Microsoft together with AMD gave out some timely Christmas presents (which are officially review PCs) to a bunch of bloggers this year. Brandon LeBlanc got one, Scott Beale got one, Mauricio Freitas got one, Mitch Denny got one, Zen.Heavengames got one, Barb Bowman got a media center, plus many other bloggers who has yet to receive it during the Christmas rush. They seem to have covered everyone from A-list to Z-list, a first in the industry with such a valuable gift, kudos for thinking about the little guys.
Some people got Ferrari 1000s, others got 5000s (Some got Media Centers even). The following specs are from the Ferrari 5000.
The machine looks just as good as it specs. As part of Acer’s Ferrari designer computing range, the carbon-fiber case is styled with a slick threaded finish with genuine Ferrari badging and color strips. Just like the racing counterpart, this machine has grunt. It sports an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core 2ghz CPU, 2GB of DDR2-667 RAM, AMD-ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 on a 15.4″ widescreen. It also has a 160GB SATA drive, HD-DVD reader and burner as well as a 1.3mp camera. Full specifications available at the Acer website.
Assuming it doesn’t use Sony batteries, this laptop blows everything out of the water. It retails for a hot $2,299. But if you write about Microsoft, they might even give you one for free. Is it ethical? Probably not. Is it worth something to hard-working sweat and tears bloggers? Hell yeah.
I don’t see the Free Software Foundation handing out any Ferrari’s. 
Update: Robert Scoble also picked up the story, comparing this to PayPerPost. Although I think PayPerPost is about profiting, whilst this is about rewarding. Even though the outcome might be the same.
Update 2: Dan Warne from APCMag has a different perspective on this issue, he thinks this is highly inappropriate and immoral. Could this act of generosity turn upside-down into a PR disaster?
Update 3: Just something for everyone to keep in mind. Remember bloggers are given a choice which includes giving the machine back when they’re done with it. Keeping the unit is a decision made solely by the bloggers receiving the computers.
Update 4: Looks like I’ve stirred up the waters a bit, so here’s some of my opinions and clarifcations.
- Slashdot has labelled this a “bribe”. However unlike what they have claimed, these were not gifts. As it may happen to coincide with Christmas, it is important to note Windows Vista is launching in 30 days. It is nothing more than just good timing and coincidence.
I, however, wrote these as “Christmas presents”, only because it happens to coincide with Christmas. Officially, these were review PCs with the the options at upon completion of review to either send back to Microsoft, give away or keep indefinitely. This choice is solely at the discretion of bloggers.
- Some people have accused my good friend Brandon LeBlanc of accepting the Ferrari without disclosure. Whilst it is true he did not disclose he received the machine from Microsoft in his original post, he had always intenteded to disclose in his review article in the near future. I think nothing less if not more of him for admitting his mistake.
Bloggers like Brandon put a lot of hard work into their blogs and most of the time receive little or no reimbursement for their highly valuable work. I wouldn’t think it would be inappropriate at all, in fact only fair that these bloggers deserve to keep these machines as ‘rewards’.
- I, myself, am receiving a machine also. It hasn’t arrived yet, possibly Friday. Unlike what Tech.Blorge quotes, it is not a Ferrari, but is apparently a Velocity Micro Media Center PC.
I intend to accept it, open it, and drool at it. Without having a TV or monitor with me, it would be kind of hard for me to use it. As David Flynn suggested, I’m considering giving it away through a contest or charity auction. But I’m also in need of an upgrade, so don’t bet on it.
- Aaron Coldiron, who was responsible for handling these machines at Microsoft, responds in a comment below.
Update 5: These machines were sent for review and reviewed they shall. Brandon LeBlanc is one of the first with an actual review of the machine (Ferrari 5000). It’s a beast without the beasty size.
Update 6: Mitch Denny (who received a Ferrari 1000 and disclosed it) has posted an excellent excellent post collecting all of the discussions including articles from both sides of the fence on this topic.
Update 8: Journalist writer and blogger Ed Bott thinks the whole moral debate is unnecessary. “Everyone in the community wins when that person gets the chance to play with new technology.” He got a Ferrari 5000, and might auction it off for charity.
Disclosure: This post was sponsored by no one. Because no one cares about Long.
Comments for "Microsoft hands out Ferrari’s to bloggers"
M Freitas
It’s only fair to give credit where it’s due - and part of my full disclosure policy…
See you in Vegas!
Dias
Paul Turrot didn’t get any?
