This statement is a great example of professional writing in action.
> Apple announced this week that they’ve joined our fight to use technology to improve sleep.
Right from the opening sentence, this piece begins on a positive note. It isn't f.lux vs apple. It's flux and apple versus the overarching problem, and that's a much more effective statement than the bitter fight that all of us were probably expecting. I'm very impressed by the f.lux team's maturity.
If I were to teach a professional writing course, I would show this piece to my students as an outstanding example of how spin can affect the reader's perception.
Well, how could they have written their statement? Maybe this is a bit closer to what I was expecting:
> We're appalled. Apple has stolen our
> wonderful idea, just like they always do,
> so we're calling on the f.lux community
> to boycot apple products. We are also
> in the process of finding a lawyer
> to defend our patent, which Apple
> has blatantly etc etc ...
But what purpose would that serve? It would definitely make some enemies. If the project really is so small, a bitter statement like that probably isn't going to matter much.
Maybe the f.lux folks are hurting inside. Even so, they've decided to put aside their disappointment for a moment. They're calling us not to fight, but to celebrate the fact that millions of people are going to get a good night's sleep, in part because of the research they pioneered, even though they might not reap the spoils of their work. I think it takes a big heart to write it that way.
It's not the vendetta I expected, it's spreading the awareness that Apple is stealing ideas from small companies using its muscles and killing the desire to innovate! The public needs to know and tell Apple: "Don't do this anymore!" This is not stealing ideas, this is a daylight robbery! Blocking an app from App Store just to bake in its features shortly - this is immoral and possibly criminal!
> It's flux and apple versus the overarching problem
Not in the way they wrote it. They're claiming it's their fight. It's not "their" fight. They didn't discover the problem or invent the solution, they just happen to make the most popularly deployed implementation. It would be more accurate and less self-congratulatory if they had instead said "joined the fight".
> Apple announced this week that they’ve joined our fight to use technology to improve sleep.
Right from the opening sentence, this piece begins on a positive note. It isn't f.lux vs apple. It's flux and apple versus the overarching problem, and that's a much more effective statement than the bitter fight that all of us were probably expecting. I'm very impressed by the f.lux team's maturity.
If I were to teach a professional writing course, I would show this piece to my students as an outstanding example of how spin can affect the reader's perception.