Harry McCracken Doesn't Hate Apple

I was very sad today to hear that PC World VP, Editor in Chief, Harry McCracken has resigned his position with one of my favorite publications. Many Blogs have reported that Harry’s departure was due to a conflict over editorial content with new PC World/MacWorld CEO, Colin Crawford.

According to most, the conflict centered around the killing of an article titled, “Ten Things We Hate About Apple”. The word is that CEO Colin Crawford, killed the piece because Apple Inc. was a major advertiser. Many stories will soon emerge about the policy at PC World and other publications on how much clout advertisers have when it comes to published reviews.

I wasn’t there so I can’t say for sure what is true. In February my wife and I had dinner with Harry McCracken and I actually brought up the topic of Advertisers vs. Reviews. I can tell you that Harry is “extremely” sensitive when it comes to this issue. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the online buzz is accurate. Harry has been around for a long time and he’s on my list of “one of the good guys”. To be fair, you should read Mr. Crawfords side of the story on his blog, Colin’s Corner.

Obviously, Harry has nothing against Apple considering he’s using his MacBook in a recent presentation highlighting the Best Free Stuff available on PC World online.

Talk about timing… the June issue of PC World has a great review about WinPatrol. I can confirm the BillP Studios does not advertise with any of the publication owned by PC World’s parent company IDG.