And you, Long Zheng, did get something?
Long Zheng
Paul probably got something, but hasn’t written anything about it.
I’m getting something, it’s coming Friday. I don’t know what it is yet.
Mat
Another 100 segment capapiller?
Long Zheng
@Mat: I hope not. It might be a Media Center PC, which would kind of suck since I have no TV or external display set with me.
Joe
Jeez,I’d love ot see those cheep Asses at Apple give a few Macbook pros out to some Bloggers pro or con, just for writing something about Apple.
Dan Warne
Geezus, this reeks of “crossing the line” to me. It’s fair game for Microsoft to give away all the free software for review purposes it wants. It’s also fair enough to cover the travel and accommodation costs of journalists attending its promotional events and conferences.
But giving away whole computers? Microsoft isn’t a computer company! It’s a bit like the owner of a motorway giving journalists free cars.
And Long — on your comment “PayPerPost is about profiting, whilst this is about rewarding” — don’t you think that Microsoft has rather a lot to gain from the ongoing goodwill of all these bloggers? Isn’t the timing rather curious — right before the consumer launch of Vista?
Microsoft’s PR people would no doubt argue that this is about giving bloggers access to a machine that’s going to give them the best experience running Vista, and will allow them to fully explore the mobility features of Vista. But frankly, if that were the case, the machines could have been a six month loan. -Giving- the machine to the bloggers is just … weird … given the risk of reputation damage to Microsoft.
Sure, Microsoft will probably argue that the gift of the laptop wasn’t from them; it was from AMD. But really, that’s playing with semantics — would AMD have volunteered to give this machine if Microsoft hadn’t set the whole deal up?
At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. This is a PR disaster for Microsoft. Within a few days it’ll be in every newspaper and tech publication in the world; I guarantee it.
It’s bizarre for one of the world’s largest PR companies, Edelman, to think it could get away with this. Perhaps they don’t know bloggers as well as they thought they did. As you’ve pointed out, Long, now that some of the bloggers have disclosed the receipt of the gift, the public knows. Whatever the subtleties of the offer were, it comes across as nothing more than a bribe, and that is a very bad look for Microsoft.
Fortunately I’m confident the Australian PR people for Microsoft won’t try this. I have dealt with the key PR managers in AU for some time and they are very principled. If this were mooted internally at Microsoft I’m certain it would be shut it down pronto (frankly, it should have been shut down pronto in the US too, but evidently there’s been a systemic failure with whole teams of people forgetting to take their morning dose of common sense.)
Dan Warne, News Editor, APC, http://apcmag.com
David Flynn
Any blogger with pretensions of being considered an independent voice and a ‘professional’ in their field or even their attitude, not to mention a sense of ethics, should be returning this ‘gift’ laptop to Microsoft.
On the other hand, any blogger who decides it’s not just acceptable but “cool, gee, thanks!” for Microsoft to give them a free PC worth several thousands of dollars, may as well resign themselves to losing most of their credibility, at least when it comes to commentary on Microsoft and perhaps well beyond that (if readers start to ask themselves “I wonder what ~else~ so-and-so gets for free but doesn’t tell us about?”.
Long Zheng
Speaking about free stuff, I’d love some free Microsoft socks. You can never have enough socks!
Fred
Is Dan Warne just pissed that he didn’t get a laptop, too? As long as the gift is disclosed publicly, then what difference does it make? Yes, if you accept the gift, don’t disclose, and then start blogging nice things, you’re clearly a sellout, and if you are found out, people will not trust what you write. But if you clearly disclose the gift, just as journalists often disclose that they attended such-and-such event as the guest of XYZ company, what in heaven’s name is the difference? Sorry, Dan - sounds like your just annoyed that you weren’t important enough to get a free laptop. As for Microsoft not being a computer company, what’s an Xbox? Just a DVD player or something? I think you’ll find it’s a whole lotta computer in that there box, even if its primary purpose is to play games.
drew olanoff
i honestly don’t think any of the people you listed can be bribed. drew baron got one, and i do believe that if he thinks vista sucks, he’s going to say so. that’s a risk that pr firms never take. i think its ballsy.
Dan Warne
Fred — I’m not pissed off that I didn’t get offered a free laptop. As the longest-running PC mag in Australia (25 years), we can get review loans of any hardware we’d like to review. So should bloggers be able to.
