Do Bloggers Help Or Hurt The Technology Industry?
- 7
- Add a Comment
I was reading an interesting article in which the author presented something that I never really gave much thought to. It was in reference between the difference between now and how things were about five years ago when there were no bloggers. He claims because of the increase in blogging that Vista may be given a bad rap in comparison to XP or previous Windows versions. That every version of Windows has had problems when it was first released but since more people are writing about it the problems are magnified. Oh, forums were also mentioned as another source of additional information that were not as popular five years ago and add to the FUD.
Five years ago we all relied heavily upon the opinions of the ‘experts’ who either wrote for computer magazines or send out newsletters to us. We also accepted this information without challenge since we had no real way to express our disagreement unless we sent an email to the writer, which may or may not have been published. It is unfortunate but I am sure we are all aware that most publications are in business to make a profit. So if one of their advertisers was paying the bills, it could cloud the judgment of those who wrote about a hardware or software product.
When XP came out there were problems with it as well. But we also have to remember that XP did not have such a steep increase in hardware requirements as does Vista. Plus there were not as many hardware or software products to support as there are today. In addition some of the blame must squarely fall on the shoulders of Microsoft. It seems that the company was sending mixed signals during beta testing and was semi vague in what it was releasing to developers of hardware and software. This has caused some delays as these vendors are now trying to play catchup. Some have even admitted their hardware or software will not be Vista compatible today, tomorrow, or forever.
So by writing about Vista and some of the known problems about it in my opinion does not mean that I am anti-Vista. It is just that some folks are having real problems with it. In my own situation my hardware worked just fine. However, my system was only six months old when I first started to test Vista. So should I have ignored those who have hardware that didn’t measure up to Vista’s steep requirements? Should I have just said ‘Vista works great on my system so it should work great on everyone’s system?” I think not.
If anything, I believe that bloggers and the forums have given us all a better insight to some of the pitfalls of Vista. IMHO Vista is just OK. Microsoft has done such a great job in finally getting XP to work correctly, especially after SP2, that it is difficult to say that dumping XP for Vista would be a smart move. Especially since I do not personally believe it is.
So what to you think? Have bloggers or the forums hurt the technology industry? Or have they helped consumers to be better informed?
Comments welcome.
7 Comments
Kyle Keeton
May 21st, 2007
at 8:27am
They have helped more than they have hurt.
Thats all I going to say about that!!!!
Kyle
Ben Bromiley
May 21st, 2007
at 10:22am
They help.
The more info we have to work with the better the decision we can make.
marc klink
May 21st, 2007
at 10:58am
I’m sure the perspective is different depending on where one stands. However, the XP vs. Vista difference is not one of opinion, but concrete facts.
XP allowed the use of larger hard drives without cheats like the Ontrack drivers. That made it more able to recover from problems with the file system. XP was the first Windows to not have ‘huge’ memory leaks which caused the necessary reboot of a system several times per day. It was the first to have Explorer not crash when moving and/or renaming large numbers of files. It was also the first fully 32-bit Windows to have really wide driver selection, allowing almost anything produced in the last 10-12 years to be put into, or connected to the computer.
These changes were evolutionary, not revolutionary, from Windows 2000, which, had MS kept working on Windows 2000 would have been almost all that XP is. What differentiated XP for a great number of people, like my teenage son, was that it was made to be ‘game-friendly’.
So with Vista, all the major hurdles have been taken care of, and the others, which MS touts, are of little importance to the average user. What people don’t understand, they don’t want or need.
Perhaps the WOW will start when the education campaign starts, along with drivers being released [that work].
Oh, and let’s not forget the healthy amount of upgrading that needs to be done for Joe Average to not decide what a ’slug’ his computer is after trying Vista.
By the way, I am anti-Vista, because I see it as just one more small step of MS to become our Big Brother, by locking down our desktops, and not allowing us to do what we want with the hardware we buy. The next step is when no motherboards will be able to be purchased without a TPM.
Tim Hodkinson
May 21st, 2007
at 12:50pm
Blogging and forums have merely broadcasted what was traditionally always available, but not *widely* available, that being, personal opinions.
Before blogging and forums you could get personal opinions on tech stuff by going to a computer store or talking to a neighbourhood expert. Now those opinions are easily available to anyone on the internet. Do we trust the opinions of others? That depends on their tech background (do they know what they’re talking about…) and their character (do they tell the truth… is there a conflict of interest…).
My ISP and Voip provider took the bold step of creating an online forum for customers and anyone else who wanted to: ask questions; complain bitterly; tell lies; complain bitterly; scream out in pain; give feedback; discuss the quality of service; and complain bitterly. They are a start up company and have had some rough times getting everything working. The forum was a great idea and even though a lot of comments are probably exaggerations, lies and just plain bitter complaints, it’s not too hard to get an idea of what the company’s service is likely to be if you’re a prospective customer.
And that’s the way it is with blogs and forums just about everywhere I’d say.
I think Vista is getting a fair trial in the “court of public opinion”. Besides, most of the traditional computing media, like PCWorld, Cnet, and the newspapers have published negative articles about Vista. And Chris Pirillo’s own well known views and conclusions came with very reasonable arguments and lots of examples and justification for his opinion of Vista.
The desktop computing world is changing and Vista is really helping those changes. The move to Linux, and open source, I mean.
GOOSE
May 21st, 2007
at 5:58pm
Geez….I don’t know about technology, but I kinda look at the bigger picture. The Internet is one giant forum for an easy way for anyone to say anything at anytime whether it is true or not. I know this can happen whether you’re on the internet or the newspaper or in a bar. But the fact is, the internet reaches alot more people, and people have a tendancy to believe what they read. One example is Ebay. If you look at the comments on that site it basically is just a playground for everyone to launch personal attacks on everyone that they have a problem with. I had my own personal experience with Ebay. Ebay does not care what people write. (they say they have no control). Needless to say, I am no longer welcome on the Ebay site because I do not agree with them. There is just too much information on the internet….good or bad
jhay
May 22nd, 2007
at 6:56am
As long as it is not a paid post, users can expect nothing but the truth from bloggers who blog about software, services etc because they write it based on what they really experienced, first-hand with the final product that everyone else can get from the retailer.
Ron Schenone
May 22nd, 2007
at 11:48am
Hello Kyle, Ben, Marc, Tim, Goose and jhay,
We are experiencing problems with our comments section and for some unknown reason I can’t respond to comments, so I am having to ‘trick’ the system.
Anyway as always I appreciate your comments and thoughts. I am also glad to hear that you agree that bloggers are of help and not a hindrance as some have suggested.
Thanks again, Ron