This Post is Not About the 128GB iPad 4

Having just finished going through every article posted to Cabin Porn over the last four years, I thought it would be appropriate to take a step back, shift gears quickly, and write some observations about a rumor that has quickly gained a lot of traction over the past few hours. I am, of course, referring to the rumor of a 128GB iPad 4. As I thought more and more about it though, as I read 9to5 Mac’s coverage of the rumor, John Gruber’s take, and potential substantiation by The Verge shortly thereafter, and as I watched A day in the life from Whole Larder Love, the realization that the iPad 4 rumor was not what I wanted to write about slowly dawned on me. I suppose in order to give that epiphany any degree of substance I should provide some background.

I have been writing about one form of technology or another ever since I can remember. My first website, in fact, which I refuse to link every time I reference it out of a mixture of embarrassment and wonder that sometime so contrived could have ever been published to the internet, was about making websites. Ever since that first blog, I have written about technology with a particular focus on computers. Only recently, with the launch of this site, did I enter in to the reporting space, viewing it as the next logical step in my career as a blogger. The last few weeks, however, have seen my interests begin to shift. The culmination of this shift, I thought, was the number of posts I made over the past two days. Turns out — turns out, as Marco is so fond of saying — I was wrong: the culmination was not the series of posts and articles about cabins, but instead my choice not to write about the 128GB iPad 4 rumor.

So if you’re still here for that you might as well leave: I have nothing to say. Nothing to say about that anyways.

I suppose this transition was a long time coming, now that I think about it. For quite some time I have been fascinated with initiatives like YouTube Friday from Shawn Blanc, the most recent installment of which, Those Who Make, has continued to fascinate me for nearly a week with thought-provoking videos from — you guessed it — those who make things. Similarly, Ben Brooks’s departure from the tech reporting norm expected of Apple bloggers and successful venture into product reviews such as his excellent knife analysis also captured my attention, as did Marco’s entrance into this space as well. Tools & Toys, a gadget and software review site Shawn Blanc runs, is the most recent example of this. All these ventures have one thing in particular in common: they are all a departure from the traditional, from “the tech reporting norm expected of Apple bloggers”.

I want to join Shawn, Ben, and Marco. I don’t want to be the next John Gruber with my linked list and succinct, witty quips. Not that there’s anything bad with that approach, that’s just not what I want from this website. No, I want this website to be something different, something out of the ordinary. I don’t want this website to be just another linkblog, pushing out post after post with my nuance opinion on an over-analyzed topic, merely parroting the thoughts and ideas of the bloggers I follow and admire. I want this blog to be an outlier, the one that bucks the trend; something extraordinary.

Keep in mind that I wrote this post last night before Apple officially announced the 128GB iPad 4. At that time it was still an unsubstantiated rumor.