Comments on: Microsoft’s cynical response to laptop scandal

By: Tsais

Tsais — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:54:16 +0000

I think you’re putting too fine a point on it.

Companies send out products for free to people who might or might not review them. That’s been going on forever and 3 days.

PR departments saying whatever seems to best reduce the fallout from anything potentially negative involving their company are just doing their job.

Bloggers are classed as opinion leaders, the same as reviewers at other publications, so they get targeted for whatever PR actions some stuffed shirt decides on.

Unless you wanna rewrite business law, you might as well just take the laptop, put Ubuntu on it, give it to your nephew and call it a day.

Otherwise, this whole thing sounds like whining about a moral issue everybody already knows is due course in capitalism.

And it’ll sound like you have have some “I’m a serious blogger, and they are trifling with me” chip on your shoulder

By: Omotadowa Gbenga

Omotadowa Gbenga — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 03:42:44 +0000

pls i need a laptop to carry up my daily assignment.on the internet.all your effort will not go in vain God will reward.Thanks

By: Doodee

Doodee — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 05:38:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing

By: ijalade olalekan

ijalade olalekan — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:36:43 +0000

pls i am i need of a laptopcomputer for easy carry out of my work on the internet.Every effort you made to ensure the success of this will be highly appreciated.thanks

By: ._.._...

._.._... — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 21:04:23 +0000

Microsoft’s “no editorial commentary is expected or required” further demonstrates just how cynical the company is.

How so? Do you know what cynical means or am i missing something?

By: Lonnie Mask

Lonnie Mask — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 19:32:57 +0000

At the company I work for, part of our ethics training covers what can be received as a gift, and what should be done with a gift, in order to prevent even the perception that bias has occurred. Even if John were to give a negative review this time, if he, or any other blogger, were to keep the laptop, there would be no positive review that he could give to Microsoft, or a negative review of a competing product, that would not be somewhat tainted by accepting this gift. At my company, we are required to report receiving any type of gift, including meals paid for by customers. Most gifts have to be turned over to the company.

By: John Kelly

John Kelly — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:36:53 +0000

“….which highlights up the fundamental problem with blogging, which is that bloggers are not trained journalists and not necessarily in tune with the ethical problems that gifts entail.”

Using the terms “journalists” and “ethical” in the same scentence is oxymoronic! An old saying comes to mind: “Believe half of what you see and NONE of what you read or hear.” And now with digital photo editing, I would extend the belief part “what you see.”

By: Buddha'sBelly

Buddha'sBelly — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:21:33 +0000

I say send it back. Even if it’s not technically inappropriate, the appearance of it being inappropraite will be just as damaging. While the www/blogosphere is all fun and parties now, credibility will eventually be just as important here as elsewhere.

Plus, it’s a crappy lappy if these specs still hold true:

Processor Name: Mobile AMD Turion 64 ML-34
Processor Speed: 1.8 GHz
RAM: 1024 MB
Weight: 6.6 lb
Screen Size: 15.4 inches
Screen Size Type: widescreen
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon x700
Storage Capacity: 100 GB

By: John Doe

John Doe — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:20:52 +0000

I doubt you would care if you were deemed important enough by Microsoft to receive the sample, a common practice in the camera world. It’s not a terribly original idea to give critics a chance to review products for free…

By: M G

M G — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:20:22 +0000

I would have to say your writing here sides more on anti-microsoft than dealing with what actually happened. Your comment: “First, it’s unheard of for a software company to give away.” is very far from being accurate. Software companies frequently give away free software as part of PR as well as long term plans for marketing. Students at universities are a primary target of this. If you get a student interested and hooked on a product, they will not only use it after college when they must pay for it, but can and sometimes do push their place of employment to use it if they do not already.

If Microsoft asked for nothing in return, other than the possibility of a review, then it can hardly be taken as a bribe. Your review could be very negative, and if they do not ask for the product back, it was simiply a means for you to get a good feel of the product, and compensation for your time.

I will agree with KT that I will not continue to browse if the general trend stays on trivial parts of a topic.