PC World - New CEO Doesn’t Get It Either
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Just a quick note:
Over at PC World it seems that the Editor In Chief quit since he was not allowed to print an article about Ten Things You Hate About Apple or something similar. A new CEO for IDG publications put a squash on the story because of a policy of not wanting to offend advertisers who ply their wares at PC World. Oops! Wrong move there junior exec.
Now that the story is making the rounds on the Internet, the credibility of your publication will now be questioned. How can anyone on the PC World staff be taken seriously if they write a great article on a product, that so happens to be a paid advertiser for PC World? People are suspicious enough without installing more FUD into the mix.
What do you think? Will this hurt PC World or not?
Comments welcome.
Tags: pc world, article, apple, resgination, editor in chief
6 Comments
marc klink
May 4th, 2007
at 2:53pm
I don’t think PC World has been relevant since about 1998 anyway. PC Magazine is only slightly better as to bias towards advertised products.
On the other hand having no advertisers doesn’t guarantee good reviewing. I sold mid to high end stereo during the 80’s and early 90’s, and I was always amazed at what total idiots the people who reviewed these products at Consumer Reports were. They never failed to come to the wrong conclusions about why something sounded the way it did, or why that should itself be good or bad. They would try to explain concepts like why transient intermodulation distortion was a bad thing, and completely muck it up. The only thing that could be counted on was reliability, because at least they could do the math when it came to number of products repaired under warranty. This was not very helpful as they could not debunk the specious claims made by some manufacturers, nor could they point to anyone who could.
This is how I feel about PC World…there might be some who have a clue, but that clue is being kept secret as of late, so it does us no good.
Conversely, some of the best reviews used to be found in the OLD, LARGE FORMAT Computer Shopper, a shrine to advertising, yet some really great and thoughtful reviews came out of that magazine. Alas, it left with the infamous ‘Lab of Doom and Pepsi’.
There really haven’t been really great printed reviews on anything since BYTE magazine closed its doors.
Ron Schenone
May 4th, 2007
at 4:19pm
Heh Marc,
Your argument gives some food for thought. Maybe this is why it irritates me when I read reviews that are full of distortions and half truths.
Later, Ron
Matt P.
May 4th, 2007
at 10:22pm
I’ve always hated PC World… biased articles and reviews, tons of ads and an annoying layout.
I haven’t considered PC World credible in years… this just proves I’ve been right all along
Ron Schenone
May 5th, 2007
at 4:39am
Hello Matt,
Thanks for your comments.
Ron
FenderGuy2112
December 31st, 2007
at 7:54am
I love PC World, but I do not like how people cannot take a little bias article here and there every once in a while. Sometimes these “opinions” give other people a generalization of why people think the way they do on a set topic.
Hardedge
January 15th, 2008
at 3:09pm
Not to worry, the LofD&PC relocated. It’ll be back up and running soon.