Despite Long’s link to my post on the front page saying that I think it’s immoral, I’m not really moralising over this issue actually. Spin doctoring and professional seduction is part of the modern world. I’m just observing that it’s a bizarre PR strategy to take, because of the risk of reputation damage to Microsoft.
Most ordinary members of the public would be pretty irritated to know that the people they trust to provide news, opinion and reviews are being provided with valuable personal gifts from one of the key companies they’re writing about.
You’re quite right — full disclosure of the gift significantly mitigates the risk that readers will feel deceived. But it’s still terrible publicity for Microsoft for it to be known out there that it’s buttering up ‘tech community influencers’ with big-ticket gifts.
(And on your point about the Xbox… I have to admit I wouldn’t really care that much if Microsoft sent out Xboxen to journalists as gifts; they’re pretty low value, and as you point out, Microsoft makes them.
But $2299 computers that have nothing to do with them..?)
FredZ
This is Sick!
Andy Wolf
I could use a laptop.
Ethan Giffin
C’mon guys… Get over yourselfs. In every type of business free items are given to the taste makers of that genre. How many football players do you think get free leases to luxury cars from dealerships? How many celebrities actually have to pay tabs at the hottest clubs? Bloggers happen to be the taste makers du jour.
So guess what? Some people got a free laptop. That laptop is made for Windows Vista to run with its best performance. They want you to have the best experience. Disclose it and write about it. If not send it back. I am sure Bill wont mind. Write about it when it blue screens… I dare you. The special police wont be showing up at your house.
I can only imagine the thread hate if they hadn’t sent hardware (what am I supposed to do with this DVD?) or what if the hardware was too small (I can’t believe MS sent out Vista on $150 laptops).
Hank
Please don’t forget to pay the taxes on your gift.
The IRS has been coming down hard on swag, as any star will tell you.
Enjoy!
Rob T Firefly
What you’re getting is a Slashdotting.
Rick
Look at it from a business sense. Does MS have a department that is responsible for maintaining loaner gear, recovery, and customer support? Doubtful. These laptops only cost $2300, that’s a drop in the bucket to a company like MS. Had they contracted with a third party rental company (if anyone would even be willing to ‘rent’ a laptop) they would have likely paid close to that same value over the life of the lease (depreciation is a b!tch on laptops).
So some PR guy looked at the numbers. For $18k they could lease a couple laptops and send them out to bloggers and worry about recovery later, or for $20k they could just buy the laptops and send them out with no ongoing commitment. I would say using that ‘Done’ stamp on the project is probably worth $2k.
-Rick
RedLizard
“I don’t see the Free Software Foundation handing out any Ferrari’s. :P”
Then again, the Free Software Foundation is handing out lots and lots of great software. I don’t see Microsoft doing that just yet.
Ubi
The FSF just helps give out millions of dollars of free software…. to anyone, competitors included.
Mat
@Long. I agree, getting a free computer would suck. Lets hope you get socks instead.
SODB
Wipe da smiles off a dere faeces….
BoffoSquid
Hmmm.
Bloggers are bloggers (read not-journalists) as long as they espouse their freedom, independance and free-thinking punditry as they floating way above the concerns of filthy lucre and beholden-ness to corpy paymasters…..
Or is it “Bloggers are nothing more than unpaid wannabe journalists” when they publish opinions, random thoughts and then are forced to or voluntarily take a position on anything whatsoever as long as they cleave to some self-delcared arbitrary cant about morality, ethiks etc?
Or is this non-event simply the politics of envy from some bloggers that didn’t get the free kit from Redmond?
All of the above and more I suspect. Declaring you have a high road when you know who you are crawling into bed with and excusing it all by making an ironic wink is arrant nonsense - a whore is a whore. Bought and paid for.
Move on, move on - nothing more to see or ever read here anymore.
Aaron Coldiron - Windows Vista
All,
Let me take a minute to respond to some of these comments. Yes, Windows Vista and AMD sent out review computers to bloggers. Why? Because we believe in the power of community, we believe in our product, and we are partnering with AMD to give bloggers the best hardware experience we can.
I understand the concerns on ethics, and I share them. We have been up front that these are review pcs, and we encourage bloggers to disclose that. Here’s the language we used in the review outreach:
“Full disclosure - while I hope you will blog about your experience with the pc, you don’t have to. Also, you are welcome to send the machine back to us after you are done playing with it, or you can give it away on your site, or you can keep it. My recommendation is that you give it away on your site.”
I hope this information helps. We want to be fully transparent about what we are doing here.
