Tech journalists that hate tech
The growing irrelevance of the corporate tech journalist
An interesting phenomenon that has emerged over the last decade has been the tech journalist that hates technology. I wrote about this back in 2021:
… I was curious about the author of the piece. I found out he is a career journalist with a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. In his professional life, he had never held a position outside of reporter or journalist. Which begs the question, what makes this man uniquely suited to be molding the national dialog?
Here are the last 5 articles written by the author:
The articles can be summarized as Facebook bad, digital maps bad, Apple bad, Tesla bad and big-tech bad.
I looked over the leading New York Times articles and it has gotten slightly better. But every once in a while you’ll find an article in which a tech journalist is absolutely seething with contempt about some founder or business.
Enter Kara Swisher’s recent interview with Ezra Klien:
There was a period where he [Elon Musk] was very worried about the fate of Tesla, and he was sleeping on the floor there. And he gave an interview to The New York Times where he seemed to cry. He seemed very emotional. And at one point when we were talking — this was, I think, off-camera — he said: If Tesla doesn’t survive, the human race is doomed.
Which I felt was a little dramatic. And I thought: Wow, this is a man in his 40s who thinks that he’s the center of the universe. So it always has that element of drama.
What a cruel comment to make about someone. I can’t imagine a similar comment being made about an emotional breakdown in another context. I wish more leaders felt that personally connected to their mission. Instead the status quo is golden parachutes and leaving to “spend more time with their family”.
No mention of Tesla getting through that period and innovating the electric car market, something a self described “liberal, lesbian Donald Trump of San Francisco” should be passionate about.
But Swisher is so much more than just Silicon Valley's toughest critic - she's also its self-appointed comedy police:
When he was being interviewed at Code Conference once, he had a couple of them there. He told a really bad joke, and they all went like: Ha-ha-ha-ha. And I was like: That’s not funny — I’m sorry, did I miss the joke? And they looked at me like I had three heads.
But surely, she gives him some credit for SpaceX?
[Ezra Klien]: Although to be fair to him, it has led to some amazing rockets.
[Swisher] It did. But who else gets to? Then he insults NASA. NASA can’t blow up rockets, because if they blow up one rocket, that’s the end of it. So it’s a real advantage to be able to blow up rockets and then keep going.
Ah yes, Musk exploited a loophole. NASA could have done it. Same applies for every other country. It’s certainly not adminiarable that the cost of sending a kg to space has gone down 99%.
But no deranged Musk conversation would be complete without a discussion of Ketamine and his personal life.
I think the issues around his trans daughter seemed to have affected him quite profoundly. I’ve noticed that in a number of tech people who have trans children. They suddenly become — like, losing their mind, essentially.
The second thing I think The Wall Street Journal has correctly reported on is his use of ketamine and other drugs. So I think that was another thing that seemed to have changed him. Although they all use drugs —
Is there anything Kara Swisher - armed with her journalism degrees and zero experience in anything else - can't psychoanalyze?
Yes. So have a lot of people in Silicon Valley. Let me say: He’s not alone. This Curtis Yarvin stuff. They’ve all sort of been taken by these — it’s almost religious, if you think about it.
One of the things that I think it goes back to — and I hate to say this — is: sad little boy who wasn’t loved enough as a child is searching for meaning, is searching for love. And again, not an excuse, because I think he’s become a terrible person, and he should get therapy.
Can anyone hold these tech leaders to account?
Again, it’s a king thing. The way they set up their companies is a kingship. Mark Zuckerberg has complete control. He can’t be fired. He’s there for life.
So they like that. But in practice, it doesn’t work that way. Because he’s got reporters annoying him. He’s got his staff. He’s got to at least give a nod to diversity or else he gets shamed. He doesn’t have the fortitude that Musk has in that regard.
Ah yes, bring it back to the intrepid tech reporter that hates all things tech.
Is that all you can muster? How about attacking their manhoods:
So they are trying to assert themselves in what they consider a man. This is the definition of what a man is. A lot of them were not considered manly when they were in high school. Revenge of the nerds.
Fashion choice?
With Mark, it’s the stupid chain and the T-shirt, which — good luck. It’s fine. I think it looks ridiculous, but fine. He likes it. Or the mixed martial arts. Or I’m going to hydrofoil. Or I’m going to work out. I’m going to show off my muscles there. That’s what Jeff Bezos is doing. Like: Here’s my muscles. Here’s my pretty fiancée. They’re trying to cosplay a version of a man.
Now lets wrap it all up
It seems pathetic to me. But I think it gives them great comfort.
It goes on. At this point its entertaining because these corporate tech journalists are irrelevant. Why would anyone that cares about tech want to read about how technology and everyone involved is awful?
This explains the rise of independent commentators like MKBHD (technology) and Doug Demuro (cars). I don’t even like cars much but I love watching Demuro’s videos just to see how passionate he is about them. He’ll spend 10 minutes explaining some unique door handle or something different about the car (what he calls quirks and features) He’s not a shill, and he has strong opinions. But you can tell he genuinely loves cars.
Tech is exciting, especially now. Meanwhile Swisher is the embodiment of this meme:
