[Merged] Behavior in the iPhone Forums

[Randman]

Hi i just joined these forums today and to put it simply, im disturbed by the lack of common sense/knowldege of this community

Could it be the fact that this is a well known forum that attracts this kind of person ?

Searching through the Iphone forum archives there's just a ton of... well idiotic/whining/shady questions being asked


In any case there are people here that show a pretty high level of knowledge as well.

I am coming from a Sony Ericsson community as my baseline btw.

iPhone not Iphone.

This is a general Mac forum with iPhones being a part of it and quite popular now and likely to attract "newbies". Coming from a SE forum, you probably had more hardcore posters there since you'd have to be hardcore to even register at a SE forum.

 

[sushi]

This is a general Mac forum with iPhones being a part of it and quite popular now and likely to attract "newbies". Coming from a SE forum, you probably had more hardcore posters there since you'd have to be hardcore to even register at a SE forum.

Don't be fooled by the casual appearance of MacRumors.

There are some very knowledgeable folks here as well. Just need know where to look.

 

[rdowns]

Hi i just joined these forums today and to put it simply, im disturbed by the lack of common sense/knowldege of this community

Could it be the fact that this is a well known forum that attracts this kind of person ?

Searching through the Iphone forum archives there's just a ton of... well idiotic/whining/shady questions being asked


In any case there are people here that show a pretty high level of knowledge as well.

I am coming from a Sony Ericsson community as my baseline btw.

I'm disturbed that a person can join a forum and on day one, post an insulting thread. All forums have good and bad. The old expression about the door not hitting you in the ass seems appropriate here.

 

[tangledweb16]

Yeah, Apple did something right for sure with the iPhone 3G. It seems that just about everyone is getting one, and that includes a lot of people that don't know squat about the bloody phone when they buy it, hence the massive amount of idiotic questions being asked.

Nobody in the general public knows anything about the iPhone 3G. 80% of people I talk to genuinely think that "3G" stands for 3GB. That's why you get the people asking:
"what does the little "E" in the upper left hand corner mean?" and "one speaker not working" and the like.

One of my friends was strongly considering getting an iPhone recently, and I was talking to him and he said something along the lines of:

"Yeah, the iPhone has great web browsing but the LG Dare has a 3.5mm headphone jack, so that's what I'm gonna get I think."

I politely informed him that the iPhone did in fact have a 3.5mm headphone jack, but inside I was practically screaming.

I mean, do the ****ing research before buying it. It seems to me that, unlike last year, people are just buying it because it's the "cool, pretty, new" thing, and that annoys me a lot.

I mean, last year when I got the iPhone, I had never owned a smartphone, but I did the research before I bought it. I read up. By the time my phone arrived I knew how to use it, because I cared enough to buy it and take 15 minutes to read about the basic functions.

And then there's the people you see using the touchscreen like it's a 1998 Palm Pilot. You know what I mean; they move there index finger in little circles and when they finally find what the want to touch they press down with extreme force and hold their finger on the screen for a couple of seconds. People don't seem to realize that the screen needs only a very small amount of you finger to touch it to register, and no force at all.

You can call me a snob, and maybe I am, but if I get one more "3 gigs!?!? That's awesome!" or "why'd you buy THAT!?! It's such a waste of money!" or "I want one soooooo bad!!! How much is it?!?" reply I'm going to scream.

I can't be alone. Does anyone else on here agree with me? I'll admit, I'm an Apple fanboy and I do probably know more than your Average Joe, but all of this is just ridiculous. And it's really pissing me off.

 

[9822679]

on the plus side there seems to be a good amount of activity on these forums


I guess I'll give this forum some time, and try to add knowledge at the same time

are there any other iPhone forums that you would recommend ?

a bit of history

- palm IIIC in high school
- computer technician for 4 years
- 3 Sony ericssons
- needed a PDA for medical school
- found out Epocrates runs on the Iphone

and that's why I'm here

 

[tangledweb16]

on the plus side there seems to be a good amount of activity on these forums


I guess I'll give this forum some time, and try to add knowledge at the same time

are there any other iPhone forums that you would recommend ?

a bit of history

- palm IIIC in high school
- computer technician for 4 years
- 3 Sony ericssons
- needed a PDA for medical school
- found out Epocrates runs on the Iphone

and that's why I'm here

Honestly, this is an excellent iPhone forum. Just about everyone here is extremely helpful and patient. This'll all die down in a couple months, I promise.

It's just that right now the iPhone is very, very popular and a lot of very inexperienced people are purchasing it just because they've heard about it so much, and not really because they want it for what it does or what it is. Which, as I stated above, annoys the hell out of me.

Just stick here for a bit, it's the best forum I've found so far. And don't be afraid to ask questions, just do your research before you do. Or else people will get annoyed.

Welcome

 

[bojado71]

You should preface your post with an example of what you find insulting. If someone new to the iPhone who has a simple question is what you find insulting then you are on the wrong board. This board is also for people who are new to iPhone and nervous that they will be laughed at for asking a stupid (i.e. simple question) from snobs such as yourself. You may have forgot when you were a newbie, but i bet you would not have approved of your own post. If you mean insulted by something else, then I will rethink the above.

