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Microsoft Bribing Bloggers With Laptops

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the hey-where's-mine dept.

Slinky writes "According to at least six bloggers, Microsoft has been sending out free top-of-the-line laptops pre-loaded with Vista as a 'no strings attached gifts'. This 'reward' for their hard work on covering tech in general is coincidentally right before the launch of Vista to consumers. To be clear, these weren't loans, they were gifts, and they were top-of-the-line Acer Ferrari laptops. Microsoft blogger Long Zheng broke the silence over the source of the freebies."

4 of 308 comments (clear)

  1. I'd just like to tell Microsoft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    That I'm a whore and can be bought. Please send my free laptop to:

    Anonymous Coward
    555 Mockingbird Lane
    Anywhere, KS 51248

    I look forward to "reviewing" Vista for you.

  2. good for them by otacon · · Score: 5, Funny

    sure beats the Pentium 133 16mb ram 1.0gb HDD laptop running debian with no X the FSF sent me.

    --
    In a world of acronyms, the words are the real victims.
  3. Bloggers are switching to Mac by jaypeg · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A few weeks ago Microsoft called a meeting for bloggers at their Redmond Campus. Bill walks into the meeting room and sees that every blogger that showed up was using a Mac laptop. Well I guess he didn't like that, so now he decides to send out free laptops to fix things. Trouble is, it's probably going to take more than a free laptop to make them switch back.

  4. Re:I'm confused by SavvyPlayer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    With no strings attached, this is not a bribe. It is a calculated risk:

    1. Reviewers will be far less likely to criticize Vista's complex pricing structure not having had to personally invest energy into weighing the cost/benefit of buying a mid-range edition.

    2. Reviewers will be far less likely to run into technical issues resulting from running the OS on mid-range hardware.

    3. More reviewers will focus more energy on features unique to Ultimate, which would be an implicit endorsement of Ultimate over all other editions.

    These actions are intended to inhibit (albeit to a limited extent) the spread of unbiased criticism to those who would benefit most by it. Going back to Ethics 101, this is (however subtly) acting against the best interest of society, and therefore unethical. Of course, in a society accustomed to a continuous assault on fact from many angles (sales/marketing/politics, etc.), this will go entirely unnoticed.

    From the perspective of diminished responsibility, I'd say this action is so minutely unethical that to label it "immoral" is misleading. "Guerrilla Marketing" would be a more useful characterization.