Thomas’s posterous

I hear from @leolaporte, and write him back; an outsider talking about inside baseball.

I have to give Leo credit for responding quickly to my initial letter. I didn't particularly care for what he had to say, though.

Really? 

It didn't fool me at all. It was obvious from the very first. I was laughing at every new post. It seemed to me an obvious parody of the overheated uPas rumor mill.  

I know he thought it would be an equally obvious parody to everyone but it wasn't. Maybe it was only clear to people who know him. That's the problem with short form media like Twitter. There's precious little room for nuance. And there are some people with underdeveloped senses of the absurd.  

I imagine he's apologized for underestimating the perceptiveness of his audience. If not your letter should be directed at him not me. 

He continues to be a TWiT regular but I understand your reluctance to donate to a show you don't like. 

Thanks for your letter. 

Leo

-- 

Leo Laporte

<http://google.com/profiles/laporte>

So, I thought about it. And in the spirit of rational discourse, I wrote him back.

Leo,
Thanks for writing back. I don't want to come off as a whiner, but I am very interested in your position here, and I want us both to be clear.

The claims that Jason made were all on the edge of possibility. If I'm not mistaken, Apple actually owns patents for placing a solar charging mechanism behind the screen of a mobile device (You guys talked about it on MBW a while back) Having two cameras (his assertion; You have misquoted him several times saying that he claimed three cameras) isn't an impossibility.

The heart of this issue is not how outlandish the claims were.

Maybe my failing was paying too close attention and trusting Jason too much. You are right in saying that Twitter lacks the nuance of a genuine conversation, and I don't think that Jason is so stupid that he would miss that fact. He is either ignorant of how these new media work, or he acted with malice of forethought- that is my contention. If this were lighthearted smartassery, there are ways to make it obvious. There's an expectation to hash-tag it, to label it, and to not mix it in with your serious stream. Jason didn't make it clear because he didn't want it to be clear. The whole thing is like you putting commercials in the middle of a show and not labeling them as a sponsor. How much credibility would you have left after that?

I'm not saying anybody has a moral obligation to run Jason out of town on a pole, but I find it distressing that the "Technology Elite Echo-chamber" has rallied behind him as if he'd done nothing wrong. Anybody who didn't get it is obviously just too stupid to take seriously, anyway. Is that the consensus? And I guess we were stupid to imagine that we could believe Jason when he actually assured us that he wasn't bullshitting us. How is it reasonably possible to defend that? Saying that all his friends got the joke doesn't really cut it, and turns a blind eye to the real problems.

If you're still reading at this point, I encourage you to read this excellent article: http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2010/01/never-dupe-your-readers

I'm far from a professional writer, and that guy does a good job of explaining why the situation is so frustrating. And Leo, don't patronize your listeners. Jason doesn't need to apologize for "underestimating the perceptiveness of his audience"- He needs to apologize for pretending not to know the rules of the game in order to pull a fast one. And everybody else in the business needs to really think about this and stop defending him for it.

Thanks for your time,

Thomas Alley

I haven't heard back from Leo, and don't really expect to. It's disappointing, and I have to really struggle with my new "How I Plan To Tip Leo" plans. I enjoy his shows enough, but admittedly I mostly listen for the excellent personalities he brings to the table. If someone else brought Andy Ihnatko, John C Dvorak, Steve Gibson, Merlin Mann, Alex Lindsay, etc to the table- I'd be listening to them instead.

Of course, since the shows' sponsors actually pay the other hosts and Leo is only drawing cash from the tips, maybe my continued patronage is plenty enough to keep that ad revenus in place and pay for the entertainment and information I receive from the network.

As a side note, I'm definitely accepting recommendations for new podcasts. Let me have 'em!

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An Open Letter to @Leolaporte

Dearest Leo Laporte,
    First, I want to start with the usual spiel about being a big fan of the work you do. I admire the hell out of the way you've built up your network. You do good work, and you've got a lot of great people over there. You and I don't always see eye-to-eye, but that's alright. We may have reached an impasse on one issue, though.
   
    I know you like Jason Calacanis. I used to think he was alright, too. His Dvorak impressions were pretty good, and his punditry usually made a decent amount of sense when he appeared on TWIT. I was extremely disappointed with the "iPad Prank" that he pulled, however, and I'm disappointed with everyone who didn't call him out on it- particularly you, Mr. Laporte.
   
    I've heard you make the case that Jason's claims were too ridiculous to be believed, and that anyone who believed them is an idiot. Thanks for that. Go back and read his tweets, Leo, and tell me that this was anything other than a calculated troll maneuver designed to fool as many people as he could manage. It was not a good natured prank; it was instead using his reputation and his voice in a form of shameless self-promotion. He wanted to be THAT guy, the one that fooled CNN and a bunch of other people into believing that he wouldn't outright lie to them.
   
    But of course, that's what he did. The lies that he posted toed the line between Completely Implausible and Just Plausible Enough In Context; and then he followed up with the cincher:
   
   

Off to bed, but I assure you I'm not joking and the specs are real.... Most of all that this is best gadget ever made and NOT overhyped.

   
    Is that sarcasm? Who could really tell? If you've ever listened to Jason rant about something that he likes, that's exactly what he sounds like. If Apple really had done something crazy like give him a preview unit, this is exactly what he would say, from what I know about him. This statement is the cincher.
   
    Jason built those tweets very carefully, so that he could troll and then act indignant when people didn't "Get it." I got it, and the real joke is taking Jason seriously. Which brings me to how this affects you.
   
    I've been tipping you $2 a month on a subscription payment for a long time now. Today, I am canceling that subscription. Any month in which you have Jason on one of your podcasts, I'm withholding my two dollars from your tip jar. I won't be dramatic and say that I'll never listen again, because I will. I like TWIT. I'm not willing to unsubscribe because you ocassionally field a troll; so I will vote with the Tip Jar, just as you yourself have suggested.
   
    I like the TWIT network, Leo. I want to support you guys, so I listen and I tip. Maybe if enough people share my sentiment, you'll stop inviting Jason; That's the best case outcome for me. For now, it's satisfying enough that I have some kind of voice; and that you know Jason's jackassery has had a tangible effect on your business.
   
    Sincerely,
    Thomas Alley
    @tma

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