Aaron Coldiron, Windows Vista
Andy B
So just out of curiosity has any blogger out there seen what these things do when a Linux based distribution is put in charge of it
JasonMR
Update 3: Just something for everyone to keep in mind. Remember bloggers are given a choice which includes giving the machine back when they’re done with it. Keeping the unit is a decision made solely by the bloggers receiving the computers.
Sorry, but that’s a ridiculous argument. Sounds like giving a wad of cash to a copper [wink, wink], asking them to check if they are fakes, and then leaving it up to them to decide to either keep them for personal use or hand them back - and then say that it was not a case of bribing a police officer.
Michael Griffiths
This is a non-issue from an ethical standpoint.
It MAY influence the blogger’s opinion of Microsoft (and AMD, and Acer) in a positive sense (or, if the experience backfires, in a negative sense).
It MAY influence how people think of the blog. For instance, if _THAT_PARTICULAR_ blog claims to be independent, and look at all news with equal treatment, then accepting the gift can undermine the values of the blog. It’s a good thing, however, that bloggers don’t, by and large, have that definition - professional journalists employed by large periodical companies do.
If that particular blogger is upset, they can return the laptop to Microsoft. No harm, no foul.
The campaign is an interesting one, and something I’d like to see more of in marketing. Microsoft recommends that bloggers give away the machines (see Aaron’s comment above). First of all, this gives pro-Microsoft influential bloggers a good experience with the machine (excellent hardware, controlled software experience - no OEM nastiness), which is likely to increase press. Second, it creates a community of people bound together by having received a laptop (encouraging a pro-Microsoft ‘bloc’). And third, giving the laptop away is likely to increase traffic to the blog, making the blog more influential overall.
It’s an idea which benefits all sides: Microsoft, with good PR; the bloggers, with free hardware and more influence; readers, with good sources of information about running Vista on a nice laptop.
The campaign MAY backlash against Microsoft in terms of bribery; but honestly, that really depends on what news source writes an article about it. If the people running the campaign were halfway competant, they would have considered that (and sent out PR notes to periodicals about the campaign).
David H Dennis
I think that if it’s disclosed, and the blogger continues to write, his bias will become pretty clear and whatever change he makes will be clear too.
Many, many years ago, I ran an anti-Microsoft web site and Microsoft contacted me and sent me Windows NT 4.0. It was less bad than Windows95, but it didn’t change my opinion and my site remained as it was. They just told me that they wanted me to have their latest stuff, so that I could write honestly about it. I respeted that.
Truthfully, I think Microsoft did this to solve a curious little problem. Most bloggers aren’t rich, and they’re going to try and run Windows Vista on a computer that can barely run XP. So give them a gift, so they can run Vista the way it was meant to be run.
I think most bloggers are not going to be influenced by the gifts per se, but they will be nicer about Vista since they have a machine on which it will run well.
I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, fair or unfair. But truthfully, I think there’s enough information about Vista’s performance out there for people to be able to make up their own minds, and so Microsoft’s efforts will have little genuine impact.
I’m glad the bloggers will at least get some cool free stuff. We all like that. It’s a pity that Apple’s legendary customer loyalty makes steps like this entirely superflurous.
D
David Flynn
Michael, while I wouldn’t consider this can be written off as an “ethical non-issue”, and while I agree that the non-disclosure of some bloggers of this gift is a fault of theirs rather than of Microsoft, I’m with you 100% on that solution.
If each blogger in receipt of this laptop used it to review Vista in an ideally-suited hardware environment, and then gave it away (either to readers through a contest, of auctioned through eBay with proceeds going to a charity) then it’d be a clear win for everyone concerned.
pissoff
obviously MS didn’t give away those laptops for “free”,
if they wanted to do that, they would give it to a charity, not to bloggers,
someone needs to spread the word(or not)about the nasty DRM in Vista, and Zune for tha matter.
J Field
Being a whole lot of nerd oriented people, does anyone remember Hackers?
Gift of Laptop, come over to our side. That sort of thing. It didn’t work on the Hero, and they resorted to blackmail to get what they wanted, but it did seem to be one small step on the Dark Path. (In fairness, he used it in the end to bring down the bad guys, but the point is still there to be seen)
Roger Jennings
Dan Warne wrote, “Microsoft’s PR people would no doubt argue that this is about giving bloggers access to a machine that’s going to give them the best experience running Vista, and will allow them to fully explore the mobility features of Vista.”
