A reader writes:
It's becoming very fashionable to bash Apple nowadays, it seems. The iTunes App Store has always had a problem with Apple's seemingly arbitrary rules, a point which isn't lost on Michael Wolff. But why is it that Wolff believes that an app devoted only to his own columns was a good idea, and would enhance the value of the App Store? Newser has an iPhone app. People can subscribe to his via email, or follow him on Twitter, or just use their iDevice's web browser to visit his webpage. Ergo, an app only for his own columns is redundant. I am not inclined to say he's been harmed here, nor do I - as someone who regularly peruses the App Store - feel as though I've been harmed.
In the background of Wolff's column, though, is this paranoid "Apple - or Steve Jobs personally - is out to get the media, so don't cross him" line. I don't buy this line either.
It looks to me like the media are circling the wagons around one of their own without stopping to ask if Gawker Media really did anything wrong. Gawker may have committed a felony by purchasing stolen goods! Should we just let that go uninvestigated, to say nothing of letting it go unpunished? Of course journalistic source shield laws are a good idea and ought to be respected. But "journalists" shouldn't be allowed to use their journalistic credentials to commit crimes. If Gawker committed a crime, then Gawker ought to be sanctioned.
Another writes:
To lay at Steve Job's feet the issuance of the warrant and to "have the police storm" someone's house is more than a bit over the top. I sense a bit of projection from Mr. Wolff, with a familiar Fox style. He displays the very "weird and scary overreactions" he writes about.
Cartoonist Scott Adams reflects on his work:
Take a moment to marvel at the fact that I didn't need to add anything to the story as it has been told in the media. All it really needed was Wally.