Portland (OR) <3 Apple

February 2, 2007 10:59 PM

It's an Apple town right to the core. That is the headline on an article in the (Portland) Oregonian.
posted by Cranberry to MetaFilter-Related at 10:59 PM (44 comments total)

"The Mac is a way to stick it to The Man."

At 2 a.m., that's the funniest thing I've read all day.
posted by cribcage at 11:06 PM on February 2, 2007

( " , )
posted by The God Complex at 11:07 PM on February 2, 2007

(that's what I do when I'm confused)
posted by The God Complex at 11:08 PM on February 2, 2007

is this something I'd have to subscribe to "Oregon Live" to read page 2 and 3 of?
posted by chococat at 11:11 PM on February 2, 2007

Not really, because the good part is on the front page, where Matt is quoted... :D Finally, #1 gets some hometown love.
posted by Lynsey at 11:14 PM on February 2, 2007

All the good parts were posted - then suddenly changed to a link to Oregon Live, the online version of the Oregonian newspaper.
posted by Cranberry at 11:19 PM on February 2, 2007

Ugh. It's not a good article. I said the stick it to the man thing as a joke, an offhand remark purposely lame to get a laugh and he wrote it in. On page three he also quotes some of a blog post I made.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:19 PM on February 2, 2007

Cranberry, your post was insanely long and featured the use of blink on the front page. I cut it down to a link.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:20 PM on February 2, 2007

Would I post an article about your being a total Apple fanboy?
That is A Whole Lotta Nothing related.
posted by Cranberry at 11:22 PM on February 2, 2007

Fanboy.
posted by cortex at 11:25 PM on February 2, 2007

I get The O, but when I saw that headline this morning I had to just roll my eyes and turn the page. Had I known the illustrious Mr. Haughey would be mentioned, I would have at least read to his quote before moving along.
posted by croutonsupafreak at 11:43 PM on February 2, 2007

Alrighty then. Reality distortion field in full effect.
posted by Rhomboid at 12:00 AM on February 3, 2007

"a McMinnville-based blogger and one of the nation's leading experts on online communities."

I certainly would never identify Matt from that description.

Blogger Haughey, writing recently in his "A Whole Lotta Nothing" blog, said he has become "a total fanboy" in the past three years because Apple creates technology that makes the world better.

"Today I realized the feeling of optimism that I held dear when I was a kid -- that everything was going to work out and be better for everyone when I got older -- isn't captured by the folks at NASA anymore," he wrote. "It's the people at Apple that provide that."

This is part of the newspaper industry's policy of only quoting the most lame and embarrassing thing written on a blog.
posted by wendell at 12:12 AM on February 3, 2007

"These people want to identify as not mainstream," he says. "The Mac is a way to stick it to The Man."

Portland's Mac users at the mall.

posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:20 AM on February 3, 2007 [2 favorites]

"Today I realized the feeling of optimism that I held dear when I was a kid... isn't captured by the folks at NASA anymore," he wrote. "It's the people at Apple that provide that."

Spewed my coffee on my keyboard and just about deleted my account.

Read that as NSA.
posted by hal9k at 1:08 AM on February 3, 2007

They will always quote the dumbest thing you say. That's just the business, I guess.
posted by Mr. President Dr. Steve Elvis America at 1:18 AM on February 3, 2007

Read that as NSA.

When I was a child the NSA was near and dear to me too. Oregonians LUV the NSA, just walk into any coffee shop, NSA everywhere...

Can't shake a stick in this town...
posted by French Fry at 1:20 AM on February 3, 2007

I didn't think the Oregonian could get any worse but apparently their ability to come up with stupid articles that don't actually say anything is limitless.
posted by cmonkey at 1:57 AM on February 3, 2007

What exactly does it take to be one of the nation's leading experts on online communities?
posted by Dave Faris at 3:49 AM on February 3, 2007

He had cards made up. They say "Matt Haughey - Expert on Online Communities".
posted by yhbc at 4:57 AM on February 3, 2007

I have cards that say "gnfti - owner of some business cards".
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:15 AM on February 3, 2007 [2 favorites]

"These people want to identify as not mainstream," he says. "The Mac is a way to stick it to The Man."

That actually made me laugh out loud.
posted by delmoi at 6:55 AM on February 3, 2007

"...one of the nation's leading experts on online communities..."

