# Tech press bias?



## jaydorsey1978 (Jun 7, 2011)

Here's a question that will hopefully stir up some lively discussion... do you think the news media (specifically the tech press) has some sort of bias against Android?

Here's a little background into why I ask...

I was just checking out some of the Android sparks on G+ and it occurred to me that even so-called serious media outlets are heavily biased in their opinions on technology. I think it's been well-established that there are certain tech blogs that have a problem with Android and constantly want to measure up a new piece of 'Andy hardware against an iPhone (or something else) only to point out things they don't like/understand as 'flaws'. I think it was engadget that absolutely battered the DX when it dropped last summer only some weeks later to find that it didn't have signal problems like the iPhone4 which they soiled themselves over.

Now, it seems to me that even 'legitimate' print media outlets are somewhat biased against Android/Google. In documenting the latest legal wranglings that our beloved overlords have gotten themselves into, it seems that the tone of many of these articles is that of "well, this spells the end of Android" or "iOS doesn't have these problems because it was designed from the ground up" and even "this just widens the gap between iOS and everyone else." Maybe I'm just so biased as an Android user that my objectivity is lost, but it feels like every time I check a story on Android it's being pooh poohed by the media, much the same way that the mainstream media in the U.S. claims no political bias while they tear apart someone who has an agenda contrary to their own. Below are links to two stories I read tonight but I have seen countless times on sites like CNet, Gizmodo and ArsTechnica where Android is sort of talked about like the gimpy, ginger-haired stepchild that has a speech impediment...

Here's one story I just read and got a little steamed at...

Pretty clear that this is an opinion piece, although not labeled as such...

So, in closing... is there a bias against Android? Does the press favor black mock turtlenecks and shiny uniform glass bricks to little green robots that can work in all sorts of devices? ... or am I just losing my mind? :_con:


----------



## IRONMatt (Jun 6, 2011)

To be honest i think there is a slight bias towards android due to its bad startup (G1, MyTouch) which the press always thinks of when they think android. However looking at it, and i see it in myself, it is partially the android fanboy kicking in  i get defensive about (true) points made that attack android. Lets be honest, there are things about android that arent perfect stock, which CM fixes nicely , that the press attacks


----------



## Guest (Jul 11, 2011)

The press always has a hard time of not looking at the past, and only looking at what is relevant to the current situation. Yes, I'd say many of them or biased. That, and many of the Tech Fan Press people are Apple Fans..


----------



## JSM9872 (Jun 27, 2011)

I am sure there is a biased but its just something that we have to accept for the time being. Some people dont want to have to deal with change so instinctively they dismiss whatever is newer. Android is what around 2 years old now or longer? On the other hand iOS has to be pushing 5 years. Its what people got to know first and as a result they want any reason they can can get their hands on to make Android sound like its a fad or inferior. Of course this is written by a person heavily biased toward the Android side of things or as I like to call it the right side lol.

On an interesting side not I had a great conversation with a friend of mine recently who is a heavy opponent of Android. He is all excited because in iOS5 there is going to be this bar across the top that you can drag down and it will have all your messages, calls, etc there. When I pointed out that was something that Android had been doing for years now and it sounded to me like iOS was trying to mimmick the "inferior" Android he got pretty defensive and immediately dismissed the idea. I love our debates...


----------



## JsinLegacy (Jun 7, 2011)

Its hard to find a journalist who is objective in their writing towards things. I think this can be said for various other things besides tech related items. I think some of it has to do with the norm and familiarity of things. If some one as used an iPhone for years its hard for them to talk up an Android device. Mainly because they compare their experience on an iPhone to it, it becomes a competition of sorts rather than a user experience.

Still some actually give the effort to be objective and others, well, they just blatantly bash anything they don't like Fox's Tech Journalist Clayton Morris. He is obviously does not like anything that is non-apple. Which brings me to another point, money. Apple, Microsoft, Sony, or others might offer up an extra incentive for a journalist to write a positive review. I know, we don't like to think that things like this would happen, integrity is what we like to view journalist having, untrue. It happens, and it happens more often then not and will continue to happen.


----------



## WBMc36 (Jul 12, 2011)

I could not even read through either of those articles. The titles and the first few sentences were enough to do me in. Sadly yes it seems there are a lot more journalists out there that are biased against android. The facts are that apple and android pretty much share the mobile market. They both have flaws and things they do well.

The thing is, none of the android fan sites i follow overly bash the iphone or apple. They point out inconsistencies in their OS and things that android does better, but never blatantly say the iphone is crap and android is superior in every way.

It is hard to find objectivity in tech reviews in general because so much of it is personal preference. Specifications of a device are cut and dry as far as ram, processor speed, internal/expandable memory. Other than specs how the device operates, and whether it works the way you want it to work is completely subjective. Most of the people who would review an android device on a site like engadget and pretty much any other don't even think about rooting, because for the iphone the equivalent is "jailbreaking" and it really doesn't improve the performance or software on the phone at all.

On the other hand rooting fixed 90% or more of any of the little issues that people complain about when a phone first launches, or that the devs/manufactures of the phone forgot.
It sucks, but until android takes over the market share and even after that there will still be a lot of android related biased, and hate. People like thinking they bought something good, and didn't just waste their money on an outdated phone/operating system. They will look for any little excuse, no matter how small that makes their purchase justified in their mind. I feel a lot of the apple community buys their products as a "status symbol", or to say i have an iphone. They never looked at other phones and don't know what other phones do. To each their own. If they want to be blind to the competition and purchase a product because it is idiot proof where you pay for the brand not features, but it is terrible for journalism when these types review devices.
Sorry, long post. I hate biased journalism no matter the subject.


----------

