NY Times writer David Pogue and his Work - Literature review Example

NY Times David Pogue and his work David Pogue’s articles for the electronics section of NY Times present new products on the consumer electronics market. The author describes the products’ features in order to help his audience learn about those products. He manages to help the readers in a few ways. First, the author provides detailed, yet simple explanations when he presents the products and their functions to his audience. This is often achieved through step by step descriptions of the way a product works: “When something happened worth filming, you pressed the big red button on the back. You didn’t mess with tapes or disks or menus or mode dials or flipping out a screen.” This is what he says about Casio’s Tryx camera. Also, he explains to the readers any terms that they might not understand. When writing about Fujifilm X100, he says that “the top portion and bottom plate have been “die-cast from magnesium alloy””, and then he explains in brackets that “it’s silver metal, in other words”. Another explanation in the same text is “It’s also an f/2.0 lens, meaning that it lets in a lot of light”. Another way in which the author helps his readers is by gradually accumulating pieces of information so that the reader can better understand the specifications of the product. Pogue perfectly understands the fact that his readers are not experts in consumer electronics. Therefore, they need gradual explanations in order to be able to grasp the most important information. So, the author makes sure he covers the basics first. Later, he gives additional information. Sometimes he provides the simple explanations for the average reader, and then gives some specialized information in brackets. For example, in the text on Samsung’s Central Station, Pogue says that “as far as Samsung and I know, it’s never been done before” and then adds in brackets: “Samsung says it’s using a “proprietary protocol over the ultra-wide band spectrum that is not, and does not interfere with, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.” We can see another example in the article about the Tryx camera: “an Advanced menu lets you adjust the exposure, white balance and ISO — light sensitivity — but not manual focus, aperture or shutter speed”. After mentioning the term “ISO”, the author explains that this means “light sensitivity”. The author also compares the product he presents to other similar products which is very helpful for the consumer. This is yet another way in which he helps readers learn about new products. In the article on Fujifilm X100 he compares the product to a similar one, saying: “For most people, the Sony is more compelling; it’s smaller, much less expensive ($700) and takes interchangeable lenses, including a nonzooming flat one like the X100’s. But the X100’s controls (clear, external, analog, exposed) embrace the opposite approach of the Sony (on-screen, buried, clumsy).” In addition, in order to be more helpful, the author views the product from his reader’s point of view. One of the ways in which an author can help his audience understand his texts is by assuming the readers’ point of view. Therefore, Pogue often talks about the things you, the reader, would like to do with the product: “In these configurations, you’ll usually want to be able to fire the shot without pressing the shutter button”, he says in the piece on the Tryx camera. There is another example in the article on Samsung’s Central Station: “The point is that when you’re on the road, you want the compactness of a laptop.” By appealing to the things the reader wants and values, the author gains the audience’s trust. Without the readers’ trust, the author wouldn’t be able to educate them or guide them. Pogue also helps his readers learn about the products he describes by pointing the target group of the products. Thus the reader can easily decide if he or she belongs to this specific group. For example, the target group for the Tryx camera is “fun-loving young adults”. In another article, on Fujifilm X100, the author says: “you’re expected to know something about photography if you use this camera” and he later adds: “this camera isn’t for the Wal-Mart masses”. By clearly stating what the target is for a certain product Pogue makes the reader’s choice much easier. Another way the author helps his audience is by describing both the positive and the negative sides of a product. Then, he gives his final opinion based on both. In order to make an informed choice on their purchase, consumers need to know both the positive and the negative sides of a product. Therefore, they do not need one-sided, over-enthusiastic reviews. Knowing this, Pogue makes sure his advice takes into account the negative aspects of a product. When presenting the Tryx camera for example, he says: “for the same money, you can get much better pictures.” In the article on Samsung’s Central Station he not only points out a downside but also proposes an improvement: “If the range were greater than five feet, for example, you could use your laptop on the couch, controlling a Hulu TV show on your big Samsung screen across the room.” In the article on Fujifilm X100 he also describes a few negative sides: “the camera forgets its mode (movie, still, panorama) every time you turn it off and on again”, and: “You should also know that the camera doesn’t focus quickly, especially in low light.” In order to help the readers gain some perspective, Pogue also gives information on the future developments regarding a certain product. In the article on Samsung’s Central Station he says: “the company says that it will have software for Windows Vista and the Mac in October.” David Pogue also gives background facts about