Perhaps that’s true for the folks that got Ferrari 5000s, but others that received Ferrari 1000s appear to have been shortchanged with a 64-bit machine that generates only a 2.8 Windows Experience Index. Per Microsoft, 3.0 is required to preload Windows Vista Premium and run it with all features working. See http://oakleafblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/microsoft-gives-bloggers-sub-a ero-28.html.
Earnest
“Ferraris” (as a plural) has no apostrophes, just as it’s “apostrophes” not “apostrophe’s”.
Gary
The ethics of this are simple. The computers were given out for “review”. Review the equipment, acknowledge the loan in any review, and return it (in a reasonable, say 30 day, time period), since it is not up to the reviewer to decide how to dispose of the property (including charity). There are many other choices one can make, and almost all are just rationalizations to the benefit of the reviewer.
yo momma
i see some censorship going on here, deleting my comments,
what a lamer,
MS sent out those laptops so the bloggers wont expose the nasty DRM included with Vista and the Zune.
Long Zheng
No comment has ever been censored or deleted. Due to caching reasons, comments may not show up immediately.
Pobresito Hablador
What about Miguel Icaza?
Snake
Hard to believe that anyone who claims to be an independent thinker would accept a gift of such high value. I don’t know where the line is, but this does cross it.
Just because you work hard and don’t earn much doesn’t mean you should sell out for a new laptop.
This isn’t ethical.
Joseph R
I think that is personally very cool! Congratulations, and Great Job!
Laters
Jinge Su
wow, sort of makes me wnat to start a blog.
Romera Hen
I would like to have labtop. My labtop quite when I got back from Afghanstan.Will you help me.
Romera Hen
How are you doing
Karl
*shakes fist at Long* you smell
cya on IRC some time
Michael
I recieved the Velocity Micro Machine from AMD and Microsoft.
It is not a bribe, Countless companies give bloggers etc free product to review.
I think there is only anger here because Microsoft is involved.
Darren
WOW, lucky? I guess not, times like this I wish I blogged, not have bought a Wii, Long I wish you happiness on your free notebook, give us some information on it’s drivers, any DirectX10 or stuff like that?
Shinderpal jandu
Where can I sign up for this free laptop ?
Tom Tancredi
Well I am a unemployed techie who could not only desperately use the laptop for numerous reasons but as well I got plenty of time to Blog for Microsoft or any other “hiring” agency *winks*. Any takers?
Seriously I am unemployed and laptopless. I seriously could use it as a family of 6 sharing one PC is hard on me to do alot of CBT lessons and other things. If there is a serious way for me to get a laptop free, donated, or as a payment for work, I would be eternally grateful.
Jeremy Toeman
The trashing of MS on topics like this is utterly pathetic and a ridiculous double-standard. If Google or Apple gave away laptops, everyone would praise their commitment to the bloggers. MS does it? Evil. I’m not saying everything MS does is all noble or anything, but the bias against them on issues like this is unwarranted.
Jonadab
It seems obvious that the laptops were sent in order to ensure that Vista would run smoothly, i.e., Microsoft didn’t want to chance it with the recipients’ extant hardware, which depending on the blogger might be anything from brand new down to five years old. Vista can probably only be expected to run well on fairly new hardware, so MS was ensuring that such hardware would be available, by including it.
This is not really qualitatively different from a motherboard manufacturer sending a board plus RAM and CPU to a hardware reviewer, to ensure that the reviewer has the right RAM and CPU to make the motherboard go. I would expect the reviewer, if he is at all ethical, to disclose what he has been given in the review, but companies have been giving out freebies to reviewers for a while, hoping to get them reviewed, so this is really nothing very new.
nananana
This is NOT right.. I bloged about Vista and I have yet to see my Laptop Microsoft.. you have 1 week from today to give me my laptop or face a lawsute…
Bob Barker
“Some people have accused my good friend Brandon LeBlanc of accepting the Ferrari without disclosure. Whilst it is true he did not disclose he received the machine from Microsoft in his original post, he had always intenteded to disclose in his review article in the near future. I think nothing less if not more of him for admitting his mistake.
Bloggers like Brandon put a lot of hard work into their blogs and most of the time receive little or no reimbursement for their highly valuable work. I wouldn’t think it would be inappropriate at all, in fact only fair that these bloggers deserve to keep these machines as ‘rewards’. ”
HAH!
