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{{This|the British technology news website|Inquirer (disambiguation)}} {{short description|British technology tabloid website}}
{{About|the British technology news website||Inquirer (disambiguation)}}
]
{{Italic title}}
'''''The INQUIRER''''' (sometimes shortened to '''''the INQ''''' and commonly referred to as ''The Inquirer'' without caps) is a self confessed (ironically) ] technology ] news website focusing on the ] and ] industries.
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox website
| name = The Inquirer
| logo = The Inquirer logo.png
| screenshot = TheINQUIRER Screenshot.png
| caption = News, reviews, facts and friction
| commercial = Yes
| type = ]
| language = ]
| registration = No
| owner = ] Ltd.
| author = ]
| current_status = Ceased publishing
| dissolved = {{end date and age|df=yes|2019|12|19}}
| editor = Carly Page
| key_people = {{ubl|Lee Bell|Roland Moore-Colyer|Dave Neal|Chris Merriman|Alan Martin}}
| launch_date = {{start date and age|2001}}
}}
'''''The Inquirer''''' (stylized as '''TheINQUIRER''') was a British ] website founded by ] after his departure from '']'' (of which he was one of the founding members) in 2001. In 2006 the site was acquired by Dutch publisher '']'' (VNU).<ref>{{cite web|author=Bobbie Johnson|date=26 January 2006|url =http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1695669,00.html|title=VNU buys into tabloid news|work=The Guardian}}</ref> Mike Magee later left The Inquirer in February 2008 to work on the '']''.


Historically, the magazine was entirely Internet-based with its journalists living all over the world and filing copy online, though in recent years it has been edited from Incisive Media's offices in London.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33419|work=The Inquirer|date=2 August 2006|title=All journalism will be Indian journalism one day|access-date=23 August 2006|url-status=unfit| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830182432/http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33419| archive-date=30 August 2006}}</ref>


Although traditionally a ']', under ''Incisive Media'' it has put more weight behind its journalism, reducing the number of jibes at companies, and moved instead towards sponsored online debates in association with high-profile organisations, most recently, Intel.<ref>{{cite web| url=https://communities.intel.com/community/itpeernetwork/blog/2014/05/12/the-effect-of-the-internet-of-things-on-user-privacy-part-1|work=Intel|date=12 May 2014|title=The Effect of the Internet of Things on User Privacy: Part 1|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref>
==History==
''The INQUIRER'' was founded by ] after his departure from '']'', in 2001. The magazine is entirely Internet based with its journalists living all over the world and filing copy online . This is co-ordinated by Magee in the UK.{{fact}}


''The Inquirer'' ceased publishing on 19 December 2019, partly due to declining digital advertising revenues.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3084741/the-inquirer-reaches-end-of-life?im_company=&im_edp=3567490-803d7b5464fe3d43%26campaignname%3DINQ.Daily_RL.EU.A.U|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219213517/https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3084741/the-inquirer-reaches-end-of-life?im_company=&im_edp=3567490-803d7b5464fe3d43%26campaignname%3DINQ.Daily_RL.EU.A.U|url-status=unfit|archive-date=19 December 2019|title=The INQUIRER reaches end-of-life|date=19 December 2019|website=The Inquirer|language=en|access-date=19 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/tech-news-website-the-inquirer-ceases-publishing-as-ad-revenues-struggle-despite-healthy-audience/|title=Tech news website The Inquirer ceases publishing as ad revenues struggle despite 'healthy' audience|first=Charlotte |last=Tobitt|date=19 December 2019|work=Press Gazette|language=en-US|access-date=20 December 2019}}</ref>
On ], a press release was issued announcing that publishing company of ''The INQUIRER'' had been acquired by Magee's former employer, ] publishing giant ].


