Bloggers, return your laptops to Microsoft!
OK, I’m going to try and keep this short.
The IT industry is a fast growing one. It means lots of IT companies have surplus money in their marketing department. A fair amount of this money is spent on fancy press events and gifts for journalists. These gifts can be USB sticks or t-shirts but they can also be cameras, MP3 players or cell phones.
And, you know what? It works. Not many journalists will grunt in disbelief when they get such little payolas; quite the contrary: they will accept them gladly and there will be a significantly bigger chance of them coming to press events of companies known to give away goodies.
However, it doesn’t matter much because the traditional IT journalism is already pretty crooked. A paper IT magazine depends on advertisers. I assure you they will not bash some company’s products more than absolutely necessary if they depend on their money. You know all those big laptop reviews? The best overall and the best buy product won’t be from the same company. It’s better to please two big advertisers than one. It’s the way things work in the industry. It’s not some big conspiracy - it’s a series of nudges from all sides and the IT journalists and IT publications will bend ever so slightly, but they will bend and eventually invisibly bow to the will of their advertisers.
That’s why people read blogs. Most blogs don’t depend on anyone. Bloggers can write whatever they think is true. If I write a review of 100 laptops, I can put one company on the first 10 spots if it’s my honest opinion, and I can put another company on the lowest 10 spots if I think their products are horrible. Not all bloggers know what they’re talking about, but among the thousands out there some relevant blogs emerge and people start reading what they write because they sense the guy/girl behind the blog actually knows what they’re talking about.
And as bloggers gain influence, big companies like Microsoft are starting to treat them as they would treat any influential publication - they will try to bribe them. This is normal behaviour. This is to be expected. Here’s a laptop with your Vista - no strings attached.
But there are strings attached. Once you receive an expensive gift from a company, it’s going to linger in the back of your mind, and you’re going to give another chance to that crappy Zune, and you’ll write it might not be as bad as you initially thought it was, although deep inside you know it’s not true. And so the bribe paid off.
So, bloggers, if you’ve received an expensive gift from a company, ‘no strings attached’, I urge you to kindly thank the company in question and return the gift. It will make your mind clearer - I promise.
*Update: Scott Beale of Laughingsquid decided to auction the laptop on eBay and donate the money to The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). Good call, Scott, I guess others will follow suit.
December 27th, 2006 at 4:11 pm
I’m not understanding why it is considered a bribe. Shouldn’t bloggers have the opportunity to check things out before they make judgements? And there are many, many bloggers who conduct product reviews for a living, so why is the person you linked to being singled out? Besides, what’s wrong with free stuff?
December 28th, 2006 at 1:48 am
All journalists should have the opportunity to check things out for reviews. I have nothing against receiving betas, preproduction units, prototypes, early versions, and, of course, full versions of the products (which are usually returned after the review). But a Vista coming with an expensive laptop, “no strings attached”? Come on.
By the way, in many countries there are laws against this type of thing, limiting the exact value journalists can receive as gifts in a year.
About the link, I didn’t single it out, it’s just an example. I’m not condemning the guy over at laughingsquid.com at all, he was just the first to write an article about Microsoft sending him a free laptop.
And what’s wrong with free stuff, you ask? Well, there is no free stuff. Nothing comes for free.
December 28th, 2006 at 11:15 pm
It’s not wrong per se, but it’s a slippery road to travel, because a bloggers only true asset is his credibility, and if that is lost, not much remains.
December 29th, 2006 at 2:40 am
@Mikael: exactly. Established PC magazines play by different rules, and that’s the exact reason why bloggers have something more to offer than them: a fresh, free, unbiased view.
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
I am a longtime computer journalist - 30.5 years - and I have taken my fair share of graft - shirts, mugs, pens, lunches, dinners, etc. - from computer companies. But never, not once, did any of this ever influence anything I ever wrote. Or if it did, the effect was microscopical - infinitesimal, unmeasurable. Granted, I worked at some of the best publications, where this kind of bribery was well-discussed and where there was no need to find the Best or Top 10 of anything - Datamation, Electronic News, BusinessWeek.