Brandon got caught in yet another lie in the VERY SAME THREAD!!!
http://www.mstechtoday.com/2006/12/27/new-laptops-from-microsoft-yes-i -got-one/
—-
Brandon LeBlanc Dec 27th, 2006 at 5:10 pm
Dennis, I appreciate your comments and am disappointed you think I’m covering my tracks with lies. Not sure exactly what tracks you are referring to as I’ve explained everything already.
I have indeed donated my Dell to a local network security firm - Xtreme Network Solutions. I do contract work for them for some minor desktop tech support. They started up about a year ago and are investing in secure backup solutions for businesses as well. They are doing some pretty neat stuff. I donated the laptop will Vista and Office 2007 installed for them to demo to customers looking to upgrade.
I’m sorry that its “ridiculously unbelievable” that I would do something like that but believe it. The Dell is in their hands.
—-
Tony Lafarge Dec 27th, 2006 at 6:18 pm
Very very interesting…………
Xtreme Network Solutions? URL here for the website, found on Google.
So would you be related to Vern then? This company started in 1996 according to the website..
So how can it be a start up? This is a company going for 10 years.
“Vern LeBlanc is an Information Technology Executive with a comprehensive background in GMP/GLP/ISO environments, secure network design, validation and manufacturing. He has enjoyed 23 accomplished years providing crucial support in the development and implementation of manufacturing and networking technologies. He has a strong expertise in secure network design, systems development, implementation and validation. He has acquired a solid reputation for having a natural ability for solving difficult problems.”
Care to explain, Mr. Brandon LeBlanc?
—-
Robin Dec 27th, 2006 at 6:42 pm
Nice investigative work, LaFarge.
Maybe “daddy” runs the “startup” company and Brandon “donated” his old computer to the company, so the the poor, underprivledged “startup” company can have a dedicated iTunes server. Just speculation.
Blog: Compromised
—-
Callie Dec 27th, 2006 at 7:16 pm
This is just getting worse and worse, as the hole being dug gets deeper and deeper!
1. “I traded in my Dell for a new Acer!”
2. Four days later, yet only hours after only after you’re called on this and the whole thing blows up all over the Web, you _finally_ have the time to add that this was a gift from Microsoft (a few words that you didn’t have time to add in the first instance?)
3. Then we’re told that the Acer is only a “review” unit
4. Then, after the conditions of Microsoft’s deal are made public (once again, on another blog), we’re told that you were only ever going to use it for a few months because you’re saving for a new laptop anyway (yeah, right, just after you ditched the Dell)
5. And the Dell was donated to a local business (good for you)…
6. … which is a tech startup that needs a notebook for demos etc (WTF? What sort of startup has to rely on donated hardware for something as vital as a demo to prospective customers)…
7… which turns out to be a company that’s been running for over ten years, not very ‘poor little cash-strapped startup’ at all.
Thunderblue
Its a bribe. Plain and simple. You have to be either an idiot or working for Microsoft to interpret otherwise.
No one receives a review unit as a gift to keep or to give away, unless the company in question needs to promote that product or needs to have postive PR for an upcoming one! In this case, its bloody obvious that its Vista. (People aren’t stupid, we know its a standard tactic).
This is the same with MS’s Zune. They’re giving those things away to selected people. (That includes key open-source folks to get them to influence others, as well as trying to encourage them to develop some compatibility with Linux…As their competitor, the iPod already has a project that is maintaining compatibility with Linux.)
I don’t mind if MS is giving products away, because I know they have no ethical concious in the first place. But when the other party blindly accepts it, well, I feel sorry for them.
There may not be an ethical line when it comes to blogging, but it does say something about the character of the blogger. (or multiple bloggers in this case)
They accepted it, they’re a sell out. And that’s all you need to know about them. Bare them more lavish gifts, and you can probably get them to do sexual favours as well!
And don’t mind the MS people that come here to explain things, because all they will do, is offer some trivial explanation. (Like they do with everything else!)
Zim
Wow! Unfortunately this kind of things don’t get to Argentina…
Great idea from Microsoft and AMD anyway!
Enjoy your new computer =)
Zim.
Mindi
WOW, this is really cool. How do I get started blogging so I can try out the new Windows Vista? I’ll put it to the test. I work for myself and am on the computer 24/7.
David Flynn
“It’s only fair that these bloggers deserve to keep these machines as ‘rewards’”.
Rewards..? Is anyone seriously claiming that there is nothing wrong with Microsoft “rewarding” a blogger for their coverage of Microsoft products, platforms etc in this vein?