==Scoops==
In addition to the English site, as of 19 June 2006, ''The INQUIRER'' has editions localized for ], ], ], ], ], and ] .
===Sony laptop battery scandal===
In 2006 ''The Inquirer'' reported laptop battery problems that affected ], ] and ] as of September 2006, with rumours of problems at ] and ]. In June 2006, ''The Inquirer'' published photographs of a Dell notebook PC bursting into flames at a conference in Japan;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060705062508/http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32550|url-status=unfit|archive-date=5 July 2006|work=The Inquirer|date=21 June 2006|title=Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference|access-date=2 September 2006}}</ref> '']'' reprinted ''The Inquirer'''s photographs.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/10/technology/10dell.html|title=Dell's Exploding Computer and Other Image Problems|first=Damon|last=Darlin|date=10 July 2006|work=The New York Times}}</ref> ''The Inquirer'' was also the first publication to report Dell's subsequent decision to recall faulty batteries, according to '']''.<ref name="bw-dell-recall"/>


''The Inquirer's'' successful reporting of the story relied on information supplied by readers and later by a confidential source at Dell. "I attribute being on top of the story to old-fashioned print journalism standards – cultivating, and, if you'll excuse the pun, not burning such contacts," ''The Inquirer''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s founder, Mike Magee, told BusinessWeek.<ref name="bw-dell-recall">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.bloomberg.com/bw/stories/2006-08-29/the-battery-recall-a-win-for-the-web|magazine=BusinessWeek| date=30 August 2006|title=The Battery Recall: A Win for the Web|access-date=2 September 2006}}</ref>
==Writing style==
{{pov-section}}
{{Cleanup-date|July 2006}}
The site hews to ''The Register'''s slogan, "Biting the hand that feeds IT", and is known for its early access to industry news based on insider sources. When served with "]" orders, the website sometimes publishes them in full, with commentary. It has also recently started publishing information regarding hardware available in the UK, U.S.A., France, and other countries.


===Rydermark===
''The INQUIRER'''s articles are written in a subjective and opinionated tone, with much the same style of reporting common in British tabloid newspapers. In the English version of the site, ] terms, particularly those common to ], are used.
In July 2006, ''The Inquirer'' posted images to show cheating by ] Windows device drivers in ''Rydermark 2006''.<ref> (cited 4 February 2007)</ref> The images were alleged to be fake by a number of sources.<ref> (cited 23 August 2006)</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.behardware.com/news/8269/the-inquirer-accuses-nvidia-of-cheating.html|title=The Inquirer accuses Nvidia of cheating|work=BeHardware|date=19 July 2006|author=Damien|access-date=23 August 2006}}</ref> ''The Inquirer'' denied any wrongdoing and quoted the maker of Rydermark calling the allegations against them "irresponsible".<ref> (cited 23 August 2006)</ref> About 8 months after the original Rydermark article, ''The Inquirer'' ran another article claiming that Rydermark was still being developed, but was near release.<ref> (cited 28 February 2007)</ref> In response, one of its critics offered $1,000 to a charity of the Rydermark articles author's choosing if he could produce (breaching his ]) a version of Rydermark that showed the alleged screenshots in full-motion video before a set deadline (which gave the author 10 and a half hours, beginning at 6:30PM UK time). No one produced the program before the deadline passed.<ref>{{cite news|author=Kristopher Kubicki|url=http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6149|title=DailyTech Digest: RyderMark, My take on RyderMark's newest incarnation}}</ref>


Independent verification that RyderMark was genuine, first appeared in TweakTown in May 2007.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/1103/1/page_1_introduction/index.html|title=TweakTown: RyderMark Beta 2 Preview - Emerging competition for Futuremark?|author=Lars Göran Nilsson|date=16 May 2007|access-date=17 May 2007|work=TweakTown}}</ref> RyderMark developer Ajith Ram denied ever sending the Inquirer Nvidia cheating allegations.<ref>{{cite news|author=Kristopher Kubicki|url=http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7396| title=RyderMark Developer: We Never Said NVIDIA Cheated|work=DailyTech|access-date=11 June 2007}}</ref>
The publication, '']'', is likely the inspiration for the style ''The INQUIRER'' uses with comments from the editor, where the word 'editor' is abbreviated simply as Ed.; ] is also the likely source of other phrases occasionally found in ''INQUIRER'' articles, such as "Inspector Knacker of the Yard" and "shorely shome mishtake."


