Writers take the heat

It happens every year. Tom Yager writes another column about Apple, and I get e-mails like this one from reader Gary Olson: “I find it a bit unfair for a magazine of your caliber to carry an avowed Apple advocate’s column …and not a similar column representing the other 95 percent of the market.”

In this case, the column, last week’s “Mac Sense and Nonsense,” was not entirely pro-Apple. It described Tom’s attempts to convert a Windows-using friend to the Mac religion. Three weeks in, she’s discovering that “there are things Windows does that the Mac cannot.” Even so, a passel of readers wrote in, demanding that I tell Yager to take an Apple break.

Keep in mind, the last time this situation came to a head (in April 2006), I asked readers to e-mail me their opinion on the subject. The response was immediate and overwhelming, with scores of Mac faithful voicing unqualified support for Yager and his coverage choices. My conclusion then, and now, is that Apple deserves serious coverage in InfoWorld based upon innovation alone — market share be damned. And Tom needs the latitude to explore his passions, both in Ahead of the Curve and in his Enterprise Mac blog, even if it sometimes gets us into hot water.

Speaking of taking heat, Enterprise Insight columnist David L. Margulius is likely to find himself embroiled in controversy this week. He received an intriguing — and probably misdirected — e-mail from a well-placed source who speculated that HP might buy Symantec. Needless to say, Dave’s interest was piqued. He started digging for clues and found lots of rumors, but no substantiation. But after some analysis, he concluded that the deal would, indeed, make sense.

So remember, if it happens, you saw it here first. And if it doesn’t, well, just wait. There’s always tomorrow.