Home Top 10 Reader Comments of 2011

Top 10 Reader Comments of 2011

Another year has come and gone, and it’s time to recap 2011 in all its glory. While most of our recaps will educate you, I hope this one, filled with the top comments from your peers, will inspire you (or at least make you giggle). So whether this list has you nodding your head or gnashing your teeth, we’re happy to have played a part in your life this year.

Of course, this list is subjective, so please let us know what you think about the voices we’ve chosen.

1. AT&T to Start Data Throttling, How Will It Affect Users?

In a July 29 post, Dan Rowinski reported that AT&T had announced plans to throttle the data speeds of users on their network who had exceeded the bandwidth thresholds the company had set on their 3G network. As you can imagine, many people commented passionately, but Chris Holt’s comment, below, was so popular as to be our top rated comment of 2011.

Chris Holt – “Is ‘bandwidth threshold’ the term AT&T uses? Bandwidth is a rate not a quantity. It’s like a cop pulling you over and telling you that you have used too many MPH this month.”

2. What Do Kids Say Is The Biggest Obstacle To Technology At School?

Way back on April 3, Audrey Watters wrote about the Speak Up 2010 survey, and the findings that children want to be able to bring their own device and to enjoy unfiltered access. With 43 comments, many weighed in, but Janet Abercrombie shared an experience that few could, and her comment was widely appreciated.

Janet Abercrombie – “In our new 1:1 program, we (teachers) are trying to differentiate behaviors that are a result of character and behaviors that are a result of the technology. Before computers, I could take away pencils from students who were drawing or I could ask them to produce a drawing that demonstrates understanding of the lesson.

One of the keys to successful student engagement is to build in formative assessments that continuously check student understanding. I find that, if students need to produce something by the end of class and/or engage in a Google doc or other discussion thread (where I can review the history and see who types what), 95% of my students will remain engaged in the lesson. Students who do not demonstrate master of the day’s objective get pulled into small groups for guided instruction the next day where the independent learners are given a more independent task.

My personal belief is that teacher PD should focus more on ways to differentiate instruction and implement formative assessments than about the navigation of hardware/software.”

3. ATDHE Seized: How Site Takedowns Are Ceremonial

On February 1, Mike Melanson reported on the take down of ATDHE, a site that lists video streams, many illegal, of nearly every televised sporting event. MDurwin’s comment was a passionate rebuttal to the act and through your upvotes, it’s clear that many of you agreed.

mdurwin – “My biggest concern here is why is Homeland Security acting as the bitch of media conglomerates? How is a site hosting video, legal, questionable, or blatantly illegal the responsibility of Homeland Security? aren’t they supposed to be hunting down terrorists? The CIA is not supposed to operate inside US borders, nor is the Military. The FBI and police are in charge of crime on American soil. So, which is Homeland Security? Pretty soon I expect they’ll be jailing 12 year olds who rip Justin Beiber CDs and email the mp3s to their friends!”

4. Your iPhone Is Tracking Your Every Move

Earlier this year, on April 20, Audrey Watters detailed just how much your iPhone knows about you, including a look at the file “consolidated.db”. Jason Moffatt’s toungue-in-cheek comment must have made many of you smile. It comes in at #4 on our list.

Jason Moffatt – “Note to self. Get rid of cell phone before robbing that bank next week.”



5. Verizon Blocks Hotspot Tethering for Jailbroken Devices

On August 5, Dan Rowinski reported that the throttling announced by AT&T earlier had likely begun as at least one person was being blocked from Android tethering on a rooted device. milrtime83 argued that this was an unfair charge, due to double billing. Many of you agreed.

milrtime83 -” ‘The networks do not like consumers getting away with data for free.’

No, we are already paying for the data. They want people to pay for the same data twice.”

Next Page: [6-10 plus a surprise guest]

6. There Will be 2 New iPhones, iPhone 5 & 4S, Analyst Says

From a June 27 article by Sarah Perez, we saw an analyst quoted about the upcoming iPhone 4s and iPhone 5 (now debunked). Paddy McCann poked fun at the analyst and made many of us giggle.

Paddy McCann – “How do I get to be an analyst? Seems pretty easy – just make stuff up.”



7. Why Facebook’s Seamless Sharing is Wrong

Not long after ReadWriteWeb started deep-diving into Facebook’s Frictionless Sharing, Marshall Kirkpatrick told us why Facebook’s seamless sharing is wrong. With 48 comments, the agreement on this post was deafening. Jeff Pester summed up the fear that many of you have in 8 words. Bumper sticker anyone?

Jeff Pester – “Zuckerberg’s utopian dream is becoming our Orwellian nightmare.”



