That awful, awful boy, John Gruber…

Posted on by Shawn

I read Blue’s post at ZDNet and then wrote the “Hear that noise? That’s Violet Blue backpedalling” post. Blue mentions “a blog post attack by Gruber” so, after posting this, I popped over to Daring Fireball to see what that asshole wrote about Blue.

Because, as we all know, Gruber is a douchebag of epic proportions and can’t wait to sink his teeth into some poor defenseless fellow pundit.

Now, we’ll ignore the fact that the jag off mentions me but doesn’t even bother to link to the many places on the web he could have and just go to the awful, awful things he said about Blue:

 

 

 

Hang on….

 

 

 

Just wait…I’ll find it….

 

 

 

It was here a second ago…..

 

 

THERE! Right there!…no….wait…that’s not it….

I was left literally shaking my head at the awesome ability of Violet Blue to be almost clinically delusional, not to mention remarkably thin skinned. If she thinks Gruber’s post was an attack, it’s no wonder she gets upset, hurt and offended so easily…

Just like a woman….

 

(See what I did there?)

  • http://twitter.com/4_misanthropes/status/165157703222693891 4_Misanthropes

    That awful, awful boy, John Gruber… http://t.co/BsFXtnLP

  • Gretchen2012

    I called her a ‘pustulent wart’ a full day before Gruber published his piece, and from what I have seen in response to Gruber’s piece, I am as nasty as it got.

    Again, it appears she has gotten her facts wrong, Gruber’s followers are not nasty fanboys, your’s are :)

  • http://twitter.com/shawnking/status/165173023849201664 Shawn King

    RT @4_Misanthropes: That awful, awful boy, John Gruber… http://t.co/RAsocIGa

  • http://twitter.com/yoda_2little/status/165174436226535425 Chris

    RT @4_Misanthropes: That awful, awful boy, John Gruber… http://t.co/RAsocIGa

  • NotKatsu!

    I like Gruber. I think he is an amiable guy & righteous.

  • http://diskgrinder.tumblr.com diskgrinder

    Miss Ogynist

  • http://twitter.com/suchai_w55twitt/status/165199334479101953 Mr.Suchai_Wannakijwa

    RT @4_misanthropes: That awful, awful boy, John Gruber… http://t.co/96WggWxH

  • http://twitter.com/jaberard/status/165199803364540418 Jeff Berard

    RT @4_misanthropes: That awful, awful boy, John Gruber… http://t.co/d0iRpahV

  • http://4ma.me/481/hear-that-noise-thats-violet-blue-backpedalling.html Hear that noise? That's Violet Blue backpedalling… | the four misanthropes of the apocalypse

    [...] [...]

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    If that’s true, I’ll take mine over his any day. :)

  • http://profiles.google.com/bc2009.poster BC 2009

    It sounds to me like Violet Blue was jealous of how attractive this woman was and decided to classify her as a “booth babe” in order to express those feelings of inadequacy. “Just like a woman” (see what I did there?)

  • http://diskgrinder.tumblr.com diskgrinder

    if you’ve ever met him you’ll realise he is enormous, at least 7′ and also can electrocute you with his eyes.

    Sorry, no, that’s Scott Forstall.

  • http://twitter.com/diskgrinder/status/165208217339699200 diskgrinder

    RT @4_misanthropes: That awful, awful boy, John Gruber… http://t.co/LYnntpQx

  • Gretchen2012

    http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/01/sad/

    The Beard had J Dalrymple pull that quote from ZDNet on Wed 1st Feb 2012. It was posted on ZDNet on 31st Jan 2012 after I saw your post on the pic in question.

  • Eric Dannewitz

    ZDnet hires crappy “columnists”. Reading them is a mistake.

  • http://twitter.com/lpotr4/status/165211078165405696 Luis Pangilinan

    All the drama happening in the tech world makes for an entertaining Thursday afternoon. Fave'd thus far: http://t.co/x2pD3TJy

  • Gretchen2012

    btw, thats my unedited comment.

  • Anonymous

    Violet Blue has a lot of tattoos.

    Tattoos and piercings are an external representation of the emotional pain, anger, emotional instability, and psychological problems a person has. The greater one’s problems, the more the tattoos and piercings. It is inadvertent advertisement.

    It is absolutely not surprising to see that she can be “almost clinically delusional” and “thin skinned.”

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    “The Beard had J Dalrymple pull that quote from ZDNet on Wed 1st Feb 2012.”

    Wait…how can Dalrymple get stuff pulled off of ZDNet?

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    LOL I love it but I can see why ZDNet pulled it. :)

  • Gretchen2012

    Ok my language was wrong there, The Beard had J.D. copy/paste from ZDNet.

  • Gretchen2012

    I used to work in old-style publishing where ‘pull’ meant ‘copy to’

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    LOL Yeah…I’m not following you down that rabbit hole. I know lots of tatted up folks who don’t have the issues you are trying to ascribe and plenty of non-tatted up folks who have all those issues and more.

    Like most generalizations, yours rings false. Sorry.

  • Anonymous

    Go on with your bad self, Shawn. Everyone has to be held to one standard: Unbiased reporting without an agenda. Just because she failed to do her part of the reporting job doesn’t mean you and John are suddenly making mistakes.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    LOL Thanks. You make an interesting statement:

    “Everyone has to be held to one standard: Unbiased reporting without an agenda.”

    You know what? I have few problems with even “biased reporting with an agenda” as long as that is made clear and as long as mistakes are owned up to and made right to the best of their ability.

