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By Paul Biba

idiot_ipad_.jpgOur sister publication, Gadgetell, has an article with this title and, since we’ve talked a lot about the iPad, I thought I’d reprint it below. A question, though, did any of you pre-order it? I certainly want to see one before I make up my mind. Too much money for me to splurge on it sight unseen. Article begins:

PC World writer, Galen Gruman, called out iPad pre-order buyers on Saturday, calling them names in his post, “iPad Pre-Orders: For Idiots Only.” Apple’s iPad went on pre-order Friday and is rumored to have 120,000 devices sold as a result. Even at the cheapest model, that’s $60 million, not a bad day in my book.

Gruman puts forth a logical argument,

“… we’ve all seen promising product demonstrations that resulted in major letdown when we finally got a hold of the real thing. Why take that chance? After all, the first-generation iPad is particularly likely to have disappointments, as it’s the version that will tell us what, after the hoopla dies down, Apple should have done.”

We all know that first generation anything, typically has some bugs to work out: cars, appliances, and especially gadgets. Gruman seems content to call the cult-like followers of the golden fruit names while forgetting (or perhaps counting on for page hits) other motivations for buying. Fear not, the “idiots” responded to the post:

“And if I call someone an idiot, my post gets flagged for personal attacks . . . but this guy can call a whole slew of people idiots, IN THE TOPIC EVEN!!!”
“aren’t you the same guy who was raving about the iPad just last month?”
“PC World used to have much better tech journalism than this. Are they hiring high school kids to write their op-eds during the recession now?”
“According to the logic of this article, I should cancel my subscription to PC World on the grounds that I would be an “idiot” to order an issue of a magazine before I’d actually had the opportunity to review it.”
“Galen, please stop writing. Your boorish, self pleasuring drivel has tainted a rather noble profession.”
“Galen Gruman is a prick.”
“I won’t defend my decision to purchase the iPad because your clearly not capable of understanding. Go FYS “

As of this writing, there were 139 comments, mostly voiced by folks that sounded as if either they pre-ordered the iPad or can find logic in doing so. There were a few, “take that Apple fanboys” but most were put off by Gruman’s name calling. The tone was angry, disappointed in PC World, and often insulted.

I wonder how the post would have compared if the author had titled it, “iPad Pre-Orders, You’re an idiot if you didn’t get one”. Would the Microsoft legion have come out against the fanboy? How many times would the word “fanboy” or “fanboi” have been in the comments? Or “Kool Aid”? Let us know in the comments.

 
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