Microsoft Gives Away Free Vista Laptops to Bloggers - Where's Mine?

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Microsoft Gives Away Free Vista Laptops to Bloggers - Where's Mine?

So there's been a bit of hoo-hah over Microsoft's publicist(s) offering free laptops to bloggers.

Joel Spolsky's (JoelOnSoftware) blogged about the whole thing here. It's an interesting dilemma.

I don't think there is anything wrong in accepting gifts. Yes, to an extend it can create an unwritten (fair) expectation of a reciprocal friendly gesture (such as positive reviews). Whilst Joel decided to err on the side of caution (considering the damage to ones reputation), I think he overlooked the basic premise.. One could just as well have written negative things as well. The original e-mail (from Microsoft) wasn't specific, in fact seemed rather genuine in my opinion. I'm sure that negative reviews are not what Microsoft wants, but if one wanted to be in a position to accept the Laptop, why not blog about the good and bad things, i.e. write a balanced review. Ideally, that's both fair and morally apt.

What do you think? Oh, and if you're at Microsoft, how about swinging a free laptop in my direction? I'll happily review it.

Now for something completely different.

Great lego builder's ghost! Check out this lego gallery. This is some hard core lego building which eclipses even my moribund attempts to build 'stuff.

December 29 11:45 AM | Blog it | Rants

Comments (1)

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Lordwrote:

I think the point is that if you get a free laptop with a free Vista on it, you're not very likely to start going on about that evil moneygrabbing Microsoft and their latest evil product. Sure, you might throw in the odd negative thing about it, but let's face it, how likely are you to finish up your review with the conclusion of "Vista is a pile of crap, thanks for the free laptop but I'm formatting it and installing Linux"?

I think Microsoft's pretty justified, they're putting money into generating publicity about their product. I think the ethically debatable part is on the side of the bloggers, and whether or not they actually accept the gift. If they really see it as a bribe, then they should just give it back, or say "I'll review it, but I'm not keeping the bribe". Maybe even donate it to charity if they feel so strongly about it being a bribe.

And the lego? Holy crap man, where do you get that many blocks from? I bet his hands are all sore from all the pointy edges. I can't say I was ever that impressed with the giant stuff, it just takes a lot of blocks. I think the real skill comes in assembling the smaller but really detailed models.

Jan. 2

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