Yesterday, Dan Lyons took some curiously serious shots at New York Times tech writer David Pogue. Though written under the Fake Steve Jobs moniker, the post is basically an editorial piece from Lyons slamming Pogue.
Commenting on Pogue’s Snow Leopard review, Lyons writes:
Pogue, on the other hand, had to change his underwear after writing his piece. Just to be clear: This is absolutely notbecause David Pogue makes most of his money by writing “missing manuals” and other Mac-related user guides.
Like this one, and this one, both of them for … wait for it … Snow Leopard!
No, David is not pushing Snow Leopard because he has two books coming out that can only be purchased by people who are running Snow Leopard. No. He’s pushing Snow Leopard because he’s an honest, scrupulous, first-rate journalist, with the highest degree of integrity and the courage to overlook a few bugs and flaws and speak the truth.
Namaste, David Pogue. I honor the place where your financial interests and my own do not become one.
Interestingly, the tag used to label the post is “Filthy Hacks”.
Those are some pretty serious accusations levied by Lyons, especially considering that seemingly all the Snow Leopard reviews we’ve come across have been overwhelmingly positive.
There’s obviously some sort unexplained bitterness directed in Pogue’s direction, but we’re not sure exactly why. Professional jealousy, perhaps? Hatred of anyone who has a good relationship with Apple, maybe? It’s well-known that Lyon’s has been less than pleased with his non-existant access to the upper echelon at Apple, a stark contrast to his predecessor Steven Levy. But does that resentment run that deep that it’s caused him to lash out at those who are actually speaking terms with the folks in Cupertino?
In any event, David Pogue responded, or at least it appears to be him, in the comment section of Lyons’ post. He writes,
“Just to be clear: This is absolutely not because David Pogue makes most of his money by writing “missing manuals” and other Mac-related user guides”
Oops! The problem with that logic is that the Missing Manual series is not “Mac-related.” In fact, far more Missing Manual titles are about Windows topics than Mac topics! (Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Office 2007, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Netbooks, QuickBooks, Quicken for Windows, Photoshop Elements, Microsoft Project, PCs, FrontPage, etc.)
And your implication that I’m afraid to criticize Apple for its misfires doesn’t hold water, either. Here are about 40 recent examples (include topics of Missing Manuals) where I trashed Apple products:
I know, I know, it’s more fun to trash people. Bummer when facts intrude!
–Pogue
Notably, this isn’t the first time has been the target of Lyons’ ire, which he attempts to conceal behind a thin veil of humor.
Anyone out there have any idea as to why Lyons is beefin’ with the original Desktop Critic?
August 28th, 2009 at 2:44 pm
Dan’s funny and outrageous, but he’d be great if he actually attacked people who deserved to be attacked. His attacks are indiscriminate and false (as in without factual basis).
I’d call him a misanthrope, but the definition of misanthrope is someone who gets along with individuals, but has problems with the human race.
Unfortunately, Dan has a career of being very funny when he trashes people, many of them not deserving of any disrespect.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Lyons’ uses his Newsweek pulpit to trash Snow Leopard. Pogue makes him look silly. Lots of people make him look silly. Unlike his predecessor, Lyons is irrelevant when it comes to maturely discussing the most important, innovative company in the tech world.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
Dan Lyons is completely worthless. He is a small step above Rob Enderle. I no longer waste my time by reading anything he writes.
Hopefully, Newsweek will realize what a hack he is and kick him to the curb.
August 28th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Lyons is an Apple hater — always has been; always will be.
August 28th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
You are all laboring under the misapprehension that Dan Lyons is using the Fake Steve Jobs blog to communicate information to you. In fact, Dan is using the blog to get fame, or at least notoriety.
You will remember that Dan’s original purpose for the blog was to prove that blogs by senior managers at publicly traded companies were a stupid idea. He felt that they could never tell what they were really thinking (or perhaps that senior managers never had any really interesting thoughts). He showed that by creating a blog that parodied what someone outspoken would really be thinking.
Does Dan like or dislike David? Since everyone the blog talks about is disrespected, it’s not possible to draw any conclusion about Dan’s opinion of David.
August 29th, 2009 at 5:28 am
Why try to make sense of anything Dan Lyons posts. He comes across as a mean spirited guy, who will say anything to get attention. A classic flame-baiting troll. Plus, he has stepped over the line on many occasions – in particular, in his coverage of SJs health.
August 29th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
Sadly, humans are wired to respond to empty, useless contrarian-ism — Pogue is a class act and a nice guy (and I’m not a Pogue fanboi just because I won a Macworld contest he judged years ago). And nice people are easy targets, especially if they’re enthusiastic about what they love with GOOD reason.
But then again, Lyons has nothin’ on Pogue’s musical chops!
August 29th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Sadly, humans are wired to respond to empty, useless contrarian-ism — Pogue is a class act and a nice guy (and I’m not a Pogue fanboi just because I won a Macworld contest he judged years ago). And nice people are easy targets, especially if they’re enthusiastic about what they love with GOOD reason.
But then again, Lyons has nothin’ on Pogue’s musical chops! This calls for a dance-off.