Reviewing technology is a very difficult task, along with reviewing anything else. I, for one, know how difficult it is to actually write reviews that are actually good reviews(taking a look back at my older posts and reading them, I actually did feel quite stupid.). Often times when reviewing stuff you will have to compare them. You will have to record every important detail and even the smallest ones that don't seem to matter. You must use ALL of this information to write and create a good review and comparison. There is no way around this.
So what happens when you DO shortcut around this? Meet The Verge.
The Verge is a technology news network where they review and compare everything tech related, as well as deliver news articles about real-life stuff happening in the world, as well as discussions about science, arts, cultures and various other things.
But one thing about the way they review and compare tech, one that really irks some people a lot, is when they compare Apple's products to other companies' products.
They are biased towards Apple, and all of their products.
Let's take a look at one of their comparisons...
Right off the bat, you can see that they are favouring the iPhone 6 plus more than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 in terms of how the size affects the feel in your hand. However what you can also see is that the iPhone 6 Plus is the same size, if not bigger than, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.
Something doesn't look right, and this is a term called "bias."
Bias is defined as "prejudice in favor for, or against, a thing, person, or group, usually in a way that is considered unfair."
It's basically when you make a review or informative speech about one company's product compared to another company's product, but you repeatedly state that company A's is better than B's, to a point where it feels like it's not even truly considering what the other company's product specs are.
And when making reviews, you have to be careful that you don't look biased towards something, because that can land you in big trouble, with reputation, and if you are running a big network, like CNET and their bias accusations towards Microsoft, it can actually prevent you from doing some tasks like choosing the "Best of CES 2013" in CNET's case.
But back to The Verge. So while they are praising Apple like they're their god, many Android users are in an uproar due to their constant ignorance to some popular Android phones.
This didn't go unanswered though, as Vlad Savov made an article about his bias towards Apple... and that's why you should trust him?!?
As if the title didn't aggravate me enough, the second paragraph had definitely got me considered that he had no idea what he was talking about. I'll put a pic of it to show you what I mean.
So off the bat, he admits he makes biased decisions. But he tries to explain why he makes biased decisions. While some people may just take offense and rant about how he admits he's biased, I got angry because he a) doesn't know what bias actually means, and b) he uses parts of facts about bias that actually explains why people .
First off , he explains how "this is the whole point." Sir, the "whole point" of reviewing, comparing tech and eventually picking "the best phone in the market today" is about taking data like specs and features, putting it into consideration and choosing a phone BASED ON WHAT MOST OTHER PEOPLE WOULD LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE, NOT ABOUT WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE.
Because of this, The Verge was often considered biased towards Apple, because they fail to see things about stuff they're reviewing in the eyes of other people. Sure, they have different people working as different reviewers, but they all seem to lean towards all of Apple's products.
But one of the things that make Vlad's article seem bad was that he had confused the definitions of "bias" and "preference."
Preference means to like something over others. Compared to Bias, "prejudice in favor for, or against, a thing, person, or group, usually in a way that is considered unfair", there is a very big difference, especially in the way people would talk if they were preferring something, or biased towards something.
Let me give you an example if I were to prefer something or to be biased towards something, in this case, the iPhone 6 Plus.
PREFER: ...The quality of the iPhone 6 Plus definitely takes a step forward in some cases, as it's really light, really thin, and brings back rounded edges to give a better feel in the hand. Of course, this also makes it a bit hard to hold considering rounded metal edges would allow for a greater chance of the phone slipping out of your hand and dropping it, plus the reduced mass in your hand, and I definitely would have preferred a chamfered edge better, but those who really need a lightweight phone with a low profile could work with it. The thin aluminum case also gives way to the phone bending, but assuming you don't try to do origami with it, and you update to the next version of iOS 8 and it's new features, it should be one of the best phones to try.
BIASED: ...The iPhone 6 Plus is an amazing phone/tablet hybrid, and completely blows the others out of the way. The new light sleek design allows for greater comfort in your hand, and compared to other Phablets out there, this one isn't as awkward to hold in one hand. The new OS is definitely an improvement, giving it tons and tons of new features that would give Android a run for it's money. The iPhone 6 Plus is definitely one of the best phones to buy.
You can see a bit of a difference, as the first paragraph clearly outlines the good and bad of the phone, pointing out things that some people like and things some people don't like. It also warns you about the bending flaw, and the next update of iOS 8 since the current one has bugs, and stating it's "one of the best phones to try", as opposed to "one of the best phones to buy".
The Biased paragraph continuously states that it's the better phone, even though it's missing a lot of information, as well as views of the phone in some people's eyes. It completely missed the fact that Android actually had most of the "new" features that iOS 8 has, plus it states that "it's one of the best phones to buy", leading to people actually buying the phone without trying it first.
Now that I've given you some examples, let me point out the rest of the flaws in Vlad's article, and if you did not get anything from my examples, hopefully you'll see the problems I'm going to point out.
"To prefer cyan over hot pink is a bias" No, it's not. It's a preference. To prefer cyan over hot pink because you just like cyan better is a preference. To prefer cyan over hot pink because you're a guy, and you are more attracted to blue stuff like cyan is a bias.
"Do you like the feel of soft-touch plastic better than aluminum, rounded corners better than chamfered edges, or stock Android better than it's skinned cousins? All these are forms of prejudice"
No, these are not forms of prejudice. These are, again, preferences, and are not biased. And prejudice means that these are opinions based on little to no actual experience or reason, basically like saying "I like iOS better because I've never tried any other phone other than iPhones, so I think other OS's like Android and Windows Phone are stupid compared to iOS." That's biased prejudice, because you've never tried any other OS, and automatically assume that other phones are stupid even though you've never tried them before.
"Your hands can be a source of bias, too! The only way to judge the size and comfort of the latest phone is by reference to your own dimensions; thus, someone like Shaquille O’Neal might describe a 5.5-inch phone as small while I deride it as being too large."
This is where pointing out information that some people may like is a must in reviews. Even though you may have small hands and can't reach all of the phone's screen does not mean you have to say it's too large for anyone to handle. That is biased because you assumed it's too large for anyone to hold/handle because you can't hold/handle it properly. If you had said that "it's too large for me to handle it, however it may not be a problem for those with large hands", it's not bias, and it informs people of the large phone size as well.
And "reference to your own dimensions" isn't the only way to judge the size and comfort of a phone. You can very simply hold a stand near a busy place asking people a bit of their time to hold a phone, ask them if it is comfortable or not, and record the data.
And one more paragraph to sum it all up:
First, we don't want you to complain about it's bad parts. We want you to STATE bad parts to know WHAT PARTS WE DON'T LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE, helping us decide if we want to buy it or not. We also want you to STATE good parts about the phone, so we know WHAT WE LIKE ABOUT THE PHONE, for the same reason.
Second, by applying your biased opinions, you make yourself, your brand, your overall reputation decrease as you constantly prove you are unworthy of writing good reviews. As your comments flood with hate, don't ya think you should try and make things better?!?
Third, you can't just "feed the thing to a machine for it to determine a numerical score." In the end, the quality of a phone is based on the consumer, but a reviewer's job is to outline the specs that people will like, outline the specs that people won't like, give your opinion, and what people would think of it too. THEN it's job done.
Anyways, long post aside, I hope you've learned a thing or two, share this to others to let them know about The Verge(or as some people call them, iVerge), and if some people you know actually listen to what The Verge says about Apple's products, share this to them so they can think twice before buying a new iPhone or giving other phones a shot.
--GameKiller