===ATI Intel front side bus license revocation===
Despite getting alleged scoops, some of the reporters for the ''INQUIRER'' have a policy against signing non-disclosure agreements. The publication has various connections with the industry; Intel in particular has acknowledged that its staff have a tendency to send details of meetings to the Inquirer.
On 24 July 2006, ''The Inquirer'' wrote that, in response to AMD's announced intent to purchase ATI, "ATI had its chipset license pulled, or at least not renewed by Intel."<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33225| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060815204630/http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=33225| url-status=unfit| archive-date=15 August 2006|work=The Inquirer|date=24 July 2006|title=Intel pulls ATI bus licence|access-date=23 August 2006}}</ref> ATI responded by stating that its license had not been revoked and that they continue to ship Intel chipsets under license.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTEyNSwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==|work=H Enthusiast|date=26 July 2006|title=AMD & ATI Answers to Rumormongering|access-date=23 August 2006}}</ref> On 23 August 2006, ATI showed its chipset roadmap to motherboard vendors which showed that next-generation chipsets for the Intel platform are cancelled.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/chipsets/display/20060823235224.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829125617/http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/chipsets/display/20060823235224.html|archive-date=29 August 2008|title=News - Thursday, August 28, 2008|publisher=xbitlabs.com}}</ref> On 1 March 2007, AMD said that they would continue developing chipsets for Intel platforms.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitimes.com/NewsShow/MailHome.asp?datePublish=2007/3/1&pages=PD&seq=214|work=DigiTimes|date=1 March 2007|title=AMD keeping open platform strategy: Q&A with sales and marketing vice president Jochen Polster|access-date=3 March 2007}}</ref>


===Windows 10 Technical Preview eavesdropping===
Some ''INQUIRER'' articles include information unconfirmed by official sources within the companies they report on. When dealing with such information, they typically preface the article with a statement such as the following, "We've heard an odd, but strong whisper on the grapevine . . ." . As such articles lack official confirmation, they can be classified as ] or ].
On 3 October 2014, ''The Inquirer'' reported on the privacy policy for the Technical Preview the upcoming Microsoft ] operating system.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chris Merriman|date=3 October 2014|title=Microsoft's Windows 10 Preview has permission to watch your every move|url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2373838/microsofts-windows-10-preview-has-permission-to-watch-your-every-move|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141004162412/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2373838/microsofts-windows-10-preview-has-permission-to-watch-your-every-move|url-status=unfit|archive-date=4 October 2014|work=The Inquirer|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref> In the report, it pointed out that the permissions included the ability for Microsoft to monitor individual keystrokes as well as file content from users. The story was picked up by news media around the world causing Microsoft to admit that monitoring was a necessary part of the process, but denying use of a keylogger.


Ed Bott, writing for ZDNet, accused the site of being "a tech tabloid known for its breathless headlines and factually challenged prose" and said of writer Chris Merriman, "there's little evidence that the author has enough background in computer science or security to tell a keylogger from a key lime pie."<ref>{{cite news|author=Ed Bott| date=23 October 2014|title=Windows 10: You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-youve-got-questions-ive-got-answers/|department=The Ed Bott Report (blog)|publisher=ZDNet|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref>


==Criticism== ==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
Some information published by ''The INQUIRER'' is later found to be erroneous, such as a 31 August 2005 claim that that ]'s ] is less powerful than the ] . NVIDIA responded to this claim by stating that the Playstation 3's ] is more powerthan than the GeForce 7800. Of course, in this case the article is quoting ] quoting ] quoting an NVIDIA spokesperson, so the error is hardly theirs. Furthermore, ''The Inquirer'' printed a retraction the next day .


==External links==
''The INQUIRER'' on 23 June 2006 non-exclusively reported on a rumor of an upcoming improvement called "reverse hyperthreading" that ] had included on its Athlon 64 ] processors . A follow-up article was posted on 10 July 2006 in The INQUIRER, in which availablility of "reverse hyperthreading" was disclaimed. On 13 July 2006, technology website ] debunked claims of such a technology existing in AMD Socket AM2 processors . Technology website X-bit Laboratories has posted a ] detailing the affair .
*{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220124842/https://www.theinquirer.net/|date=20 December 2019}}


{{Incisive Media}}
On July 2006, ''The Inquirer'' was embroiled in a photoshop scandal where images claiming to show "cheating" by ] drivers in an anonymous and perhaps fictional benchmark called ''Rydermark 2006'' turned out to be obvious fakes according to Dailytech.com and Behardware.com . The Inquirer denied any wrongdoing and called the allegations against them irresponsible, but a user from the ModTheater.com forums managed to track down some of the stock art used in the screen renders, and later demonstrated that the entire image is an obvious photoshopped fake.