I am curious to know how many of these influence-immune bloggers you hold up as paragons of journalism actually have access to 10 laptops for review purposes, much less 100 of them. I can’t believe any blogger - and especially one with no ads on his or her blog - has that much influence that they’d be sent 10 or 100 laptops or any other product for review. And how would this person, all alone in front of their keyboard, find the time to honestly and seriously review so many complex products? Wouldn’t they need a staff, and wouldn’t such staff require payment, which would mean revenue, aka ads?
Something in this picture of yours does not add up.
January 2nd, 2007 at 2:49 pm
@John: I think you’re reading too much (or maybe I’ve emphasized it too much) into the blogger/journalist distinction here. I don’t think it’s that important for this particular case.
I simply feel that some gifts are simply too much. As I’ve said many countries have laws against this sort of thing (don’t know about the US) so I’m actually quite puzzled why so many people don’t see a problem with a journalist or a blogger receiving a laptop as a gift from Microsoft.
Shirts are fine, btw. I have dozens of shirts with IT companies’ logos in my closet, as probably any IT journalist has. But if tomorrow you got a copy of the new Photoshop in the mail together with a top-notch DSLR “just for reviewing purposes - no strings attached” - wouldn’t you think it’s a bit too much?
Btw, I have a feeling (maybe it’s just a feeling) you’re underestimating the power and influence of the top blogs in a certain field. Some of them are earning millions, and have more readers than any of the “established” IT publications out there. And many of them actually have a staff behind them.
March 4th, 2009 at 1:12 am
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Best Regards news
March 30th, 2009 at 12:53 pm
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March 30th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
I read a post similar to this a few weeks ago, but I think this makes more sense
April 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 am
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November 29th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Title…
FreebieHub is now on Twitter!…
December 15th, 2009 at 4:01 am
I have been researching the brand for a good 3 weeks before I made my decision. I wanted the Red one but just couldn’t wait so I got the Blue which became available on the site on Thursday Morning… Ordered it around 3pm and it was here Friday at lunch!… Talk about speedy service (Nevada to Michigan)
Took all of 2 min to unwrap it, stick the battery in and power it up…
Then 2min later I was on the internet…
Charged the battery for 1hr and then used it for a total of 7hrs after that on the Power Saving Mode… was amazed that it still had 25% left…
Saturday morning I was looking around for some updates etc… and I found out that Microsoft has the Beta version of the Win 7 out so I downloaded that and roughly 25min later I was back online with the new operating system… talk about smooth installation.
I surfed the web all day Saturday watched a movie through the laptop on an external monitor and still managed to squeeze a mighty 8hrs out of the battery (5800mAh)
The build quality is amazing, I am already in love with the new Windows 7 and it runs super on this computer… typical vista idles at around 500-600Mb and this one is around 250-300Mb of memory usage… so even with the new higher end graphics it still works like a charm.
Well it’s Monday morning and I can say I have had it for a little less then 3 days and I am in love with the thing. Its mobile, light, fast, charges quick, has an amazing screen just right if you ask me (8.9″ was too small) boots in under 30sec… And wakes up from standby in about 3sec… Hibernate takes around 10sec… other then that thumbs up for ACER and providing us with one of the most amazing little machines on the market today!…
Recommend it to anyone interested in a small notebook for quick web surfing or mobile watching or even video chat with your friends from around the world… it works and it makes sense at $350.
Thank you Acer… and thank you Amazon for the awesome service.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:58 am
Pros: - GREAT OS
- Lightning fast
- Light-weight, sturdy unibody design
- Attractive design
- Dashboard
- Incredible screen
- Great trackpad
- Good battery life
- Keyboard is excellent
- Magsafe adapter
- Excellent iSight Camera
- Boot camp available
Cons: - Glossy screen quite reflective
- Screen is fingerprint prone
- No FireWire
- Small amount of game functionality
- Battery not as good as advertised
- Distant longing for physical trackpad button
- Multi-touch gestures not entirely spot-on
Summary: The new Macbook. It’s incredible. With faults. That’s all I’m going to say for my introduction. Read on.
