If the reviews are any guide, the Microsoft Surface, which ships Friday, the device isn’t going to break any sales records.
Reviewers praise its attractive design and the sturdy kickstand, no one likes the cameras (one front, one rear) which are panned for being slow and taking so-so photos, but after that, opinions differ.
David Pogue at the New York Times writes that “You’d have to be fairly cold-blooded to keep your pulse down the first time you see the Surface….How incredible thhat this bold, envelope-pushing design comes from Microsoft.” On the other hand, he laments, “How ironic that what lets the Surface down is…Microsoft’s specialty: software.”
Pogue’s counterpart at the Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg, says the device is “historic,” and “is a tablet with some pluses,” such as the major office apps and optional keyboards. But he is otherwise unimpressed, dissing the cameras, lack of battery life, lack of apps, and a display that doesn’t measure up to the iPad’s.
The Verge wrote that the Surface is “unfortunately more functional as a laptop…on a desk.” It also criticized the instability of the Microsoft Mail app and the way it handles threading, and it touchscreen’s ability to handle only five points at a time compared to the iPad’s 11.
David Pogue writes in the New York Times that the new Apple iPad should have been called the iPad 2S, because it makes only incremental changes to the iPad 2, like the iPhone 4S. The technical improvements in the new device, which is available Friday, “keep it at the forefront of desirability – just ahead of the snapping jaws of its Android competion.”
Like most reviewers, he’s dazzled by the “very, very sharp screen.” The new Retina dispaly is four times sharper than that of the iPad 2. Apps rewritten for the new screen are “incredibly sharp,” he says and high definition videos are “dazzling.”
He praises the new 5 megapixel back camera that will also shoot hi-def video.
The feature we’re personally most interested in – the new iPad’s ability to translate speaking to text – is unfortunately more limited than Siri in the iPhone 4S. It allows users to type email or in text apps, but not to set alarms or “snag facts from the Web” by asking out loud. Pogue suggests that may be an Apple marketing department hold-back. He notes it does work accurately with good Internet connections.
In any event, it’s a shame it doesn’t have the full range of Siri capabilities.
The major problem we have will all tablets and touch screen products, personally, is that typing on virtual keyboards is a real pain in multiple body parts. We would buy it just to be able to search the Web orally instead of via touchscreen typing.
Pixels, pixels, pixels, speed, speed, speed
John Gruper at Daringfireball.net, writes, “Pixels, pixels, pixels, battery, battery, battery, speed, speed, speed. That’s the new iPad. He also notes that RAM has been doubled (from 512MB to 1MB), which is mostly dedicated to the improved display -which is double the resolution of the iPad 2, but still makes apps feel faster.
He describes the retina display as similar to that of high end glossy magazine print – “Except that it updates live. It’s living, breathing print.”
Gruber says the new iPad reveals what is important about Apple’s priorities: how things look, feel, which means fast graphics processing.
He notes that Apple does not generally make devices that have less battery life than former models, so the new iPad is slightly thicker and heavier than the other models to accommodate a larger battery, since the high resolution display and more speed mean more battery drain.
Looking back to the 1950s, the way Americans got their news was pretty simple – it was either their local newspaper or one of the three nightly newscasts.
Today, there are a myriad of ways to get news – online news sites, on one’s phone, cable television, blogs, and, still local newspapers and nightly newscasts. But with all these different choices, do people trust that each will get them the news fairly and accurately? Overall, the answer is yes. And online news sources are as trusted as local papers, which are the most trusted sources.
When we look at trust in general, majorities of Americans (between 60% and 73%) say they trust seven different media outlets to get them news fairly and accurately.
But the difference is in how much trust they have; while three-quarters of U.S. adults (73%) trust their local TV news, less than one-quarter (22%) have a lot of trust in it and half (51%) have some trust. Seven in ten Americans (69%) trust their local newspapers, but only 18% have a lot of trust.
These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,016 adults surveyed online between January 16 and 23, 2012 by Harris Interactive.
Looking at some other media seven in ten Americans trust radio and Internet news and information sites (69% each) to get them news fairly and accurately, but for both, only 14% have a lot of trust while over half (55%) have some trust.
Just over three in five trust cable TV news (64%) and network TV news (61%) but, for both, only 15% say they have a lot of trust in them and three in five (60%) trust national newspapers, with 16% having a lot of trust.
Fair and unbiased news
While the different types of media are all looked at in a mostly positive light, there are some mixed results when we look at specific media outlets. Three in ten Americans say that ABC (63%), NBC (63%), CNN (61%), the Associated Press (59%), and PBS (59%) all give news that is fair and unbiased all the time or occasionally.
But, like with the media in general, the public leans towards occasionally, rather than all the time as three in five (28%) say PBS is fair and unbiased all the time, while just one in five says the same for the other four media outlets.
