I’ve been following you since Endgadget as most here have. I’ve always enjoyed your coverage of things because of the comedy you add to technical subjects. I have grown frustrated though trying to follow The Verge. I know you don’t want to hear this, but this is one man’s opinion and a suggestion to broaden your readership. Not sure if readership is a word, but it is now. Anyway, I grow frustrated reading article after article that seem to always point toward Apple favoritism. I know you are shaking your head right now, and are probably tired of hearing this… but, let me show you what I mean.
Top Shelf: Galaxy S4, Episode 008, “S Friends With Benefits” http://www.theverge.com/#ooid=tjNDQ3YjpPot1Arfj7IBVw1nbkOKtpIg
I believe the above video is the reason that many folks are frustrated with The Verge and don’t read it as often. I come to get your review of the S4 and the first thing I hear is an unprofessional, childish, personal opinion. “slippery and slimy and simply unpleasant in your hand” It honestly made the reviewer look a little silly in my mind. I understand that a review is in some sense a personal opinion, but this comes off more as an opinion editorial than an open minded review of a technical device.
Then enters the infamous Nilay… Out of his pocket come “his” three phones. He starts talking about the ones he likes, and why. He talks about how he loves the Facebook phone and uses it the most. (I understand that at this point, this video is outside the S4 review) We later find out he likes the Facebook phone the best because it is most like his iPhone. At that point, everything else he says just comes across as disingenuous and slanted. He also loves the HTC One because it feels like his iPhone. When everything comes back to his Apple products, he loses a lot of credibility in my mind. Maybe I am in the minority here, and maybe I am the only one that gets frustrated with the sites coverage. I honestly could also be taking what you all say the wrong way, which is why I am posting here for your comments.
My final thought… Put yourself in the shoes of folks coming to your site to get a review of phone you are really excited about getting, like the S4. The first thing you hear is how the phone is slimy and unpleasant to hold. Now you have the reader on the defensive, because you have gone so far to one side that is a potential polar opposite of the way the reader feels. With that “personal” of a remark it almost feels like you just slapped my son or daughter in the face. You have offended someone coming to your site to get a technical review. Believe it or not, some folks actually like the way the phone feels in the hand. The first time I held a S3, I thought it was a great feeling device, one of the best I had held. I loved the way it felt in my hand. I also had the iPhone 4S for a month and it felt to industrial and cold, not something I loved. Not to mention each time I set it on the edge of the couch, it slipped off on the floor. Talk about slippery! These are all my personal opinions, and are all perfectly fine to express in a civilized way. I believe you can deliver a personal opinion with more tact and state it that way. I could get into the phone screen size issue as well, but it would be more of the same. Believe it or not, the main reason I don’t get an iPhone is because I think the screen is too small. I really like a bigger screen since I use the device all day long, every day. You make people feel stupid for liking a device with a bigger screen. You come away after watching that video feeling small if you like the Note 2 and its size, heaven forbid if you are dumb enough to get a windows phone. (I think I just got into the screen size issue when I said I wouldn’t…)
I’ll be honest; here is what I came away with after watching that video. If you like iOS, get an iPhone 5. (duh!) If you like Android and are dumb, get the S4. If you like Android and are smart and can live with the crappy stuff HTC does, get the HTC One. You come away with the impression that either flagship Android device is a bad decision, and the only smart alternative is to get the iPhone 5.
I’ll also admit that I’m not sure how far personal opinion should go in a review, and where it should stop. I hope this was a helpful critical review of The Verge and you don’t take this as a slam on your site as a whole. I think with some tweaks folks would have no reason to go to another site for technical related news.
BTW, I’m not interested in starting a trolling war, so I will ignore any comments other than Verge staff.
