Comments on: News?

By: Bryan

Bryan — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 02:09:58 +0000

CEOs all went to the same limited number of business schools, and thus all corporations act in the same way, they even share from the same limited pool of directors for their boards.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:40:32 +0000

Then again... there is always this: Apple launches iPad for that time of iMonth :lol:

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 06:38:51 +0000

And… Just to prove Apple is different to M$… (well.. not so much):

Apple Sent iPads to ‘Important’ Writers Weeks Before Launch

You have to love teh wonderful irony of this comment:

“I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this is ethically indistinguishable from bribery. Even if no quid-pro-quo is formally required, the gift creates a social obligation of reciprocity. This is best explained in Cialdini’s book Influence. The blogger will feel some obligation to return the favor to Microsoft.”

–Former Microsoft manager

Well… he’d certainly know! 😆

MICRO$OFT bribed influential bloggers and journalists for positive early reviews of Vista 7 and Windows Vista. It worked. Both operating systems were praised prior to their release. Yes, even Windows Vista got some rave reviews; it’s hard to criticise someone who gifts you with a $2,000 item. Microsoft bribes AstroTurfers in very much the same way [1, 2]. Based on the example of Andre Da Costa, they pretend to be fans of Microsoft’s products while approaching Apple at the same time to find out if they too can bribe, in which case they would “switch teams”, so to speak. Watch how Don Dodge changed his tune after Microsoft had stopped paying him to be a professional, full-time AstroTurfer.

And the money quote:

“This generally shows that Apple’s and Microsoft’s marketing strategies are similar.”

But of course… The Dweeb’s massive bailout and share ownership of Apple hasn’t impacted Apple, or the way it does business, at all. Right? 😉

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 07:00:07 +0000

In reply to LadyMin.

More Dreck than Trek.

A larger iPod with wireless capabilities.

No camera, no telephone, relatively limited on-board storage, AT&T lock-in…

By: LadyMin

LadyMin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 06:16:57 +0000

My first thought was, “Apple is selling the Star Trek Data Pad”. Why we need one of those is unclear… but Trek Data Pad it is!

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 18:57:38 +0000

We are all creatures of out times and experience, no matter how objective we like to think we are. My of the things we now find totally immoral and unethical were quite routine and accepted in other times and places. People learn at different rates and in different ways. What is obvious to some, may not be clear to others, just based on the personal system of judgment that each of us has.

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:44:16 +0000

Oh… I reserve the right to be a royal PITA as often as possible! 😈

I’ve definitely paid my dues in this life, and definitely own that right! 😆

(PS. Just so the regulars don’t think I’m just some smug b*stard… I do concede that I’m not *always* correct. 😉 Amazing how *facts* and *truth* can be annoyingly variable at the most inconvenient times! Perhaps I should preface statements with “This was the fact/truth as I knew it at the time.” with a date and time stamp.) 😆 🙄

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:36:03 +0000

In reply to Kryten42.

“Hammer out” was probably too strong, but discuss is so lifeless.

“My mileage varied” a lot because I was acquainted with a lot of the “founding fathers”, from back in the hobby days, and I was connected to one of the biggest retailers in SoCal in multiple ways. That’s why I don’t expect my experience to be typical. I hated to recommend places for service, because I knew that people were not going to get the same type of service I received. Hell, I had the shop diagnostic software for almost everything I bought, so my trouble reports were a bit more detailed than the average user, and I save the techs a lot of time. If I took it in, it was broken.

Oh, I expect everyone to agree with me because my point are always so brilliantly argued and based on unassailable facts… mostly… OK, sometimes. Of course, sometimes I’m just being a PITA. 😈

By: Kryten42

Kryten42 — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 06:14:07 +0000

Nothing to *hammer out* m8! 😀

tux has a different perspective to me, and how could he not? 🙂 I respect that and realize our experiences will be different. *shrug* way it is. 🙂 It’s interesting for me to get other perspectives. this is a 3-D world. Nobody can understand it or parts of it with a 2-D view. 😉

I have never, and never will, simply expect anyone to just agree with me or my view. But I won’t argue the point either. I know what I know, and I know what I have seen. *shrug* 🙂

By: Bryan

Bryan — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:54:12 +0000

I’m letting you guys hammer this out, but the HP reference reminded by of a comment by a former HP person who heard that former CEO Carly Fiorina was running for the Senate in California – if she wins she’ll push for the US to buy Albania as a sure way of balancing the budget.

[He was around for the Compaq purchase.]