Over half of U.S. adults say FOX News, (54%), Yahoo News (53%), MSNBC (52%) and CNBC (52%) provide fair and unbiased news all the time or occasionally, and half say the same about The Wall Street Journal (50%) and Time (50%).
Just under half say The New York Times (48%) and Reuters (48%) provide news that is fair and unbiased; about two in five say the same about The Washington Post (42%), NPR (41%), Newsweek/The Daily Beast (39%) and one-third about the Huffington Post (33%).
But, it’s not that these on the lower end of the list are not trusted, it is, rather, that they are not as well known so many more Americans do not have an opinion of them one way or another.
Fox, Huff Post, MSNBC seen as less fair & unbiased
If we look at those who are seen as rarely or never giving news that is fair and unbiased, over one-third (36%) say that applies to FOX News, while three in ten say MSNBC (31%), Huffington Post (31%), CNBC (29%), The New York Times (29%), The Washington Post (29%), and Newsweek/The Daily Beast (29%).
In this election year, Americans will be getting their campaign information from these various media outlets. In that vein, it is interesting to note that out of the 17 different media outlets, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think that 15 news providers are giving them news that is fair and unbiased. Republicans are only more likely than Democrats to think that about two news providers – FOX News (75% vs. 39%) and The Wall Street Journal (51% vs. 50%).
So What?
Like everything else, the media is a business that needs to make money and show investors profits. And, as the number of news outlets continues to grow, providers of information are increasingly out to one-up each other as the first with that information. The large number of news providers also means that the providers have to find new, and sometimes sensational, ways to get eyes and ears to their outlet.
TABLE 1TRUST IN TYPES OF MEDIA
“How much trust do you have that each of the following will get you the news fairly and accurately?”
Base: All adults
TRUST
(NET)
A lot of
trust
Some
trust
DO NOT
TRUST (NET)
Not very
much trust
No trust
at all
Not
sure
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Local TV News
73
22
51
23
17
6
4
Radio
69
14
55
25
19
7
6
Internet News and information sites
69
14
55
26
19
7
5
Local Newspapers
69
18
51
27
19
8
4
Cable TV News
64
15
49
30
21
9
6
Network TV News
61
15
46
35
20
15
4
National Newspapers
60
16
45
34
22
12
6
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding;
TABLE 2TRUST IN TYPES OF MEDIA – BY PARTY AND GENERATION
“How much trust do you have that each of the following will get you the news fairly and accurately?”
Percent saying “A lot of trust/Some trust”
Base: All adults
TRUST
(NET)
Generation
Political Party
Echo
Boomers
(18-35)
Gen X
(36-47)
Baby
Boomers
(48-66)
Matures
(67+)
Rep.
Dem.
Ind.
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
%
Local TV News
73
68
77
77
72
70
83
72
Radio
69
65
71
73
67
72
74
66
Internet News and information sites
69
66
68
73
66
66
78
6
Local Newspapers
69
67
70
72
63
62
82
67
Cable TV News
64
56
68
67
71
64
72
62
Network TV News
61
62
57
63
59
47
79
61
National Newspapers
60
64
58
61
52
46
77
60
Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding;
Finalists for the 2011 Online Journalism Awards, many pushing the envelope of innovation and excellence in digital storytelling and distribution, were disclosed by the Online News Association and its academic partner, the School of Communication at the University of Miami.
A group of 34 industry-leading journalists and new media professionals teamed up to review entrants and select finalists. Twelve of those judges, representing a diverse cross-section of the industry, met at the university’s Coral Gables, FL, campus and eight more conferred internationally to determine winners from independent, community, nonprofit, major media and international news sites.
Launched in 2000, the OJAs are the only comprehensive set of journalism prizes honoring excellence in digital journalism.
Changes note digital journalism innovations
This year, ONA introduced changes to acknowledge the explosion of journalistic innovation on new digital platforms. Entries for all awards were open to news produced for any digital device. Eight awards come with a total of $33,000 in prize money, courtesy of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Gannett Foundation, which also is supporting innovative investigative work with two $2,500 awards.
“We found that excellence in digital journalism today requires not only traditional shoe-leather reporting and engaging storytelling, but also sophisticated use of social tools and multimedia techniques,” said Anthony Moor, Managing Editor, Local at Yahoo!, who, along with the Associated Press’ Director of Global Product Operations Ruth Gersh, co-chairs the Online Journalism Awards Committee.
If the reviews are any guide, the Microsoft Surface, which ships Friday, the device isn’t going to break any sales records.
David Pogue 
Looking back to the 1950s, the way Americans got their news was pretty simple – it was either their local newspaper or one of the three nightly newscasts.
Finalists for the 2011 Online Journalism Awards, many pushing the envelope of innovation and excellence in digital storytelling and distribution, were disclosed by the Online News Association and its academic partner, the School of Communication at the University of Miami.