8. Facebook, You’re Not a Newspaper

Another passionately debated post, Richard MacManus’ September 21 post, “Facebook, You’re Not a Newspaper” looked at Facebook’s recent newsfeed changes. Leila expressed outrage that again, Facebook was fixing what wasn’t broken.

Leila – “I wish Facebook would just show me *all* updates from my Friends and Pages, in the order that they were posted, and let *me* decide which ones I don’t want to see by hiding individual people, pages, or posts. I will never understand why Facebook insists on deciding for me which posts are important to me because it’s frequently wrong.”

9. Why Groupon’s Super Bowl Ad Was So Offensive

Remember that Groupon Super Bowl ad that had so many people up in arms? Marshall Kirkpatrick shared, on February 6, why that ad was so offensive, including the dismissive mockery of Tibetan troubles and the observation that “it came across as the kind of out-of-touch humor that overpriveleged, spiritually mean, advertising industry creatives (specifically, the kind that kids refer to as ‘douchebags’) would come up with.” BillieMac shared his point of view, that of a former ad exec, and his knowledge of industry norms made his comment all the more relevant and helpful.

BillieMac – “As a former ad exec, I have to assume that Crispin Porter steamrolled this ad right to air. Any reasonable effort to run this ad through a qualitative disaster check with consumers (i.e. a focus group) would have told them they had a problem on their hands. The adage of ‘any publicity is good publicity’ does not apply in this instance. Groupon had an objective: educate people about their brand and make a connection with people. They failed miserably on both fronts. They are a bunch of marketing novices driving a marketing vehicle. If I were a big brand, I certainly wouldn’t be lining up to partner with Groupon right now. They just proved they don’t belong in the big leagues.”

10. MacBook Air Contest: What are the Considerations When Looking at Server Infrastructure?

Alex Williams asked, on June 3, “What are the considerations when looking at server infrastructure?” Dylan Ludwig answered with gusto, not forgetting to accommodate appliance needs, security, data control and pricing. While his comment didn’t win that month, you loved it, with 22 likes.

Dylan Ludwig – “It’s important to have secure access to applications and data from any network device, for business and personal use. With cloud based services, all devices are in sync with the cloud. Internal clouds allow computing on private networks, businesses can restrict applications and content, limiting uses. Customer support, cloud providers should work hand in hand with your needs, as your partner.

What appliances need to be supported; servers, firewalls, networks, etc? All infrastructures are unique. What’s important to you? Security’s a must, whether it’s a shared cloud or unique to you. Creating a custom solution to fit the needs of you/your company brings power, mobility, organization, speed, simplicity/ease of access, and scalability. Imagine if your computer crashed; many files would be backed up within the cloud.

Cloud pricing can be expensive. ISP’s cap the upload speed and most charge for data usage. Clouds continue to undergo security/privacy breeches. Some personally like having control of their own data.

Figure out your needs, for now and long term. Don’t limit the accessibility of the cloud and your future. Infrastructure software should always be chosen wisely.

When I started using the cloud, it took me a while to understand its concept. We use cloud based services everyday without even realizing it, for example Google Docs and Gmail. Files on these services can be accessed from almost any device– anywhere, anytime. Amazon introduced the Cloud Drive; it allows users to store 5 GB of files online for free. Apple’s iCloud stores content and allows integration with all apps, but it’s also restricted; an Apple-only service. Unlike most cloud services, data won’t be accessible across all platforms. Cloud deployment is just a huge center for data storage; it’s the future of our computing needs. Possibilities of clouds are endless and have a promising future.”

BonusYes Klout Is Flawed, But Here’s Why You Should Give It a Chance

As a bonus, we wanted to share a comment from our favorite robot dinosaur, Fake Grimlock. On November 22, Richard MacManus looked at how Klout might be useful, even if it’s not perfect. Fake Grimlock found a use for Klout that not many of us had imagined…

FAKE GRIMLOCK – “IT GREAT IDEA! START SITE FOR ONLY BIGGEST ATTENTION WHORES ON WHOLE INTERNET.

THEN TRAP THEM INSIDE, BURN WHOLE PLACE DOWN.”

What do you think? Did we pick the best of your top-ranked comments or were some overlooked?

About ReadWrite’s Editorial Process

The ReadWrite Editorial policy involves closely monitoring the tech industry for major developments, new product launches, AI breakthroughs, video game releases and other newsworthy events. Editors assign relevant stories to staff writers or freelance contributors with expertise in each particular topic area. Before publication, articles go through a rigorous round of editing for accuracy, clarity, and to ensure adherence to ReadWrite's style guidelines.

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