{{DEFAULTSORT:Inquirer, The}}
On July 24, 2006, ''The Inquirer'' claimed that "ATI had its chipset license pulled, or at least not renewed by Intel." ATI responded to this claim by stating that its license had not been revoked and that they continue to ship Intel chipsets under license.
]

]
==Nicknames and terminology==
]
Following the standards ] set at his previous publications, ''The INQUIRER'' uses nicknames for many IT firms and persons:
]

]
* ''Another Plaice'' - ]
]
* ''Cappuccino'' - ]
]
* ''Chipzilla'' - ]
]
* ''Chimpzilla'' - ]
]
* ''Graphzilla'' or ''the Green Goblin'' - ]
]
* ''Captain Canuck'' - ]
]
* ''Fruitzilla'' - ]
]
* ''iAMD'' - ]'s ] ] ]s, also known as Pentium 4 ] (Extended Memory 64-bit Technology) and a deliberate dig at Intel having copied AMD's ] 64-bit x86 extension technology.
* ''FireFerret'' - ]
* ''interweb'' or ''inter-web'' - ]
* ''MacInteltosh'' - ]
* ''Mozzarella'' - ]
* ''Open Sauce'' - ]
* ''the boy wonder'' - ] of ]
* ''the Pabster'' - Thomas Pabst of ]
* ''Another Plaice'' is a ] on the term used in the ] to refer to the ] (''another place'') and ''vice-versa''.

Other nicknames are available in The Inquirer guide to Inquirer jargon .

==Other==

Some of ''The INQUIRER'''s writers visit the website's message board, including Charlie Demerjian, who uses the nickname ''Groo_'' on the board.

The public forums for the website are known as the "Hermit's Cave", in memory of the original forum moderator and friend, Hermit Don Martin.

== External links ==
*
*
*
*

]
]

Latest revision as of 13:00, 11 July 2024

British technology tabloid website This article is about the British technology news website. For other uses, see Inquirer (disambiguation).

The Inquirer
News, reviews, facts and friction
Type of siteTech tabloid
Available inEnglish
Dissolved19 December 2019; 5 years ago (2019-12-19)
OwnerIncisive Media Ltd.
Created byMike Magee
EditorCarly Page
Key people
  • Lee Bell
  • Roland Moore-Colyer
  • Dave Neal
  • Chris Merriman
  • Alan Martin
CommercialYes
RegistrationNo
Launched2001; 23 years ago (2001)
Current statusCeased publishing

The Inquirer (stylized as TheINQUIRER) was a British technology tabloid website founded by Mike Magee after his departure from The Register (of which he was one of the founding members) in 2001. In 2006 the site was acquired by Dutch publisher Verenigde Nederlandse Uitgeverijen (VNU). Mike Magee later left The Inquirer in February 2008 to work on the IT Examiner.

Historically, the magazine was entirely Internet-based with its journalists living all over the world and filing copy online, though in recent years it has been edited from Incisive Media's offices in London.

Although traditionally a 'red top', under Incisive Media it has put more weight behind its journalism, reducing the number of jibes at companies, and moved instead towards sponsored online debates in association with high-profile organisations, most recently, Intel.

The Inquirer ceased publishing on 19 December 2019, partly due to declining digital advertising revenues.

Scoops

Sony laptop battery scandal

In 2006 The Inquirer reported laptop battery problems that affected Dell, Sony and Apple as of September 2006, with rumours of problems at Toshiba and Lenovo. In June 2006, The Inquirer published photographs of a Dell notebook PC bursting into flames at a conference in Japan; The New York Times reprinted The Inquirer's photographs. The Inquirer was also the first publication to report Dell's subsequent decision to recall faulty batteries, according to BusinessWeek.

The Inquirer's successful reporting of the story relied on information supplied by readers and later by a confidential source at Dell. "I attribute being on top of the story to old-fashioned print journalism standards – cultivating, and, if you'll excuse the pun, not burning such contacts," The Inquirer's founder, Mike Magee, told BusinessWeek.

Rydermark

In July 2006, The Inquirer posted images to show cheating by Nvidia Windows device drivers in Rydermark 2006. The images were alleged to be fake by a number of sources. The Inquirer denied any wrongdoing and quoted the maker of Rydermark calling the allegations against them "irresponsible". About 8 months after the original Rydermark article, The Inquirer ran another article claiming that Rydermark was still being developed, but was near release. In response, one of its critics offered $1,000 to a charity of the Rydermark articles author's choosing if he could produce (breaching his NDA) a version of Rydermark that showed the alleged screenshots in full-motion video before a set deadline (which gave the author 10 and a half hours, beginning at 6:30PM UK time). No one produced the program before the deadline passed.

