What I found fascinating about iJustine and even MKBHD's recaps was how much Apple have made these YouTubers unofficial parts of the company's marketing arm. It must suck for traditional media like a CNN, MacWorld and BBC who have been established for decades to not have a great relationship with Apple. But Apple see's the value, even if most of the millions of subscribers who follow and watch their content can't afford these devices, they keep Apple relevant to a very young audience. Some will nag parents to buy the iPhone, Mac or an iPad because of them or when they are old enough or save up enough, they are most likely to buy Apple products.
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The MacRumors Show: iJustine Talks iPhone 15 and Apple Watch Series 9 First Impressions
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Yeah I’m not sure the behind the scenes exchanges other than to say there’s almost certainly no money exchanged. YouTubers and journalists get early access and clicks to their media outlets, apple gets free press. And I’m fairly certain the review devices are loaners that need to be returned otherwise it’d be like a gift, something has been exchanged - which would be unethical in journalism.
For Justine her brand is definitely to be overly enthusiastic and energetic. Which, if you know what you’re watching, can be entertaining and infectious. Like with most things though you gotta suss the value of things out for yourself.
I still watch her videos knowing she’s gonna be hyped for a product and as an apple product fan myself I find it entertaining lol. If reviewers didn’t input their own personality and bias we wouldn’t need/watch/read them we can just get a pdf of all the specs on a product and that’s it.
It is possible to not like some’s presentation style and not by a misogynist or insecure. Do you like EVERY influencer and content creator on YouTube? Would you want to be labeled for the ones you didn’t like?
iJustine IS relentlessly positive about Apple products and in fact every other product I’ve ever seen her discuss. So if you go in knowing that, that she’s there to sell: sell her persona, her channel, her product, then you can see how methodically and intelligently she does build her narration to her target audience.
If you’re not her target audience you likely WILL find her grating because she doesn’t care about YOU. And goodness knows, approximately 20 years of immersion in marketing and social engineering algorithms designed to cater to our every minuscule taste has gotten us all to be entitled self absorbed brutes who think if something isn’t specifically catered to me, me, me, then it must not have any worth at all and should not exist.
She is an incredibly intelligent woman who has been doing this work for years and very successfully. She’s reaching who she needs to reach and how she needs to reach them.
So, I do think anyone who dismisses her as stupid and vapid is themselves not particularly sharp. Look at how well received she is among her peers. She’s where she is because she is in fact educated and intelligent.
Honestly it is really exhausting sometimes to persist in having a presence online in tech forums and social media and see the endless barrage of mindless misogynistic comments directed at women in media and anything created to appeal to women in the tech world.
Not all of the criticisms of iJustine and other women in tech are like this, but goodness there’s certainly a daily barrage of crap to wade past, from unfounded attacks on their intelligence to creepy comments on their attractiveness and relationship status.
If you’re not her target audience you likely WILL find her grating because she doesn’t care about YOU. And goodness knows, approximately 20 years of immersion in marketing and social engineering algorithms designed to cater to our every minuscule taste has gotten us all to be entitled self absorbed brutes who think if something isn’t specifically catered to me, me, me, then it must not have any worth at all and should not exist.
She is an incredibly intelligent woman who has been doing this work for years and very successfully. She’s reaching who she needs to reach and how she needs to reach them.
So, I do think anyone who dismisses her as stupid and vapid is themselves not particularly sharp. Look at how well received she is among her peers. She’s where she is because she is in fact educated and intelligent.
Honestly it is really exhausting sometimes to persist in having a presence online in tech forums and social media and see the endless barrage of mindless misogynistic comments directed at women in media and anything created to appeal to women in the tech world.
Not all of the criticisms of iJustine and other women in tech are like this, but goodness there’s certainly a daily barrage of crap to wade past, from unfounded attacks on their intelligence to creepy comments on their attractiveness and relationship status.
When are you guys gonna get Jonathan Horst from LMG's Mac Address? That would be a fantastic guest to have on the MacRumors Show.
