Last night, I wrote a little rant regarding the iPhone 4. It was an opinion piece entitled Why I Won’t Buy the iPhone 4 in Canada. It was not meant to be an inflammatory piece, but a few minutes after publishing, CellGuru started BBMing me about the “backlash” the post was receiving on Twitter and in the comments. I was busy sitting on the patio with a cup of coffee, reading the paper, so the news was kind of startling. In earnest, after months of publishing editorials on this site, it was the first time there has been any reaction to one of my pieces. A slow smirk appeared on my face. I can’t say I was displeased.

You see, most people don’t like seeing the words “Fuck Apple,” anywhere. Apple is a brand to which people are sensitive, even protective. Had I said, “Fuck Google,” I don’t think the reaction would have been as strong. Regardless, it was an editorial decision to begin the piece with the word “Fuck,” and, in the so-called professional blogging business, this is a no-no. Indeed, it’s considered unprofessional. So I re-read the piece. Garnering the reaction I did, I expected to be surprised at the vitriolic hatred I spewed against the most popular technology company in the world, but alas, it was only those two lines that really seemed out of place.

One of the comments on Twitter noted not that the article was in bad taste, but after reading it directly after the post What Do You Want From Us? seemed almost ironic. We are trying to increase our scope, attract more readers, and, indeed, become the “professional” cell phone news and reviews site that so many people try, and fail to, attain. But in the twenty minutes of fierce Twitter debate and constructive commenting on the post itself, I saw my Twitter followers almost double. I admitted to one of the more skeptical commenters that, indeed, we have to try and set ourselves apart. Sometimes being blasphemous just works. Sometimes it doesn’t. But we need traffic, just like any other site. And I don’t think beginning an editorial with “Fuck Apple,” ruins my editorial integrity. Especially if you read it in the context of the rest of the article. Some may disagree; some may never return to the site. But I achieved my goal of spurring debate, even if the debate itself was not about buying an iPhone 4 in Canada, but merely about the minutiae of professional blogging.

So, to anyone I offended, I apologize. But I won’t take the article down, nor remove the opening two lines. The piece, in its rushed, rant-like glory stands on its own. It was not an especially good piece; I doubt I’ll re-read it in a year and be proud of the writing quality, nor of the argument espoused. But it served its purpose, and that’s really all writers can hope to achieve. We have to take the hits as they come, stand by our work, and learn from the criticism. I certainly have. I appreciate the comments, the insults, the constructive remarks.

I really do this because it’s fun, and when it is no longer fun, like so many of our generation, I’ll probably find something else that is. It’s the genuinely unique existential crisis of our times. The internet affords so much freedom, since we get to hide behind these aliases and personae. But when I write, I do so in my own voice, with the experiences that have brought me to this point. As long as I continue to do that, I will be proud of my work, and I hope the same can be said for whatever you do, on- or offline.