 

[dukebound85]

Honestly, this is an excellent iPhone forum. Just about everyone here is extremely helpful and patient. This'll all die down in a couple months, I promise.

It's just that right now the iPhone is very, very popular and a lot of very inexperienced people are purchasing it just because they've heard about it so much, and not really because they want it for what it does or what it is. Which, as I stated above, annoys the hell out of me.

Just stick here for a bit, it's the best forum I've found so far. And don't be afraid to ask questions, just do your research before you do. Or else people will get annoyed.

Welcome

haha riiight. it still hasnt died down since the iphone originally launched

 

[richard.mac]

youve got to realise the newbie posters on the iPhone forums are simply everyday people who probably dont know that the iPhone OS is a customised touch version of Mac OS X and they may not even know that Apple makes computers!

id suggest using MacRumors' Forum Spy and then filter out the iPhones forums using the Preferences.

 

[tangledweb16]

haha riiight. it still hasnt died down since the iphone originally launched

By "died down" I meant that people will stop asking so many idiotic questions.

But then, of course, next June/July it'll all start again with the 3rd gen. iPhone.

 

[nick9191]

Hi i just joined these forums today and to put it simply, im disturbed by the lack of common sense/knowldege of this community

Could it be the fact that this is a well known forum that attracts this kind of person ?

Searching through the Iphone forum archives there's just a ton of... well idiotic/whining/shady questions being asked


In any case there are people here that show a pretty high level of knowledge as well.

I am coming from a Sony Ericsson community as my baseline btw.

Ha, you get them started on politics, that'll blow your mind

 

[slapguts]

This forum has gotten noticably more hostile as of late. People seem to be willing to jump straight to calling eachother idiot or moron without much provocation. A few more moderated time-outs might help.

Most of the current batch of newbie-threads could be answered very simply, but they turn into a "use the search" flamefest.

 

[9822679]

You should preface your post with an example of what you find insulting

well i think that's the problem though

a lot of these question I see can simply be found by typing them into google or just take common sense

questions like
"i lost my phone can i get a new one for free "
" I dropped/water damaged/etc can i get a new one for free"
" Does the old iPhone have GPS"

and the list goes on


ok off to bed

 

[eji]

You can call me a snob, and maybe I am, but if I get one more "3 gigs!?!? That's awesome!" or "why'd you buy THAT!?! It's such a waste of money!" or "I want one soooooo bad!!! How much is it?!?" reply I'm going to scream.

No, I don't think it's snobbery to expect people to at least make an effort to make an informed decision about anything: electronics, holiday destinations, politics, whatever. However, you'll still be called a snob by the folks who have a bit more patience with the chronic shortcomings of humanity. (I'm not among them.)

The Web itself is a mixed blessing. It gives anyone with a computer a chance to be heard; but then, it also gives anyone with a computer a chance to be heard. And the larger problem is that the dimwits in humanity's ranks are too dimwitted to recognize how dimwitted they are. Though it's a lesson in futility to think that pointing that out to them, however kindly or aggressively, will ever bring about the desired change.

To the OP: Common sense is a bit of a misnomer. It sure as heck ain't common. The only remedy is to set your expectations as low as possible and then try not to be surprised and angry when you realize you still didn't set them low enough. To weed through the junk in the meantime, someone clever than me needs to code something for the entire Internet that works along the lines of the Firefox extension for YouTube that sifts for the flakes of gold in a steaming pile of doo-doo.

Anyway, sorry to go so misanthropically far off-topic. What I should have said is:

IFone rulez! LOL!!!1!!1 Duz 3G meen its got like three GBB of space. I still think Im gunna buy a Motrola ROKR becuz the name is kewler.

 

[tangledweb16]

No, I don't think it's snobbery to expect people to at least make an effort to make an informed decision about anything: electronics, holiday destinations, politics, whatever. However, you'll still be called a snob by the folks who have a bit more patience with the chronic shortcomings of humanity. (I'm not among them.)

The Web itself is a mixed blessing. It gives anyone with a computer a chance to be heard; but then, it also gives anyone with a computer a chance to be heard. And the larger problem is that the dimwits in humanity's ranks are too dimwitted to recognize how dimwitted they are. Though it's a lesson in futility to think that pointing that out to them, however kindly or aggressively, will ever bring about the desired change.

To the OP: Common sense is a bit of a misnomer. It sure as heck ain't common. The only remedy is to set your expectations as low as possible and then try not to be surprised and angry when you realize you still didn't set them low enough. To weed through the junk in the meantime, someone clever than me needs to code something for the entire Internet that works along the lines of the Firefox extension for YouTube that sifts for the flakes of gold in a steaming pile of doo-doo.

Anyway, sorry to go so misanthropically far off-topic. What I should have said is:

IFone rulez! LOL!!!1!!1 Duz 3G meen its got like three GBB of space. I still think Im gunna buy a Motrola ROKR becuz the name is kewler.

Thank you! You have no idea how comforting it is to hear another person that shares my feelings on the subject at hand.