Mitch Denny
Hi Long,
Seems like this stirred up a bit of interest. I’ve seen this post referenced all over the blogosphere.
goobers
wow! what a bunch of morons. if some one gives you something, as a gift, or what ever, keep it. and when you see some one who gets something dont go crying about it, but rather say “ge, i am glad for them”. why is it when ever some one gets something in the world we think we should get one to or think we should be able to say what they do with it, why they got it or any other crap. get over it peoples. and to those who got the compters. i say thats great! keep em and run with em!
Johari Lanng
What the hell? Of course this is unethical!
If this truly were for review purposes only, they would have required the return of the laptops. The lappies are serving an entirely new purpose once your Vista reviews are finished. Leaving the “return or not” decision to the bloggers is a bit of a joke - who would turn down a free Acer/Ferrari?
As for the bloggers involved, FULL disclosure would require you to not only be transparent about receiving something like this, but also when you feel like you shouldn’t write an anti-MS article for fear of not getting treated like this again. This situation may not happen you say - how are we, the readers, going to know this? We are trusting that your reviews are unbiased.
Either give the laptop back, or put a badge on your blog that reads “I accepted a laptop from MS” so that everyone knows you MIGHT have been bought out and that EVERY piece you blog about Microsoft MIGHT be tainted. A disclosure logged away in your posts archive isn’t good enough.
Bloggers. Independant media, my arse.
Johari Lanng
Before I come off sounding too “old man cranky”, congratulations on the new laptop. Just don’t pretend that “free” doesn’t mean it won’t cost you anything.
Johari Lanng
Sigh, one day I’ll learn to type more carefully.
‘Just don’t pretend that “free” means it won’t cost you anything.’
Michael Griffiths
My god.
Is it just me, or do a substantial number of the negative comments spring from jealousy (i.e. “I didn’t get one!”)?
I haven’t seen a good argument AGAINST the campaign yet.
The assorted ones are:
Premises:
1) The laptop with Vista is a very valuable gift.
2) The gift establishes a positive bias towards Microsoft, AMD, and Acer. (Incidentally, why are people blaming the idea for this solely on Microsoft? It’s obviously co-run by AMD, and no doubt sponsored by Acer).
3) The unnaturally positive bias will reflect in the blog.
Conclusions:
1) The laptop is a bribe for good PR, and as such it’s unethical to accept and proves that Vista is junk.
2) The unnaturally positive bias will destroy the credibility of any (independent) blogger.
3) To prevent the gift from being a bribe, the laptop should be given away or returned.
I’d like to point out that:
1) Bloggers are NOT INDEPENDENT and make no claim to be. Bloggers are people, and people have biases/opinions (positive and negative). This is, in part, what makes blogs valuable.
2) There is no guaranteed relationship between the gift and the bias of the review.
3) This is an outreach program to bloggers who wouldn’t otherwise get ‘review products’ or have the resources to talk about Vista/etc authoratatively. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the bloggers selected already blog about Vista and Microsoft.
4) This is a joint venture by Microsoft and AMD. Microsoft supplies the OS, AMD the hardware (I imagine Acer is sponsoring this, as they’d like to push their high-margin Ferrari laptop line). It’s not “Microsoft is giving away hardware! OMG! They don’t make hardware!” Obviously; but AMD and Acer do.
5) There are some good reasons to give the machines away. Microsoft recommends giving the machines away, which drives traffic to the blog and increases awareness of the campaign.
Ultimately, I can’t see this as an ethical issue on Microsoft’s part. The bloggers receiving the laptops may have to weigh their principles, and their own PERSONAL blogging philosophy, but that’s their problem. If they feel that accepting the gift will change their bias, they can return it, give it away, donate it to charity (proceeds from sale or otherwise), or even willfully destroy it.
Mindi
nananana
Dec 28th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
This is NOT right.. I bloged about Vista and I have yet to see my Laptop Microsoft.. you have 1 week from today to give me my laptop or face a lawsute…
For real??? I didn’t think that was something that they HAD to do and is probably not in any business rules. I would forget the “lawsuit”, it would cost less time and money to go buy one.
m.alam
What rubbish… do you really need Windows Vista to write all this?
SooooConfused
Yeah, because I’d rather hear some pissy nerd complain about how they took a node from their Beowulf cluster (a 486DX…. no less) and it wouldn’t even recognize the DVD that Vista came on (because it only has a 1x CD-ROM and a 5.25″ floppy installed).
