Jealousy will get you nowhere
Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 10:00AM | Glyn Evans This is a slightly off topic post, and something I did hesitate to write, but enough is enough, as the iPhography blog takes yet another swipe at this site.
If you check out the iPhography blog entry for today, you will find the following posted under the heading of "Site update"
"In other news..
here at iPhography HQ we have noticed that other iPhone photography sites in their efforts to populate their blogs, cut & paste the Apps description from the App Store, then leave a short comment on what they think the app might be like from reading the description.
We really want to let you know that each & every app we talk about we have tried & tested & if we haven’t we will let you know. The reason for this is we know your able to read app store descriptions for yourself & that instead you turn to us because we have the experience of trying & testing all the apps (something you may not wish to do with your own money) That way iPhography.com hopes to best serve the iPhography movement by recommending the best apps & helping you avoid the duds
We sometimes get given apps & it takes a long time for us to write about them because we wish to thoroughly test them before we do
iPhography.com has no need to win a popularity contest by padding out it’s blog with repetitive duplication, we would rather see the iPhography movement grow with focus & quality"
As the iPhography blog has now removed the comments section from its site, I guess due to lack of use, the only way I can to respond to this pathetic post on their site, is with this public reply.
First off I'd like to point out this is not the first time the iPhography blog has posted pathetic comments aimed at this site [the iPhoneography blog], or robbed content without referencing the source, with the most serious being the posting of a YouTube video hosted under my old blog name [The Mac Cafe].
This pathetic attack on my site all started when I removed a link to their blog from my list of other iPhoneography website, after one of their posts about an add-on lens kept referring to "upskirt photography" with the following entries in that post. [link to original post]
"Want to take you upskirt iPhography to the next level?"
"Now the worst thing a professional Japanese upskirt iPhographer could do is attract attention to himself by rumbling in his pockets"
"Cute girl with sexy panties - Free"
"That perfect upskirt shot - Priceless"
As you will probably understand I was far from impressed with these comments and wanted NO association with such a website, hence the removal of their link.
What resulted from this was a pathetic email accusing me of all sorts from the blog editor, which I was not prepared to waste any time responding too, so just deleted it.
Now lets address the comments from the iPhography blog
OK, YES I am copying and pasting new app descriptions from the AppStore and posting them with a comment, but I do not post all apps, only those that I think are worth a mention. Sometimes those comments are based on the fact that I have actually tried the app, but not yet had time to write a review of it [as with Best Camera], others times they are based on the apps description itself, inviting readers to post their own comments on the app as Brandon Lee did recently. This is NOT done to pad the site out, but instead to provide what I would like to think is a useful resource, and whilst I know recently there has been a barrage of Black and White app postings, this was all part of my preparation for an article I am writing on Black and White photography on the iPhone (due to a family illness this is still being written).
Well that's my response to Funky Love Bunny's comments, and for me the matter is now closed, but Funky can continue slating this site if that's what he feels fit to do, but me, I will spend my time serving you, the readers of this blog.
UPDATE: I'd just like to say a BIG thank you to all those who have posted comments about this article or pinged me via Twitter, and Funky, if you are reading this, the comments are not disabled on this site, so please feel free to explain your comments!!
Reader Comments (29)
I love what you are doing here Glyn. Keep it up. The comments here are very valuable, especially because they are well thought out and written.
Ok, so some of the posts are pasting the app description. The site is still a good source for what new apps are coming out, and if they are replications of already released apps, or if they are actually worth buying.
We're with you Glyn. Great site.
Man, I just read the post with the "upskirt" comments you linked to. I like a rude joke (if indeed they are joking), but for a photography-based site such as that one using it as a basis for a review is wrong and unprofessional. Not surprised you removed the link Glyn. I would have too.
I for one like the fact that you copy the store description. I can read about multiple apps while at a work computer that is unable to access the iTunes store. I also enjoy it at home as I can get a heads up on all of the selected apps without having to fish around the store and find them. If they are picking on you, you must be doing something right. Keep up the good work and thanks for actually helping the iPhone photography community and not trying to run it. Don't worry about that guy. I didn't know he even had a site until this post, but I don't surf geocities much anymore.... :) haha
It makes sense to me to post the app's description from the app store; that's why the creators write them. Honestly, very few apps are worth posting long reviews about; many are hardly worth mentioning, so a little blurb is all that's needed. I very much enjoy this community and appreciate what you've done with this, Glyn. This site suits me much better than does iphography. And besides, you know better than to let any of these Internet people get to you.