the products and their market history in order to make a certain point in his presentation. Sometimes he also gives additional information about products that are similar to the one described. For example, while describing the Tryx camera, he says about the Flim camcorder: “It became the No. 1 bestselling camcorder on Amazon.com, and remained there ever since. As of last month, its sales represented 37 percent of all camcorders, and kept climbing.” Then, he continues with more recent events in Flip’s history. Another very important way in which Pogue helps his readers is by giving personal examples. As part of the presentation of a product the author sometimes uses his own experience with it as a source of information. For example, in the article on Fujifilm X100, he says: “On a spring-break trip to a theme park, this camera produced some of the most memorable photos of my children I’ve ever taken. It also ruined a lot more shots than any camera I’ve used.” David Pogue manages to help his audience by writing comprehensive, informative and interesting pieces. And what makes his texts comprehensive, informative and interesting is his writing style. An important characteristic of Pogue’s writing style is the broad use of comparisons. If he wants to inform his audience about a relatively unknown product or a product feature, he compares it to something known. For example, when describing the Tryx camera, he says: “At first glance, it looks exactly like an iPhone: a thin, black slab.” And later, in the same text: “the whole affair looks like you’re holding a traditional camcorder”. And: “It’s a lot like the extremely useful Sweep Panorama mode on Sony cameras”. Also about the Tryx, he says: “The photos are slightly better than a phone’s, but not as good as, say, those from a Canon pocket camera.” He describes Samsung’s Central Station in a similar way: “On your desk, it looks exactly like a sleek, high-definition computer monitor, clad in shiny black.” Also, when he talks about the Fujifilm X100, he says: “for starters, it’s been designed to look exactly like some Leica film camera from 30 years ago.” An additional characteristic of his style is that it is casual and aimed at the general audience. This is a distinctive characteristic of Pogue’s writing style. He is not afraid to talk to the audience like we talk to a close friend: in the article on the Tryx camera he says: “That’s the best analogy I could think of. Leave me alone.” This, of course, is in brackets, so that the readers can clearly distinguish between his actual presentation of the product and his side remarks. In the article on Fujifilm X100 he also uses his casual style: “the X100 has some ingenious tricks up its sleeve.” Another characteristic of his style is that he uses a lot of strong adjectives and adverbs. The usage of strong adjectives and adverbs makes Pogue’s texts more expressive and casual. When he presents the Fujifilm X100 for example, he describes it as “quirky, amazing, baffling, out-there different.” Later, he adds: “It can also create absolutely gorgeous blurred background effects.” Another example from the article on the Tryx camera is: “The image on the screen always flips upright, no matter what crazy angle you’ve twisted it into.” In the piece on Samsung’s Central Station he uses the phrases “cheesy speaker”, “a jaw-dropping sight.” And in the article on Fujifilm X100 he says: “That seems awfully Cro-Magnon.” Also, Pogue expresses his emotions in his texts and this is typical of his style, too. This is not something you would normally expect in an article about an electronic product. Yet, Pogue manages to express emotions about his subjects. When describing the Tryx camera, he says: “What a weird, weird camera.” In the article on Samsung’s Central Station he expresses his emotion towards wireless technology: “Wireless is magic, and magic is happiness”; and also: “Mmmmmm. Wireless.” Another thing that helps the audience is that Pogue’s texts are very well structured. While reading Pogue’s articles, the audience can easily follow the logic of the text. This is achieved through the structure of each article: an introduction, a main body and a conclusion. The introductions are usually focused on a certain aspect of the product which is presented. The piece on Samsung’s Central Station for example starts with focusing on the main aspect of the product – wireless technology: “Think of all the wires we’ve eliminated so far, thanks to inventions like the remote control, Wi-Fi, cellphones and tiny Bluetooth earpieces.” Beginnings like this one help the reader grasp the idea – and the mood – of the article more quickly. Then, as mentioned above, in the main body, the author describes his object step by step. Usually, the positive sides go first, followed by the negative ones. Finally, there is a conclusion in which the author sums up the most important points of the article. This clearly defined structure helps the reader understand the article and gives the audience a better idea of the essence of the product. To sum up, David Pogue’s articles for the NY Times help the audience learn about the new products on the consumer electronics market. The author’s writing style and his ability to share his technical knowledge with the audience make his pieces very useful for the consumer. Works cited: Pogue, David, “A Camera That Honors Old Virtues”. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. April 20, 2011. Web. May 12, 2011. Pogue, David, “A Camera That Honors the Flip”. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Published: May 11, 2011. Web. May 12, 2011. Pogue, David, “Docking Your Laptop, Wirelessly”. The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Published: May 4, 2011. Web. May 12, 2011. Read More