I’ve noticed an interesting behavior, recently, which is geek gadget validation syndrome.  If you buy something as a geek, your purchase is validated if someone else buys the same thing after you’ve shown in / recommended it to them.  You see it with the cult of iPhone quite often, and with all the android devices out there now, I’ve seen the same thing between owners of different models.  Given that there is no ultimate device, they all have plus and minus, the validation syndrome tends to be ever worse.  It’s sort of like a close political race, or the eternal vi / emacs “war”.

Given that behavior, I’d really like it if tech news writers disclosed what laptop they are working with and what their cell phone is, much like people reporting on financial institutions will often disclose if they are an investor in the company.  I’m not sure it would make the news reporting any better, but it would at least be easier to figure out the sources of bias.