Dig the site, the context and layout is inviting, informative and helpful. keep moving forward.
Looking forward for more.
I'm really pleased you do post descriptions from the App Store. I don't always check out the Photography category in the app store, so through your site I am able to discover the best new photo apps on there and it's been my experience that you only post the good stuff. I have bought several camera apps from the app store this week and 95% of those were purchased after I'd read about them on here. Keep up the good work :)
"by padding out it's"- Good job on the gramatical error iPhonyblog!
Seriously though, Glyn just ignore them - this is the only iphoneography site in my eyes. I've been a follower for several months now and you've opened my eyes to so many photo apps and actually inspired me to use the camera app more often. Now that's saying something.
Let the haters be haters, they won't last.
Glyn,
as the editor of another iPhone photography site, I am with you on this topic. It's solely in your discretion how you run your site and what you post. We often include thumbnails of apps in our posts and occasional references to the developer's AppStore descriptions, so I guess we are guilty of the same "crimes" as you are. Again, it's an editorial choice you and I make based on how we think our readers want us to present our thoughts to them and has nothing to do with their alleged scraping of AppStore content to gain readership.
From what I see and hear, your overall effort is appealing to your readers, so I encourage you to keep ignoring the rants from this site and continue to serve your readers, since they think you're doing a good job. These guys have not targeted us yet, but if they will I will follow your example and simply ignore them as well.
Keep up the good work.
Veit
Looooooooooooooooooosers!
We're with you Glyn & we love your work here!!
As another user mentioned, I didn't even know about the iPhography site until I read your post. After checking it out, I won't be going back!! It is clearly very unprofessional. Your site has information I can trust to point me in the direction of the very best iPhone photography apps. I, too, have begun using my iPhone camera much more since reading your blog. I have a limited bandwidth internet connection, so I appreciate the app descriptions. With descriptions, I don't need to constantly search for apps in the iTunes store just to determine if I have some interest. I can count on your site to provide useful information on application quality. In addition, user comments are often invaluable in offering tips or more information about a particular method of iPhone photography. Thank you for taking the time to maintain this site. It's one of the few blogs I read every day!!
I remember the link on the upskirt thing
This blog is pretty cool tbh.
Completely in favour of you Glyn, the number of hits/followers/comments speak for themself.
I read quite a few of the articles and am intrigued by a lot of the stuff.
There are a huge number of updates to the site, my twitter page is mostly filled with posts relating to this site :>
Hope you keep it up and don't let this get to you too much as I know you spend a huge amount of time to post and research for this site.
Keep it up,
Brad
Ditto...I follow the iPhone photography 'scene' pretty closely and had never heard of iPhography until this post of yours. Had a look, seems pretty amatuerish. You're doing fine here, no need to give them any more attention.
continue your great work, forget about amateurs
oh, i forget, cheers from Spain
What the...?
Brush it off man and keep truckin... It's undeniable that this is the best iPhone Photography website. This community is thriving and the "clown shoes" need to check their vitals!
BTW - Your black and white articles have definately inspired me, that's for sure!
Keep up the good work man, the community needs this...
@greg. Thanks for you positive comments.
@Barry Ward. Thanks for the comments, and I knew after reading the original "up skirt" article you would agree with my decision to remove that sites link.
@Catmouth, @KayBee. Thanks for your comments, and the idea of replicating the info found in iTunes was to provide readers like yourselves with an alternative source to that information.
@Sam. Thanks for the comments, and I'm glad the site has been a valuable source of information, and I hope the apps you bought have not disappointed.
@Veit Irtenkauf. Thanks for your support, and both our sites complement one another, and we do reference one another when required. Keep up the good work :)
@DP, @kuban11, @Matthew, @nikissive, @Brad, @nelsonh, @gonzalo, @Josh. Thank you for your support and comments.
Your site is what keeps me up to date with some iphone apps. I don't always remember to head to the photography section of the app store, and your site helps weed out the ones that aren't worth my time.
I like that you post the descriptions because honestly, sometimes the way that a developer describes their product affects my decision on purchasing it or not. If they don't take the time to be descriptive about their app, why should I buy it?
Thanks Glyn, you've been doing a wonderful job and I only just started reading this blog a month ago.
I have been away for a couple of days and just catching up. When I started getting into iphone photography I visited all the available websites looking for help & advice; iphoneography is clearly the leader of the pack and is now the only iphone photography website I go to for reviews, advice and quality links to quality iphone photographers. Your efforts are much appreciated.
Keep up the good work.
You gave that site too much attention; I never heard of it before.