Matt, Cory Doctorow, Drew Curtis, and Markos Zuniga. The Four Horsemen of the Ablogcalypse.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 7:15 AM on February 3, 2007 [4 favorites]

When I die I want my epitaph to be "jazz ukulele legend."
posted by Kattullus at 8:15 AM on February 3, 2007

Wow, Apple's marketers really are skilled.
posted by Afroblanco at 8:19 AM on February 3, 2007

Matt might comment on this, but I think that the inner-workings of how a media "goto guy" comes into being on a particular subject is nicely chronicled by Matt on this site over the years. It just seems to snowball. At this point he's been quoted by so many media sources on a certain kind of Internet topic that following journalists find him by database searches and whatnot. What seems important to me is how unconsciously conventional this process is and how much the qualification is determined by "having been quoted before" and how little it's actual expertise (not to imply that Matt doesn't actually have the expertise). I'm reminded of that mysterious guy that's been quoted as a man-on-the-street some astoundingly number of times. As far as looking for quotes is concerned, journalists seem a little lazy to me. But that's just an impression, perhaps incorrect.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:43 AM on February 3, 2007

Good to see you around again, EB.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 8:53 AM on February 3, 2007

Actually EB, they connected to me in a weird way. They've been trying to do blogs at their website for a couple years now but no one reads them (because they're covered in advertising and not very interesting -- they look like lame news articles and not real blogs). So I've had some interactions with the technical staff there and they're quite aware of this graph from alexa.

The writer of this piece probably got my name from the tech lead, read my blog and saw some apple-related posts, and then asked me about Portland and Apple. He also wanted to talk about their blogs and internet strategy.

So I'd agree with your hypothesis at somewhere like the NYT, where reporters might have a database of go-to internet people to get quotes from (I've had reporters say they read my name in another article at their same paper and looked me up), in this case, it wasn't like that.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:01 AM on February 3, 2007

yay for Matt: once the media brands you as an expert on something, you'll always be an expert, Googleable and stuff. it's an accomplishment of sorts, seriously -- you get from being famous on the Internets to being famous in the newspapers, it all adds up. in five years you'll have your own show on CNN or something and you'll subcontract the deletion of snarky comments and derails to some sweatshop in Macau.


(re. Apple vs Teh Man: I still can't believe that they're so cheap that they only gave Ellen Feiss one iPod. but then, I've just been checking the MacBooks at the local store to replace my old, wheezing iBook, so I guess the joke's on us)
posted by matteo at 9:11 AM on February 3, 2007

Matt, for what it's worth, I read the "sticking it to The Man" comment as being wry, and I totally LOLed.
posted by loiseau at 9:21 AM on February 3, 2007

EB is back. Cool.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 9:32 AM on February 3, 2007

EB is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Yaaaaay!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:32 AM on February 3, 2007 [1 favorite]

Hi, EB!
posted by cortex at 9:45 AM on February 3, 2007

Hi, everyone. Thanks for the welcome back. I've returned, but perhaps not very regularly. I've been pretty sick this month (abdominal abscess) and I'm still recovering. MeFi's a habit, and I've been weaned of it. Perhaps for the best? :)
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:54 AM on February 3, 2007

Glad to see you, EB. Hope your recovery is speedy.
posted by Kwine at 10:25 AM on February 3, 2007

Regarding Oregon and the good folks at the NSA, have you ever wondered how a private air transportation firm, Evergreen Aviation, ended up with one of the supersecret Blackbirds on disply in thier copious and growing museum over McMinnvile way?

I'd tell you more, but then, I'd have to switch to hair-related questions, and I think we've been through enough this week.
posted by mwhybark at 11:28 AM on February 3, 2007

With Apple, you are all individuals.
posted by meehawl at 2:49 PM on February 3, 2007

That alexaholic site is pretty sweet, although I'm sure it's infringing on their trademark. I honestly thought it was some part of Alexa when I first looked at it.
posted by delmoi at 4:32 PM on February 3, 2007

As an Applephile, I say, "Meh. MehFi."
posted by rob511 at 5:36 PM on February 3, 2007

The writer of this piece probably got my name from the tech lead, read my blog and saw some apple-related posts, and then asked me about Portland and Apple.

I can't speak for Steve (the reporter), but I think it was more than just a search-the-archives-for-the-expert thing. I talked to him briefly about the Apple piece a couple weeks ago and he seemed to be fairly familiar with Matt's reputation, his work at Creative Commons, etc.
posted by mfriesen at 9:17 PM on February 3, 2007

I'm happy to see you back, EB.
posted by deborah at 10:19 PM on February 3, 2007

Welcome back, EB and best wishes for a full, speedy recovery.
posted by Lynsey at 11:19 PM on February 3, 2007

I'd been wondering where you'd gone, EB. Hope you get weller soon.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:21 AM on February 4, 2007

Hey, EB. Good to see you around.

Get well soon, eh?
posted by koeselitz at 10:00 AM on February 4, 2007