Red Hydrogen One, Image courtesy RED.com Inc.
RED, founded in 2005, took the digital cinema camera industry by storm releasing a relatively affordable 4K system in 2007; the RED One. Having used many of their cameras for cinema, I can attest they have made some very powerful devices over the past decade. Today they are major players in the camera industry with their Dragon, Epic, Scarlet, and other cameras but a few days ago they announced a smartphone, powered by Android, made from aluminum or titanium, and will feature an industry first holographic display. I don’t know exactly what that means or how it will look but very interesting nonetheless.
However, that I am not writing about the phone and specifications really. I'm writing about the tech blogging industry.
BGR.com, a.k.a. Boy Genius Report, a long standing tech blog I have followed for years, like so many others, are frequently so overtly negative and catty about their reviews and discussion of new technology that one might consider them luddites. They so quickly cast judgement or make unwarranted claims about technology that it is no surprise that many people aren't excited about new technology but complain, scold, judge, or ever fear it.
To be fair, BGR has some really great tech articles. Some writers simply miss the mark too frequently.
'Lead with negativity' must be the new mantra of tech editorials. Christ Smith of BGR.com on the RED Hydrogen One: "PSA: Do not preorder this $1,200 holographic Android phone."
And more headlines from Chris Smith:
- The iPhone 8 design everyone hates just reappeared, and it’s somehow even uglier
- Don’t get too excited about the latest Galaxy Note 8 leak
- We might’ve finally figured out why the iPhone 8 is delayed
Number three is especially funny because the next generation iPhone hasn't even been announced so I'm not sure how it has been delayed but lets focus on "PSA: Do not preorder this $1,200 holographic Android phone."
“Yes, RED is an established name in the camera business. It is, however, not a smartphone maker. And just because it can make great cameras, it doesn’t mean it can also create great phones. Especially considering it has no history in the phone making business.”
In 2007, similar sentiments were said about Apple and iPhone. While I generally agree that the RED Hydrogen One is likely to a speciality smartphone, especially with a starting price of $1200/$1500 (at least purchased outright at that price), I admonish technology blogs for their lack of research, vision, and precision. And as my life rule #29 goes: Accuracy Matters.™
Everything everyone has ever done had to be done for the first time. When the RED One came out, they had no experience making anything and they changed the digital cinema camera industry over night. Don't write off the potential of others so easily.
Learn more about RED Hydrogen One.