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Since this article was published, Gannett has issued a retraction and
apology to Kim Komando. A Gannett newspaper editor was responsible
for the error, not Ms. Komando.
Seems poor, clueless Kim Komando is dispensing Macintosh advice
again. The poor dear, now an expert on Macintosh computers since her
attempt
to compare Macs to PCs, has no doubt succeeded in confusing
her few Macintosh readers yet again.
Her latest
screed indicates that OS X users who want to find out how
much RAM they have should " choose the Memory control panel from
the System Preferences application."
Thank you, Kim! Much appreciated.
If only it were true.
This is a small matter compared to her last case of foot in mouth.
I think, though, that Kim should do the Mac community a favor and
forget about writing about the Mac. While it's all very amusing for
Mac users when she makes mistakes, she's probably causing more harm
than good. A chuckle (and fodder for an opinion piece) is hardly a
fair trade for incorrect information.
Of course, Kim could hire a fact checker or be more thorough when
she writes her pieces, but I suspect, after reading her pro-PC
articles, that the Mac is unlikely to get a fair treatment in her
writing. Of course, I'm not in any way discouraging people from being
critical of the Mac, and Komando is more than welcome to provide
unbiased accurate information. Because neither appears to be
forthcoming. It's probably best if she simply sticks with the PCs
that she apparently knows quite well.
There are, of course, plenty of mistakes made by Mac writers all
the time (more than enough in this very column, I'm sure). Many are
likely honest mistakes. No doubt Kim's recent gaffe was also an
honest mistake. The problem, I believe, is the ambivalence Ms.
Komando has demonstrated in her short time on the Mac scene. She
appears to neither know - nor care to know - about the Mac. It is
not something she feels her readers require accurate, unbiased
information about.
In the long run, this attitude helps no one. Mac users who turn to
her for advice will be shortchanged. PC users looking for reliable
Mac information will also wind up with less than useful guidance.
Those with a prejudice against Macs will only have those prejudices
reinforced with inaccurate information. No winners here, unless you
count those getting a laugh out of her errors.
It would be much appreciated if Kim would stick with what she
knows. Of course, if she gets up to speed on the Mac, she's more than
welcome to jump back into the fray.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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