So, I do understand why MS made certain that the experience was up to par (in the case of the ferrari 5000’s), or at least do-able (with the Ferrari 1000’s). What I don’t understand is what makes a bunch of people that apparently read these individuals blogs think that the authors should just entertain them, and not only never recieve any cool stuff…. but turn any SCHWEEEEET gifts away like the Japanese do to the XBox360.
People, if it pisses you off so bad that the bloggers got something and you did not, just stay away from their sites. Don’t flaunt penis envy, it’s not very becoming. Just leave the tainted bloggers to themselves to wallow in their loneliness, while basking in the soft flourescent glow of the 15.4″
widescreen display of that new Ferrari 5000 they took a shot in the mouth for. Trust me, I don’t think I would want to suffer like that. Would you?
Darren
Ok, Long I’ll take it if you don’t want it. “My recommendation is that you give it away on your site.” So some power in that, if only Sony give away free PS3s…
*cough* http://smashmyps3.com/ *cough*
Nirendra Maharaj
Keeping or returning or giving the laptop away are abviously at the discretion of the recipient, and to hell with the commenters.
However, consider this. A blogger depends on his/her audience, at least a little. This giveaway, especially when it has been made public, has resulted in only one sure thing: doubts about the motivation of bloggers who have received these laptops. Microsoft and AMD and Acer are the benevolent grandmothers. Even you are defending them. Yet, your reputation could suffer the most.
IMHO, do what you want and don’t defend anyone. If you want to give the laptop away, just give it away. If you want to keep it, just keep it. I know if I got one, I’d probably say: “What the hell, it’s free, I’m keeping it”. In an expensive country like South Africa, you need all the free hardware you can get
Paul
I agree with Michael, this is blown way out of proportion..err..and the other previous Michael.
ArenaNet gave me presents as a ‘thank you’ for creating a fansite for Guild Wars.
Was this a bribe? Well, it can’t of been, because prior to these ‘presents’ I’ve attacked them on numerous points.
Nobody (who knew) considered this a bribe.
I’m sure if Apple jumped in, somebody would praise them for getting community involvement…
@Long re: this posts disclosure. All us RSS readers care!
chuck adkins
Must be nice!
I ain’t that big or great a blogger… I might be after this reply though… anyhow… I’d enjoy it man, freebies are awesome, I don’t care who gives ‘em out! All else fails you can always format and install red hat!
Roney Belhassof
I don´t think it is imoral to give the “gift”, but I think it´s imoral to accept it and to change our opinion. I would take one, but just to remove Vista and install a Linux after taking a look to say what I really think about this Windows release.
By the way we say good things for free if the OS is good, looks like Vista is the worst OS ever!
creamhackered
Well done Long for creating some FUD in the community. Before you post this kind of stuff on your blog can you please check your facts instead of updating the post days later with partially correct information? Like Aaron pointed out above, these are review units like we receive every other day and we’re welcome to return them, keep them or give them away. Its posts like this that furthers the belief in bloggers never being considered true journalists.
Bob Jones
Apple gave away MacBook Pros to people who helped work on their open source webkit project, that was as a reward to people, not an attempt to buy good press, obviously so since no one has brought it up.
Phoenix
I somehow don’t believe that the kind of responses that I’ve been reading would have been anywhere near the same if the OS had been sent on its own. In the end that is all that Microsoft, directly, has given away and should be treated as such.
Either way, it is totally up to Long and the other bloggers whether they want to keep it or not, it’s not a question of ethics and the decision should not take into account a lot of the responses here as MS has stated basically: There is no necessity to a) post about the laptop/OS b) post positive comments about laptop/OS. Thus the comments about bribes are totally redundant and to be honest, insulting to a person who has done a lot of good work in the past.
Final point, as a software developer, if I had the cash, I would probably do the same. Not because I wanted bias feedback but because I would want the system to be at its best for examination, testing and use.
Jeff O'Connor
Why is that anything and everything Microsoft does to promote its products is considered “evil,” and anyone who partakes is selling their soul, a drone, “assimilated,” etc.?
Giving away swag - even expensive swag like a Ferrari laptop running the latest, greatest version of Windows - is hardly news; it’s a common marketing tactic. What better way to get the talking heads who are talking about your product to say something relevant and (God forbid) accurate than to make sure they’ve actually got your product to play with?
When Sun started “giving away” Solaris in the hope of generating more *b