Professionalism and "Funny" Headline Writing

[nicho]

I write here in reference to this thread -

OPPO Introduces the Apple Watch… Wait

Forgive us for getting confused in our headline. Chinese smartphone maker OPPO today introduced its first smartwatch, the OPPO Watch, with a so-called "signature design" that just so happens to look virtually identical to the Apple Watch. "This might be the best-looking smart watch of the...

forums.macrumors.com

since I was invited to begin discussion here in the process of related posts being removed.

Since there's no way he stood up and introduced the "Apple Watch" on stage, but rather the Oppo Watch - it's odd that macrumors would continue "Forgive us for getting confused in our headline.".

The only way you could be confused is if you add in a stereotypical inability to say apple, coming out sounding like "appo"... rather like the word "oppo".

Plenty of other website managed to broach the subject without the same connotations. That they are not deliberate is not the point; that there is a refusal from the editor to accept this might be the case is the concern.

 

[adrianlondon]

It's nothing to do with pretending not to understand the pronunciation; it's the fact a company introduced a new watch that seems to be a copy of the apple watch. The headline makes that clear and I think your interpretation will be a minority one.

 

[WildCowboy]

It's literally just about the similarity in appearance.

Based on the responses to your posts in the news thread, it appears nobody understands how you have reached the conclusion you have. I sure don't.

 

[retta283]

Both of the posters above me said it perfectly.

You would have to be searching for racist stereotypes in order to find that racist. It's just a play on the similarity of the two watches.

You may argue that the lack of crown and larger size option discredit this, but really, they are very similar.

 

[nicho]

It's literally just about the similarity in appearance.

Based on the responses to your posts in the news thread, it appears nobody understands how you have reached the conclusion you have. I sure don't.

I don't see that to be true, unless it's "literally" in the sense it is "identical"... ie not. Ive's big thing was the digital crown - and that's a huge thing missing. Of course - I can no longer post and defend that position in the thread.

As to where I'm coming from I have two daughters, both of whose names end with a 'le' sound, who go to school every day and hear their names mispronounced in a very similar way. A large number of people cannot actually say their names in this part of the world. It's sad, but true. Family members, even. My oldest daughter isn't even called by that name by family anymore because they found it so hard. So making fun of that aspect of a "stereotype" - even unintentionally... does it have to be done? Could you not just go, "oh yeah! Ooops." and work out a different headline. No other publication made the same misstep.

As I say... The Chinese guy didn't get on the stage and say "Here's the Apple Watch". It's cutting it rather close.
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Both of the posters above me said it perfectly.

You would have to be searching for racist stereotypes in order to find that racist. It's just a play on the similarity of the two watches.

You may argue that the lack of crown and larger size option discredit this, but really, they are very similar.

A brief look at the product intro page would show many many more differences. https://www.oppo.com/cn/product/oppowatch/ Improvements? Nah, it's probably a piece of crap, but still - differences. Especially in the band mechanism.

 

[retta283]

I don't see that to be true, unless it's "literally" in the sense it is "identical"... ie not. Ive's big thing was the digital crown - and that's a huge thing missing. Of course - I can no longer post and defend that position in the thread.

As to where I'm coming from I have two daughters, both of whose names end with a 'le' sound, who go to school every day and hear their names mispronounced in a very similar way. A large number of people cannot actually say their names in this part of the world. It's sad, but true. Family members, even. My oldest daughter isn't even called by that name by family anymore because they found it so hard. So making fun of that aspect of a "stereotype" - even unintentionally... does it have to be done? Could you not just go, "oh yeah! Ooops." and work out a different headline. No other publication made the same misstep.

As I say... The Chinese guy didn't get on the stage and say "Here's the Apple Watch". It's cutting it rather close.

Your opinion on the appearance of the watch was not known nor considered when the article was titled. So, the writer thinks it looks like the Apple Watch. Nothing racist in that.

