apple at the moment. A lot of long time fanboy's are doing it, some seem to be miffed at not being invited to events. See Andy Ihnatko, Leo Laporte. Trust me, they can't help themselves after being excluded from the inner sanctum.
I also tire of the self important attitude of the real techies that use their device in a manner the unworthy normal people can't understand.
Most users don't have their faces buried in a phone 24/7 and end the day with plenty of battery life. I don't use my phone or watch or iPad when driving to places I've been to eight hundred times, nor do I walk around all day taking pictures of my scrawny dog and uploading them to services where no one wants to see them!
Don't know about you, but I have a monster mophie battery pack that I use on long days to mitigate power usage, a far more welcome solution than buying proprietary battery packs that only fit one device.
Last edited:
Don't get me started on Leo. A couple of weeks ago he declared the Apple Watch a flop, while in the same breath admitting that it had outsold every other smart watch combined. I didn't know whether to laugh or what.
Most of the negativity I saw from reviews seemed to be about battery life, and how it hasn't changed. I think Apple has settled on the iPhone having a day of battery life. Heavy use on the 6/6s may not get a full day, but the Plus models certainly can go the distance.
It looks like Apple has brought a lot of improvements to the 6s - the monster A9, more RAM, significant camera upgrades, 3D Touch, taptic feedback, yet everyone focuses and complains about battery life and how it isn't a big upgrade from the iPhone 6.
It looks like Apple has brought a lot of improvements to the 6s - the monster A9, more RAM, significant camera upgrades, 3D Touch, taptic feedback, yet everyone focuses and complains about battery life and how it isn't a big upgrade from the iPhone 6.
I think this sort of thing is going to be very subjective. For power users (among which I consider myself), even the 2GB RAM/speed increase is enough for me to want to upgrade. Using a 6 Plus can be VERY frustrating at times right now, so the upgrade there is welcome. 3D Touch is the other big one, for me. For other people, none of those above upgrades are a big deal, so it makes sense that it might be a "slight" improvement to them.
Won't affect my purchasing decision one bit.
You're doing it again. You seem to be unable to resist these hyperbolic claims that are baseless and demonstrate your apparent love of drama. I don't think anyone attacked you, as you claim below. If pointing out the baselessness of your hyperbolic and overdramatic post in a civil and calm fashion is an attack, then I'll repeat what I said in my last post: I'd hate to see how you hold up in real stress. Lower the intensity level, will you?
Now, on to your comments on the review.
It's a review on a site that you chose to read. It starts out by saying that this is the best iPhone ever. It then goes on to make some totally reasonable points. What exactly would you like her to have said? Can you back up this outlandish claim that she's being "unfair" or is "going out of her way to complain" or "overreached" with some more substantive evidence than you provided?
Oh, so you are now commenting on her tone. Charming. Talk about overreaching! You're also making some rather baseless critiques of her writing, but you aren't really willing to back those up. Your primary complaint in this thread is now that she didn't "cast things in the right light" to please you. And you admit that this is about your "impression." Which is subjective. And yet if you look at the objective things she says, they are neutral to positive: great phone, battery isn't as awesome as it could be, storage kind of sucks.
And if Mossberg's review makes the same points but you found hers to be "complaining" while his started off more positive, there's really only one conclusion I can come to: I think you might be a misogynist. Stern has opinions that are just as valid as Mossberg. And yet you criticize her for them, police her tone, while you give him wide leeway. The only difference I can discern is that one author is male and the other is female, considering you admit they come to the same conclusions. I surmise that you don't like the fact that Stern is an opinionated woman and you mask your misogyny with this bizarre and baseless claim that she has a "vendetta" against Apple.
Now, on to your comments on the review.
It's a review on a site that you chose to read. It starts out by saying that this is the best iPhone ever. It then goes on to make some totally reasonable points. What exactly would you like her to have said? Can you back up this outlandish claim that she's being "unfair" or is "going out of her way to complain" or "overreached" with some more substantive evidence than you provided?
Oh, so you are now commenting on her tone. Charming. Talk about overreaching! You're also making some rather baseless critiques of her writing, but you aren't really willing to back those up. Your primary complaint in this thread is now that she didn't "cast things in the right light" to please you. And you admit that this is about your "impression." Which is subjective. And yet if you look at the objective things she says, they are neutral to positive: great phone, battery isn't as awesome as it could be, storage kind of sucks.
And if Mossberg's review makes the same points but you found hers to be "complaining" while his started off more positive, there's really only one conclusion I can come to: I think you might be a misogynist. Stern has opinions that are just as valid as Mossberg. And yet you criticize her for them, police her tone, while you give him wide leeway. The only difference I can discern is that one author is male and the other is female, considering you admit they come to the same conclusions. I surmise that you don't like the fact that Stern is an opinionated woman and you mask your misogyny with this bizarre and baseless claim that she has a "vendetta" against Apple.
Seriously? If Mossberg or another male Apple commentator had issued a critical review I am 100% confident you would not have said this. Do you realize your comment is the equivalent of saying "Joanna Stern was emotional when she wrote this review"? Do you see that that would remove any credibility on your part, since it's utterly irrelevant to the questions at hand? What does a personal/marital issue have to do with a professional journalist's comments on an Apple product? It is mind-blowing that you'd even make this kind of comment, considering how out of touch and chauvinistic it sounds. You essentially dismissed her completely valid perspective because of your claim that her review was in some way affected by factors other than the professional judgment that the Wall Street Journal pays her for.
(And before you resort to ad hominem attacks on me or attempt to dismiss my genuine disgust at your remarks based on some imagined personal quality of mine, I'm a 33 year old straight male.)
No not seriously, and take the "out of touch" PC baloney somewhere else. She has been doing little more than snarking on a variety of topics, and too often including her marital status in her opinions (which should not be included in a tech blog, column or panel). This has been common since I "discovered" her is done precisely to remove all dissent with her views, which is what you are attempting here. We see this anytime a pundit or celebrity gets in trouble after personal misconduct or controversy- they remind us of their support of some PC position that is meant to make their stupid commentary unassailable. Andy Ihnatko did it the other day when he started taking heat with a non sequitur on Barack Obama that came out of nowhere. Like all political correctness, it is supposed to cut off all debate or criticism.
If Sterns wants to play the typical sneering reviewer card, then she should isolate her professional life from her personal life. I'm tired of reviews from self important people who don't take time to understand the engineering involved in creating a viable product while hiding behind political positions. They are tech enthusiasts mostly with little understanding of the dynamics behind making things and selling them for profit. Most think profits are evil, but that is another PC argument for another day.
Last edited:
Her review is awful from a technical standpoint, though I guess her target audience isn't exactly comprised of tech enthusiasts. The review is more for people who only care about how much battery life and storage is available for them to take selfies all day.
No, I'm removing the focus on her personal life and attempting to return it to her professional comments. I understand and am sympathetic to the way the current political climate stifles dissent and think it's ridiculous. It's disingenuous of you to suggest that I've done that here. Just like commenting on Hillary Clinton or Carly Fiorina's appearance is beyond the pale and in incredibly poor taste (since no one is talking about Ted Cruz' face, for example), it's similarly inappropriate to dismiss Stern based on your perception of her emotional state. I'm all for informed, reasonable, adult debate, but those conversations have to have some basic principles. One of them is that baseless claims about gender, emotions, sexuality, etc should be off the table. If you have a thoughtful critique of Stern's writing, let's hear it.