11-16-2013, 08:58 PM
deckeda wrote:
All critical writing will contain perspective we either buy into or don't. Overall I'd prefer an enthusiast, not a technician, to write about what they like. The trick is to not make too many generalizations either way, when writing or reading.
Total impartiality just means they have no feeling about anything and will never love anything, or that it will be fleeting and therefore somewhat worthless ... because as soon as they cross the threshold they become a Biased Person, a fan.
I'll put in another plug here for John Siracusa's writing on arstechnica. He's a Mac OS fan from way back and yet never shies away in his OS X reviews to dig pretty deep into the "what were they thinking" curiosities of Apple's decisions.
Great suggestion. Siracusa is a much better tech writer than Gruber. He actually understands the product he's discussing at a much deeper level.
On the other hand, I don't actually mind the alternative you suggested. A neutral voice giving pros and cons and then suggesting a user who might be interested in said product, is still a worthy review. I've reviewed things that were not for me , but I could still see the target market and make the proper suggestion to a client.