You should've seen iJustine's let's play of Portal 2's Mac port. It was really, really bad. A let's play that was as bad as DarkSydePhil's infamous playthroughs of many games. It was so bad she deleted the original videos.
This let's play is the reason the stereotype of "Mac users can't game" exists.
Good presentation of opposing viewpoints by @Dan Barbera and @Hartley regarding the Mother Nature skit. Very good points were made.
The gesture for declining a call is to stick 2 fingers up in a V shape
Man, if you could hear some of the mixes I made 12 FAWKING YEARS AGO then yeah, I'd be embarrassed too.
But the point is that after 12 FAWKING YEARS I would like to think that I've progressed, expanded, refined, dare I say become better than I was?
Are my track selections perfect now? NO
Am I hitting the perfect transition points every time now? NO
Am I understanding my current level and striving to overcome it each time I go into a state of work? Abso-fawking-lutely.
Happy to share my work from 12 years ago versus a recent mix so you can chide me as well.
Edited to fix that it was 12 fawking years instead of 11
100 percent they did.
Although now with their recent Apple Card Gas Promo, maybe they can go back to correct spelling?
Did they ever really address or expand on that theme? I got through the presentation and kind of forgot that’s was the theme/title of the event. Honestly I was thinking the predominant theme was “sustainability”.
I guess. Hah! That's how I feel when I have gone to a Guess store. I wonder what Apple were thinking or if they weren't thinking.
I suppose all your positive energy and good vibes don’t apply to things that upset you huh?
That's due to influencers having more impact and direct interaction with their actual audiences than traditional media. It's happened and continues to happen across multiple niches and genres while legacy media struggles to adapt.
What's weird though is she has reviewed Microsoft products enthusiastically when there is an Apple drought and there is nothing else she can be excited about. In the old days (Steve Jobs), you couldn't do that, yet, MBKHD and iJustine get away with it. John Gruber can't do it for instance because he doesn't have influence, so its till death do us part for some cheerleaders. Overall, its mutually beneficial, when you are raking in probably millions a year in ad revenue and sponsorship, you can buy your own iPhone and still receive early access and connections within Apple. Again, a Jon Gruber doesn't have that kinda clout.
and a HUGE mouth!!!!A rose between two thorns
Good stuff! That's a major guest to get - she has a massive following.
It has a usb c port and she will say it's amazeballs.
A lot of people here try to evaluate her as a tech reviewer in a very narrow sense. Or consider her an Apple enthusiast only. An Apple Cheerleader/ fan girl is what she’s been called and even characterizes herself. And I think she did get her start by enthusing about Apple. (I used to know about that earlier part of her career but I don’t remember the details anymore).
But as she’s developed her brand, she’s really become more of a lifestyle reporter who also covers a wide range of products, with an eye towards showing how these integrate into her life to facilitate characteristics of an aspirational lifestyle, with a focus on comfort, fitness, creativity and adventure. It’s just a very different vibe than hardcore more laser focused tech reviewers traditionally cover.
She reviews everything and when she collaborates with one or both of her sisters they will discuss food, coffee, and a bunch of other subjects and products that aren’t technology.
When she does cover tech, she covers it in a way that addresses the questions of how does this device and how do these specs enhance my life, my career/work, my relationships, my hobbies?
She does know the technical side. She’s not ignorant like some people make her out to be. But she’s not going to rhapsodize on the details of a spec for its own sake unless she can also show what it means in our day to day.
Because her range is that broad, she does reach a wider audience that quietly spends the money on technology but doesn’t necessarily sit in forums like this having arguments about iOS vs Android or Microsoft vs MacOS. So she’s earning some money and gaining that pull and building that clout.
The people on this forum who seem to want very dry reports on hardware and software as an engineer would deliver them or appreciate them are not her audience. She’s a creative, (exactly the kind of person Steve Jobs celebrated and encouraged), not an engineer.