Leander Kahney, who wrote the silly Wired News story about iPods in Redmond that has gotten way more than its 15 minutes of deserved fame, decided to speak up in his The Cult of Mac Blog. Kahney, who writes almost exclusively about Apple and the Mac, says my post that criticized his reporting “was so furious, it reminded me of defensive, paranoid Mac fans.”
Wow, those are pretty strong words. I’d suggest that you Mac fans reading this let Leander know how much you appreciate being called defensive and paranoid. I wouldn’t blame you for being furious. Oh, wait. Leander doesn’t allow comments on his blog.
Please note that comments are still open on my original post and I haven’t censored a single word, even those from people who might reasonably be considered furious, defensive, or just overly passionate. So if you have a message for Leander, I guess you can leave it here.
Ed Bott 
The point of the original post was one of indefensible journalism, not the habits of Mac or Redmond folks. As Scoble pointed out, “I know a lot of Apple employees who play Halo 2, but is that a ‘story’?”
Ed,
Just a question. Do you think it’s clearly false what the source said about MS management being frustrated about iPod use by MS employees and expressing their displeasure to MS employees through one or more memos/emails? I mean is that plausible, or clearly false? Do you have some information that it’s false?
Just wanted your take on that specific question (not whether iPod use is 80 percent at MS – you have weighed in on that already).
Yes, I believe that part of the story is total BS. I have lots of experience at MS and I actually have interviewed the exec who wrote the “memo” that was quoted, back when he was working in the IE group and was competing with Netscape. The people at MS are competitive and they want to beat the folks at Apple and win market share in the music space. But the idea that people will be pressured or punished for buying a product is just absurd to anyone who has lived in Redmond or worked at or with Microsoft. It is the kind of paranoid fantasy that would be believable to someone who has never worked with Microsoft or talked with anyone outside the Mac business unit.
I see, so you “believe” that part of the story is BS. But you don’t have any facts to support that belief.
Let’s get this straight. I don’t think I hear you saying Leander made this up. So, the source told Wired what was reported. Wired surely checked to make sure it was a true MS high level person (not hard to do). Sure, what the source said could have been made up, but why? How plausible is that? Possible but not plausible. In the end, we have your wishful belief that what the source said is not true. That’s it.
Let me put this another way.
The source is a high level MS employee that’s in the position to receive emails and memos from MS high management about iPod use.
You are not. Any claim on your part to know better than this source what happened (in terms of memos or emails from MS high management) is absurd.
In the end, you’re left with saying the source made this up (about the memos and emails). Again, it’s possible, but it’s not likely. It’s a wishful belief he made this up.
Yes, Cliff. I’ve actually lived in Redmond. I’ve been to the Microsoft campus and spent a lot of time with a lot of people at all levels of the company. I have first-hand experience with the company. So I trust my own judgment and experience on this matter.
There’s nothing wrong with that but be aware of what you’re effectively saying – the source outright lied to Wired about the existence of these emails/memos.
But Cliff, this was not the first story that Kahney has been involved with, writing a story as hype rather than fact. First, off, Kahney (or was it Wired?) apparently lifted her/his? headline straight from Google News that appeared several hours before the Wired story ran. The other obvious part of the story is the number itself: 80%. I’ve been on the Redmond campus three times myself since 2003 and 80% of its employees are not using portable music devices, no are 80% of that 80%. I certainly didn’t see all 16,000 employees, but Kahney’s “journalism” smells of something that one would expect from FoxNews/NewsMax, not Wired. What’s more disappointing is his continued defense of his own mistakes. Never let the facts get in the way?
There we go Ed, back to the 80%. You guys keep harping on the one thing that questionable – some estimate that the source provided.
Anyways, all journalism is impressionistic and anecdotal. And it’s often based on high level anonymous souces. Including single sources. You can complain about, and people do all the time, but that’s just the way it is. It’s called news.
Some high level person at MS talked to Wired. That high level person said MS management is concerned about iPod use by MS employees and has issued various memos/emails about that. This high level source has seen these emails/memos.
You prefer to believe that the source made that up. As I’ve said, sure that’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely. I think it’s more likely that MS management is concerned about iPod use by MS employees and has issued various memos/emails about that.
Cliff, that was someone else who wrote that. Address your comments to him.
Or better yet, go start your own blog. Please. I recommend Blogspot.com as a great place to get started. Sounds like you need an outlet, and you’ll get many more readers there.
I need to get in touch with Zaine Ridling,