I was listening to Upgrade, one of my fave tech podcasts this week, and they were talking about reviews. Specifically, they were discussing ‘the controversy’ over Marques Brownlee’s takedown of the Humane AI pin, which was brutal. I know of Brownlee, although I don’t follow him. And I’ve seen a few posts about that pin, which was very
So the flip side of this story is that we’ve seen a number of companies sue folks who gave them a bad review on Yelp and sites similar. Most if not all were dismissed or they lost but it’s a way to silence criticism. Also this piece of tech seems somewhat redundant to me . I guess it would appeal to those who are too exhausted to hold up a phone
Agree with all of above. Including not reviewing books, etc., that I don't like. Creative works, as you state, fall into a different category because they are subjective. Machines and tech are different- their performance is objective. It works, or it does not.
I wish I followed someone like "Marques Brownlee" who I knew about well enough to trust when they reviewed something. When I was younger I read Australia's Choice magazine but in recent years I haven't found it as good a guide. When looking at products I tend to see if there are a lot of negative reviews for it I steer clear. I tend to try places nearby more on the type of food rather than the reviews, also I will choose a place with a one star review and outdoor seating over a five star review and only seating indoors. Books I tend to stick to what shows up on my social feed and sounds like my kinda thin. I only leave positive reviews if I didn't enjoy it, or finish it the least I can do is not make it harder for the author.
Ahhh, the old "live by the review, die by the pile on". So hard to sort through all the muck of stuff out there to find diamonds on the internet these days. I guess its getting more and more tribal with roving bands of slavering morons rusted on to whatever marketing idea they feel must be defended at all costs. I dont want to equate it with Taylor Swift fans (dog help me) but they are notorious. Say something bad about her highness and you can say goodbye to your phone notification system. And then there are the ghouls who just want to pile on someone because its fun. Doesnt even matter what the topic is and they dont even have to disagree.
I agree with Jason, for art and creative works, if it doesn't speak to you you're not going to do anyone any favours, yourself included, by dumping on it. Just accept that it's not your jam and move on.
But for tech and other things where their clearly stated purpose can be defined and measured, and potentially found wanting, a review stating how the reviewer measured and assessed the stated purpose/benefits/function and the results of that assessment is fair game. I've read very useful reviews where the reviewer said "I have found this item falls short of what I would use it for, which is XYZ" and I've been able to judge the item based on the fact that there's no way in hell I'm going to use it for XYZ, but the review makes it clear it's perfectly fit for my purpose, which is ABC.
So the flip side of this story is that we’ve seen a number of companies sue folks who gave them a bad review on Yelp and sites similar. Most if not all were dismissed or they lost but it’s a way to silence criticism. Also this piece of tech seems somewhat redundant to me . I guess it would appeal to those who are too exhausted to hold up a phone
Agree with all of above. Including not reviewing books, etc., that I don't like. Creative works, as you state, fall into a different category because they are subjective. Machines and tech are different- their performance is objective. It works, or it does not.
I wish I followed someone like "Marques Brownlee" who I knew about well enough to trust when they reviewed something. When I was younger I read Australia's Choice magazine but in recent years I haven't found it as good a guide. When looking at products I tend to see if there are a lot of negative reviews for it I steer clear. I tend to try places nearby more on the type of food rather than the reviews, also I will choose a place with a one star review and outdoor seating over a five star review and only seating indoors. Books I tend to stick to what shows up on my social feed and sounds like my kinda thin. I only leave positive reviews if I didn't enjoy it, or finish it the least I can do is not make it harder for the author.
Ahhh, the old "live by the review, die by the pile on". So hard to sort through all the muck of stuff out there to find diamonds on the internet these days. I guess its getting more and more tribal with roving bands of slavering morons rusted on to whatever marketing idea they feel must be defended at all costs. I dont want to equate it with Taylor Swift fans (dog help me) but they are notorious. Say something bad about her highness and you can say goodbye to your phone notification system. And then there are the ghouls who just want to pile on someone because its fun. Doesnt even matter what the topic is and they dont even have to disagree.
I agree with Jason, for art and creative works, if it doesn't speak to you you're not going to do anyone any favours, yourself included, by dumping on it. Just accept that it's not your jam and move on.
But for tech and other things where their clearly stated purpose can be defined and measured, and potentially found wanting, a review stating how the reviewer measured and assessed the stated purpose/benefits/function and the results of that assessment is fair game. I've read very useful reviews where the reviewer said "I have found this item falls short of what I would use it for, which is XYZ" and I've been able to judge the item based on the fact that there's no way in hell I'm going to use it for XYZ, but the review makes it clear it's perfectly fit for my purpose, which is ABC.