Earlier this week, I wrote an article about what constitutes a firearm review. It was interpreted correctly by most, but seems to have been taken the wrong way by some. I want to clarify a few things so that I am not seen as any more evil than I deserve to be – which, actually, is quite a lot.
I thought the first line was fairly clear –
I am getting really tired of searching for a quality firearm review to link to, only to come across regurgitated manufacturer specifications and photos under the title “Review.”
– but I did not link to the particular “review” that set me off. Here it is. It’s the #1 non-video Google result for “Sig P938 Review.” The page title is “SIG SAUER P938 Review.” It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a review.
Some people seem to have taken my article as an attack on the way they do actual firearm reviews – I don’t really understand why. I mean, if your idea of a “review” is to do what that site did, and take the manufacturer’s photo (even going so far as to put your logo on it), drop in the manufacturer specs, and then say “This looks cool, I am looking forward to touching it” – then yes, I was attacking your idea of a “review.”
To the majority of the firearm blogosphere – and almost every link (to my earlier article) I’ve seen seems to fall into this category – I was not saying that my reviews were better than yours, I was not saying that you suck, I was not saying that your reviews are not reviews, and I was not saying that I am the final arbiter of what is or is not a review. If you use something, think about your experience with it, and then share your thoughts – that is, in my opinion, a review. It may be a thoughtful review, it may be a terrible review – but it is a review. What really matters is what you think of it. If you think it’s a review, then call it a review.
To the insulted minority – I will say that if my comments about taking manufacturer information and calling it a review made you feel small inside, then you already know that you suck. My article was only the catalyst that made you realize how much you suck.
My review of this post:
It is good.
HAH! I am on the same wavelength. I can’t stand any sort of info that doesn’t add some objective experience that I can’t obtain without doing a “review” personally. I don’t blog very often and looking back, I’ve only done one review which I hope was informative to the 142 people that found it with Google or whatever.
I think 142 is the number of hits I’ve gotten this year, so we’re about even…
Unfortunately, no one can be told their pseudo-reviews suck. They must see it for themselves.
Yup, that “review” totally sucked and I totally see your point. Preach on brother Andrew!
Not sure how anyone could misunderstand the post, it was pretty obvious.
It’s obviously pretty hard to have a review on a gun you have no experience with.
BTW
That last paragraph sealed the deal for me.
You rock man
Reviews should definitely require some actual trigger time and a subjective opinion. Additionally, I really want to see criticisms; not simply praise and adoration. “This is so cool,” followed by a lot of pictures, might make 15-year-old keyboard commandos really happy. Potential buyers, though, are looking for a thorough critique. The manufacturers typically do a good job of communicating their products strengths. But they are so afraid of losing a sale that they won’t even concede that their product has any weaknesses. All guns involve some compromises in design (shootability v. concealability; capacity v. compactness; cost v. quality). With any given gun, I want to know where those compromises were made. Reviewers shouldn’t pull any punches.
Lost track of how many “sucks” were in this post…
HA HA.
Eh, they were insulted because they know their reviews are weak. I know I was feeling uncomfortable because I know my reviewing skills aren’t all that great, and I’m sure I miss a lot of stuff in them.
But I can honestly say that I haven’t ever “reviewed” something I have yet to even touch, so at least I’m not the type you’re ranting about.
Clarification: I was a bit embarrassed because I know I’m not a great reviewer. But my ego isn’t weak enough that I had to blame YOU for it, and that’s my point.
Folks, if your reviews aren’t great, who cares? You’re probably providing them for free to people who have less info than you just GAVE them. As long as you’re giving them more info than they could have got from the manufacturer site, then you’ve helped someone.
1. Yes–“reviews” ought to have pros and cons as a result of hands-on experience. Otherwise, we can just go to the manufacturer’s website for the physical specifications. It serves no purpose just to regurgitate factory promo info.
2. I have a problem with using the word “review” for something we are looking at for the first time. Re-view? How can it be a RE-view when it has not been viewed before? I propose that such an evaluation should be called a NewView. Same goes for research. How can I re-search if I haven’t searched before?
Peter the Pedant ;-)}
‘”This looks cool, I am looking forward to touching it”‘ Small laugh
“To the insulted minority – I will say that if my comments about taking manufacturer information and calling it a review made you feel small inside, then you already know that you suck.” Big laugh
“My article was only the catalyst that made you realize how much you suck.’ Ouch, that’s gotta hurt!
Not one to mince words, are you?
Andrew,
Sorry you didn’t like the post. To be fair, it was not intended to be a “review”, but rather a “preview” of the P938. If I’m guilty of anything, it’s a hastily written title tag.
Brandon
Brandon – you filed it under “gun reviews” and called it a “review.” Google thought it was a review, I thought it was a review, apparently the only person that didn’t was…you?
Please don’t apologize. 80% of firearm review blogs are a complete waste of time. Guys pull the item out of the box and start writing about it without having actually lived with it. Also, if a manufacturer representative gave a quick 20 round demo, that is not nearly enough use to write a credible review. There’s very few websites that produce actual quality reviews, and this is one of them. Feel free to call out the lazy slackers on their SEO optimized reviews that are completly worthless.
Keep up the good reviews amigo!
Going to be in Phoenix this week taking a few classes from ken Elmore of Specialized Armament. Have you taken any of his courses?
Note that they have now changed the name from “Review” to “Preview” on the linked page.
Yep. Even though I don’t agree with Andrew’s method, he has a fair point. The post was not categorized correctly, so I moved it, and changed the title for good measure.
Oversensitivity and insecurity.
This is why they get butthurt. Even when you might not even be talking about them.
For those of us who are redblooded Tex…uh Americans, please keep up not wasting your time or our time placing unnecessary disclaimers. Though, I guess, these days disclaimers are becoming more and more necessary. I’ve had to give a huge share of disclaimers on the ONE forum I am a member of, to people with no spine; I cannot imagine the travesty that you will have to endure once more people like that begin reading your blog.
Keep strong, safe, and diligent.
I think you are right on. I have hit way too many of those regurgitations in my searching. I appreciate good, honest reviews when I am searching for a firearm. If there is no burned powder on the gun and your hands, it is not a review.
This sort of thing makes me wonder why some want to do even a “Preview”. Why not just say it looks interesting and link the manufacturer’s web page?
Beyond its inherent, toung in cheek humor, one of the reasons that I like VWBlog so much is that when I am done reading, I have a few more valuable insights that I did not have on a product or concept of use that I did not have before.
Rock on Andrew!
“To the insulted minority – I will say that if my comments about taking manufacturer information and calling it a review made you feel small inside, then you already know that you suck. My article was only the catalyst that made you realize how much you suck.”
Well said Andrew!