Independent verification that RyderMark was genuine, first appeared in TweakTown in May 2007. RyderMark developer Ajith Ram denied ever sending the Inquirer Nvidia cheating allegations.

ATI Intel front side bus license revocation

On 24 July 2006, The Inquirer wrote that, in response to AMD's announced intent to purchase ATI, "ATI had its chipset license pulled, or at least not renewed by Intel." ATI responded by stating that its license had not been revoked and that they continue to ship Intel chipsets under license. On 23 August 2006, ATI showed its chipset roadmap to motherboard vendors which showed that next-generation chipsets for the Intel platform are cancelled. On 1 March 2007, AMD said that they would continue developing chipsets for Intel platforms.

Windows 10 Technical Preview eavesdropping

On 3 October 2014, The Inquirer reported on the privacy policy for the Technical Preview the upcoming Microsoft Windows 10 operating system. In the report, it pointed out that the permissions included the ability for Microsoft to monitor individual keystrokes as well as file content from users. The story was picked up by news media around the world causing Microsoft to admit that monitoring was a necessary part of the process, but denying use of a keylogger.

Ed Bott, writing for ZDNet, accused the site of being "a tech tabloid known for its breathless headlines and factually challenged prose" and said of writer Chris Merriman, "there's little evidence that the author has enough background in computer science or security to tell a keylogger from a key lime pie."

References

  1. Bobbie Johnson (26 January 2006). "VNU buys into tabloid news". The Guardian.
  2. "All journalism will be Indian journalism one day". The Inquirer. 2 August 2006. Archived from the original on 30 August 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. "The Effect of the Internet of Things on User Privacy: Part 1". Intel. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  4. "The INQUIRER reaches end-of-life". The Inquirer. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 19 December 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  5. Tobitt, Charlotte (19 December 2019). "Tech news website The Inquirer ceases publishing as ad revenues struggle despite 'healthy' audience". Press Gazette. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  6. "Dell laptop explodes at Japanese conference". The Inquirer. 21 June 2006. Archived from the original on 5 July 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. Darlin, Damon (10 July 2006). "Dell's Exploding Computer and Other Image Problems". The New York Times.
  8. ^ "The Battery Recall: A Win for the Web". BusinessWeek. 30 August 2006. Retrieved 2 September 2006.
  9. The Inquirer, 18 July 2006: Rydermark screenshots back California graphics fudge (cited 4 February 2007)
  10. DailyTech, 19 July 2006: "Rydermark" Cheating Allegations Discredited (cited 23 August 2006)
  11. Damien (19 July 2006). "The Inquirer accuses Nvidia of cheating". BeHardware. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
  12. The Inquirer, 19 July 2006: Rydermark maker labels hoax allegations 'irresponsible' (cited 23 August 2006)
  13. The Inquirer, 19 February 2007: Rydermark benchmark lives. It's almost done (cited 28 February 2007)
  14. Kristopher Kubicki. "DailyTech Digest: RyderMark, My take on RyderMark's newest incarnation".
  15. Lars Göran Nilsson (16 May 2007). "TweakTown: RyderMark Beta 2 Preview - Emerging competition for Futuremark?". TweakTown. Retrieved 17 May 2007.
  16. Kristopher Kubicki. "RyderMark Developer: We Never Said NVIDIA Cheated". DailyTech. Retrieved 11 June 2007.
  17. "Intel pulls ATI bus licence". The Inquirer. 24 July 2006. Archived from the original on 15 August 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2006.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  18. "AMD & ATI Answers to Rumormongering". H Enthusiast. 26 July 2006. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
  19. "News - Thursday, August 28, 2008". xbitlabs.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008.
  20. "AMD keeping open platform strategy: Q&A with sales and marketing vice president Jochen Polster". DigiTimes. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
  21. Chris Merriman (3 October 2014). "Microsoft's Windows 10 Preview has permission to watch your every move". The Inquirer. Archived from the original on 4 October 2014. Retrieved 5 November 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. Ed Bott (23 October 2014). "Windows 10: You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers". The Ed Bott Report (blog). ZDNet. Retrieved 5 November 2014.

External links

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