    Violet Blue and ZDNet are trying to cover up their screwups and that never works out the way the perpetrators would hope.

    That’s what gets me and why I’m pounding this hard. Let’s get Blue and ZDNet to apologize and pay for Neo-Play’s booth at 2013 Macworld – SIGN MY PETITION! :)

    http://yml.me/xVfmwv

  • Anonymous

    I guess what I’m saying is: If you want people to call you a journalist, you have to do the WHOLE job of reporting. That includes finding out what you’re talking about so you make as few mistakes as possible and, when you do make them, make up for them to excess in order to demonstrate you know what mistakes are. I don’t see where Blue/ZDnet did that. That standard, to me, is unbiased reporting without an agenda. No agenda to put a “sexism” label where it isn’t, no agenda to deflect attention for mistakes you made.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    100% agreement. Blue will use the typical dodge of “I’m not a journalist, I’m a pundit/columnist” (The David Pogue Defense) but even pundits have to get their information right and make up for mistakes to excess (I like that line).

  • Anonymous

    I’m not a big fan of the “I’m a pundit/columnist” (as you obviously aren’t, either). Two reasons why: 1) “Pundit/columnist” doesn’t mean you don’t have to work hard at getting your facts right, 2) I only ever see that card played when someone’s trying to get out of something. When they’re getting awards, accolades or a paycheck, they’re fine with “journalist”.

  • Gretchen2012

    Then Ms Blue should not be employed.

    She should write under her own moniker / banner. But she is writing for, and being published by an entity that wants to represent itself as valid voice in the tech reporting world.

    Editing her own post to re-define her own definition of ‘booth-babe’ is shitty at best.

  • http://www.iDoiDevices.com Jason Yeaman

    Lol, I’m going to wear my DF t-shirt tomorrow.

    …..

    That’s odd. I’ve never actually thought about and planned what I was going to wear the next day before.

    Just like a woman…..

  • bystander

    You think JG’s a douche? He’s got nothing on you.

  • Anonymous

    I really like this woman’s excuses. The thing is, Obama is like this too.

  • Ritshie

    Perhaps Violet Blue considers any woman more attractive than herself to be a “booth babe”? Given Blue’s appearance, that’d be an enormous group however ; )

  • http://apple4biz.com/apple-products/backpedalling/ Backpedalling | Apple4Biz

    [...] also this follow-up. [...]

  • Marc

    Don’t really agree with what you’re saying but I love the phrase “inadvertent advertisement” – definitely going to be using that one more often :)

  • http://twitter.com/stephen_smith Stephen R. Smith

    Her ‘story’ smacks more of pointing fingers in the playground and making the quiet kid a punchline than it does of reporting, and if a media outlet is paying her to attend a trade-show, presumably to provide insightful commentary to those of us that can’t attend, she should be held to an appropriate standard.

    I wonder if her employer follows the feedback and adjusts their stated expectations of her going forward, or if they’re just fine with page-views no matter what draws them.

    Personally I’m more tired of the use of the ‘fanboy’ phrase as a method of invalidating any negative feedback. It just reinforces my belief that the individual is behaving like a 12 year old and has no business being paid as a professional journalist. Being a grown up and a professional is just as much about being able to own up for mistakes as it is about trying not to make them in the first place. You make a bad call? Own it. You’ll get far more respect in the long run.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    LOL At least Gruber can recognize a joke post when he sees it….unlike some bystanders I can point to.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    LOL Complete non sequitor and I’ll let it stay just for the sheer stupidity of the asinine comment but that’s your one and only one allowed.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    “I wonder if her employer follows the feedback and adjusts their stated expectations of her going forward, or if they’re just fine with page-views no matter what draws them.”

    Excellent question and the reason why I’ve started the petition to get ZDNet to own up to the issue. If we get enough signatures and ZDNet ignores us, we’ll have the answer to your question so pass along the URL of the petition – http://yml.me/xVfmwv

  • http://twitter.com/cthellis cthellis

    Yeah, I think the idea that 100% unbiased objectivity is really just a pretense… and a largely harmful one at that. Make people think that is a target that actually exists and SHOULD be aimed for.

    I think “fairness” is achievable and rewardable, but that’s no the same thing as the “covering BOTH sides of the story” crapola, and suchlike.

    In this case, I think the primary aim should be “don’t be a hypocritical schmuck.” Having actual accountability for the press/punditry in general would also be nice, but don’t put personal ego before journalistic integrity.

    Seems to not go a long way these days, tho.

  • bystander

    Not much of a joke. Don’t give up your day job.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    LOL Well it seems like everybody, including Gruber, got it but you.

    And this is my day job so thanks for playing.

  • http://www.codemonkeyramblings.com Mike T

    The fact is that if you look at the picture, it’s rather odd that she would be mistaken for a booth babe. Perhaps the attacks on blue were a bit over the top (or nuance lost in transmission as often happens online), but it is rather obvious she’s not a booth babe. How many booth babes wear a company t-shirt that shows absolutely no cleavage? That’s about as credible as mistaking a woman in a suit for a hooter’s girl because she happens to be having an office lunch at a hooters.

  • http://www.yourmaclifeshow.com/ Shawn King

    What I keep coming back to is what happens if you take gender out of the story completely? You get a story of a journalist screwing up and not doing their job. You then get others saying to the journalist, “Do your job!” and said journalist getting ticked off because of it.

    I completely ignore Violet’s and others accusations of sexism or any issues of gender in my critique of Blue or her writing. I’m confident she’s a bad enough writer, journalist, photographer etc that it can stand on its own without her boobs getting in the way. :)