 

[TwoBytes]

forums across the world are full of idiots because they come with silly questions and leave better folk. i've asked my fair share of newbie stuff but how do people become educated? They make mistakes, ask and make mistakes and get better.

Forums and communities rely the the very very very good will of the knowledgeable people who will contribute, discuss and importantly listen. Don't scare them away.

 

[eji]

forums across the world are full of idiots because they come with silly questions and leave better folk. i've asked my fair share of newbie stuff but how do people become educated? They make mistakes, ask and make mistakes and get better.

Forums and communities rely the the very very very good will of the knowledgeable people who will contribute, discuss and importantly listen. Don't scare them away.

I'm not trying to scare anyone away. Far from it. By openly acknowledging the dreck, I'm trying to get the people who write in coherent sentences to stay in spite of it.

You've also got a very rosy view of mankind to think that the people asking silly questions are suddenly going to reach edification and enlightenment. In my experience, which could be partial and skewed, the people asking silly questions will go on asking silly questions and making questionable contributions to the community. The people asking sensible questions, the ones not answered on every other thread or available through a Google search, are the ones who are 'susceptible' to edification and self-improvement. Those are the folks I really try to help when I'm able, because I know they'll help me with good advice when my own Google searches are fruitless.

 

[ditzy]

I'm not trying to scare anyone away. Far from it. By openly acknowledging the dreck, I'm trying to get the people who write in coherent sentences to stay in spite of it.

You've also got a very rosy view of mankind to think that the people asking silly questions are suddenly going to reach edification and enlightenment. In my experience, which could be partial and skewed, the people asking silly questions will go on asking silly questions and making questionable contributions to the community. The people asking sensible questions, the ones not answered on every other thread or available through a Google search, are the ones who are 'susceptible' to edification and self-improvement. Those are the folks I really try to help when I'm able, because I know they'll help me with good advice when my own Google searches are fruitless.

In life though that probably doesn't apply to this forum or any forum. I't's not the people who ask questions that you should be worried about. It the people who don't. They usually understand less than the person who asked the basic, (I'm not going to stay stupid because I think most of the time that is unfair and you don't know what you don.t know.) question.

 

[mcdj]

IMO, there are newbies, and there are NOOBs.

A newbie might ask something like "Where do I add star ratings to a track on the iPhone. I've looked everywhere." This is a feature not readily apparent on the iPhone, and could easily be missed, even after investigating every screen. This could be someone with an actual brain. Yes, they might have found the answer via Google (and often have already tried), but the wording of the search is trickier than "iPhone 3G cracks". This person may or may not stick around long enough to help others, but their presence is generally not a nuisance and people are usually amenable to helping them.

A NOOB might ask something along the lines of the aforementioned; "I lost my iPhone, can I get a free one?" or my favorite, "Type a personalized tutorial just for me, on subject X, Y, or Z...NEED ANSWER ASAP....URGENT!!!!". They type 47 question marks and exclamations; they post the same thing in 4 different forums so they can get a quicker answer; they threadjack...it goes on and on. These people are, of course, everywhere on the interweb planet, not just on the iPhone forums. They are generally lazy, entitled, self involved, complete idiots, or all of the above. After a certain point, unfamiliarity with netiquette is no longer a valid defense for the vapidity exhibited by these types. They're simply bereft of even a basic level common sense or courtesy. Unfortunately, as the iPhone moves down the food chain in price and availability, we'll be seeing perhaps more than our fair share of them here in the coming months/years.

 

[BothBarsOn]

Every time I visit MacRumors I find myself moaning and groaning about all the "Help! Should I get a Macbook or Macbook Pro?" threads. Then a little voice reminds me that I joined in the first place to ask that exact same question ...

But, as others have said, hard facts are easily Googlable. Informed user experience is not.

 

[GoCubsGo]

snip useless whining

I am coming from a Sony Ericsson community as my baseline btw.

No one whines about SE phones? As the former owner of three SE phones I can say there is a fair amount of whining, silly, and completely baseless questions. I wouldn't use any forum as your baseline for determining that the iPhone forum here is any more disturbing.

Now, is there something you needed or was your intent to simply inform people that you're disturbed? If you have an SE then you don't need to be in the iPhone forums anyway, right? There are a fair amount of threads here that are informative and useful, you just have to sift through the crap just like any other forum, including the SE forums.

 

[sushi]

I think that the key is to learn how to navigate around MacRumors to get the information that you need.

Search is your friend.

 

[lakaiordie]

its because theres too many people here that whine like little girls.

 

[meagain]

Lots of iPhone newbies here right now. That's all. They sold a million the first weekend right?

 

[richard.mac]

… "Type a personalized tutorial just for me, on subject X, Y, or Z...NEED ANSWER ASAP....URGENT!!!!". They type 47 question marks and exclamations; they post the same thing in 4 different forums so they can get a quicker answer; they threadjack...

oh man the posting in multiple forums is so annoying for me as i usually linger in Forum Spy. i usually just report the latter posts.

i remember there was one user that typed every letter in the forum title in caps except one to avoid the no caps rule HA!

so whens the newsletter coming out?