Physical Specs
The product physically is very sturdy, thanks to the unibody construction. Normally the chassis would normally consist of various small parts. So instead of taking a small piece of aluminum and adding more aluminum, Apple has taking a big piece of aluminum and subtracted from it. Thus creating a sturdy, yet light laptop. I have heard that the aluminum interferes with internet connectivity issues. I do have to say, unfortunately, it is true. I put the Macbook and my old PC laptop side by side, and the PC was able to pick up better frequency and more networks.
Now for the multi-touch trackpad. It is made from glass, but it feels like there is a covering on it that doesn’t nearly have the friction of glass. Clicking and moving the cursor is very easy and enjoyable, with the very large surface. Right-clicking can be done with by clicking with two fingers or by clicking one of the bottom corners after being manually set. It should also be noted that only the bottom 3/4 of the trackpad is clickable.
The multi-touch gestures are fun to use, but are truly unneeded gimmicks that could be done easier with a click.
I’ll just go through the gestures now.
There are 2 finger gestures:
The first is scrolling with using two fingers by swiping your fingers vertically or horizontally depending on the page.
Secondly you can rotate a picture using two fingers apart and rotating.
The third gesture is holding the control button and scrolling vertically to zoom in on a page.
And there is one 3-finger gesture:
Swipe with three fingers to navigate. You can do this to go forward or back on a page, or changing a picture.
Lastly there are 4-finger gestures:
Swiping vertically upwards allows you to clear everything off your desktop.
Swiping vertically down launches Expose.
Swiping horizontally in any direction lets you change and view your running applications, which can also be done with command tab.
On the bottom of the MacBook there is a panel that allows for easy access to your battery and hard drive. This will be handy to many people.
The keyboard is just like the Air, with the spaces between the keys. This creates a very nice typing experience, and are backlit if you purchase the 2.4GHz model.
A major letdown by Apple is the omission of a FireWire port. This is very disappointing to many people, but doesn’t affect me at all. Nowadays the average users don’t use FireWire too much. Although I do see this as a major problem for professional applications.
There is also a battery life indicator on the side of the base that glows green to show the rounded percentage of your battery.
Software and Performance
Of course the MacBook has the great Mac OS X Leopard software.
It is very fast, and has good security.
The battery life is advertised to have 5 hours of battery life, but Apple obviously means not being connected to the Internet, and having no applications running. You’ll probably get about 4 and a half hours with Safari and other apps running. Unless you have a lot of apps on like me, then you’ll maybe have 3 and a half to 4 hours.
With the NVidia graphics card, the screen looks pretty good, as do games. I do have to admit, though, the new MacBook Pro screen looks better, especially with blacks. Still, games really pop on the gorgeous glossy screen, unless you are in a bright area. The glossy screen of course attracts bad glares and many noticeable fingerprints. Still, if you are indoors or someplace with low light, the glossy screen is perfect. I mostly use it inside, so I wouldn’t trade the beautiful glossy screen. Although for those coffee-shop typing folks, this could be a deal-breaker.
Other than these things, Mac OS X is the same, really.
Conclusion
If you have purchased a MacBook anytime soon, then I would not suggest you purchase this one. Most of the differences are the physical attributes, and the software is pretty much the same.
If you are new to Macs like me, then I would DEFINITELY suggest this phenomenal notebook computer. Of course it does have it’s faults, truly I have never used such a simple, enjoyable computer.
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January 28th, 2010 at 4:24 am
Free iPhones…
Looks like the consensus is about the same across the board. Apple fixed what it needed to fix (for the most part) with the iPhone 3G S (and the 3. 0 OS update) yet.. the iPhone 3G S isn’ t the compelling upgrade that the 3G was. Yup.. you can be sur…
January 28th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Looks like the consensus is about the same across the board. Apple fixed what it needed to fix (for the most part) with the iPhone 3G S (and the 3. 0 OS update) yet.. the iPhone 3G S isn’ t the compelling upgrade that the 3G was. Yup.. you can be sure I’ ll be holding out till the fourth generation iPhone now. No need for me to pick up the 3G S at the early iPhone upgrade fee of 399.
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