 

[nicho]

Your opinion on the appearance of the watch was not known nor considered when the article was titled. So, the writer thinks it looks like the Apple Watch. Nothing racist in that.

This is Macrumors, not Needeyesurgeryrumors. It's pretty clear that it is not, actually, identical. Heavily inspired by? Yes. Rip off? yes. Infringement of IP? Probably. But identical enough to actually mistake it for an Apple Watch? Yeah, if you're taking your news from other sites and unable to google the page I linked above.

 

[WildCowboy]

I don't see that to be true, unless it's "literally" in the sense it is "identical"... ie not. Ive's big thing was the digital crown - and that's a huge thing missing. Of course - I can no longer post and defend that position in the thread.

As to where I'm coming from I have two daughters, both of whose names end with a 'le' sound, who go to school every day and hear their names mispronounced in a very similar way. A large number of people cannot actually say their names in this part of the world. It's sad, but true. Family members, even. My oldest daughter isn't even called by that name by family anymore because they found it so hard. So making fun of that aspect of a "stereotype" - even unintentionally... does it have to be done? Could you not just go, "oh yeah! Ooops." and work out a different headline. No other publication made the same misstep.

As I say... The Chinese guy didn't get on the stage and say "Here's the Apple Watch". It's cutting it rather close.

I'm sorry for the experiences you've had with your family, but to somehow think that our headline had anything to do with an inability to pronounce "apple" is a massive reach.

Is it identical to the Apple Watch? No. But it absolutely can be mistaken for one at a glance...from the casing design to the lugs to the look of the software to the marketing presentation of it, it's a massive ripoff. When I first looked at the article, I actually paused for a second to figure out whether the second image was the OPPO Watch or an Apple Watch image Joe included for comparison.

For Apple fans like those on this site, the similarity is the natural angle of interest in this story.

 

[retta283]

This is Macrumors, not Needeyesurgeryrumors. It's pretty clear that it is not, actually, identical. Heavily inspired by? Yes. Rip off? yes. Infringement of IP? Probably. But identical enough to actually mistake it for an Apple Watch? Yeah, if you're taking your news from other sites and unable to google the page I linked above.

You're taking this far, far too literally. The title was a joke poking at the similarity of the watch. Whether the watch is a 1:1 model of the Apple Watch or not, the writer found it similar enough to do this. At this point you've drifted from your argument that this is a racist stereotype, and are engaging in some serious circular reasoning

 

[nicho]

I'm sorry for the experiences you've had with your family, but to somehow think that our headline had anything to do with an inability to pronounce "apple" is a massive reach.

Is it identical to the Apple Watch? No. But it absolutely can be mistaken for one at a glance...from the casing design to the lugs to the look of the software to the marketing presentation of it, it's a massive ripoff. When I first looked at the article, I actually paused for a second to figure out whether the second image was the OPPO Watch or an Apple Watch image Joe included for comparison.

For Apple fans like those on this site, the similarity is the natural angle of interest in this story.

Back to my original post here -

"That they are not deliberate is not the point; that there is a refusal from the editor to accept this might be the case is the concern."

Do I think Joe sat down and thought, "ooh, let's make a joke on this?" No, not at all. Can things be bad taste and accidental? Yes. Is "it was unintentional" an excuse for not doing something about it and recognising it? Well that's clearly where we differ.

For apple fans, the similarity is a natural angle of interest. You're right.

I've seen a lot of moderation on this for something so small. Consider whether it's to do with the tone and content of the article. It feels as if you're baiting people into further racist stereotypes about the Chinese copying everything, things like "I’m not surprised, Chinese companies copy most of the time." The "the bands are identical" angle some responders have latched upon - well, actually, they're very very different in the way they work.

 

[I7guy]

....For apple fans, the similarity is a natural angle of interest. You're right...

I reread the article and the above is my takeaway and the article was benign in the wording and intent.

Other posts that may have escalated this into moderation territory should be on the poster.