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Microsoft FUD Watch
rs232 writes "Not a week goes by when Microsoft doesn't manufacture a little fear, uncertainty and doubt about something. Yesterday's financial analyst conference was full of it ... Our approach is simple: We look at who said what and why it's FUD. Lots of companies engage in FUD, and we only single out Microsoft because we're Microsoft Watch"
I don't think that the mere act of watching Microsoft should be considered to be "FUD". Microsoft is a corporation like any other, but they do deserve careful attention.
Novell produces lots of FUD, but unfortunately only in its employees and customers.
Tubby or not tubby. Fat is the question
for all the fud spread by kdawson on his political rants.
I think I may have seen a story like that somewhere else on /.
What we need is more stories comparing Linux and Windows, preferablt by someone getting paid by either Microsoft or a Linux vendor, that's another topic that's hardly ever covered here
I'm sick of hearing of this acronym. Can't you just give it a rest? It's so very 90s to be complaining about "FUD". And a very shallow analysis.
Taking PR statements and criticizing them for being PR speak is #3 on the "10 dumbest ways to spend your time" list that I made a minute ago. Honestly, when I find a large company with a PR department that *doesn't* make exactly the same sort of statements Microsoft's does, I'm going to try really hard to make it back to this reality from the alternate one I somehow ended up in.
Hi we are Microsoft Watch and we spread FUD about their FUD, please FUD our FUD by FUDDING some FUD, preferably via FUD.
I like basketball!!1!
Pointing out MS FUD is like taking home the drunkest, ugliest girl in the bar. Yah, you did it, but no one is impressed.
slashdot produces more fud these days than microsoft ever has.
There, fixed that for ya! Wouldn't want people to get the impression that Slashdot is "fair and balanced". When you are the #1 source of anti-MS FUD, ya'll gotta represent!!
Keep it real, yo!!
I don't know abour FUD watch, but many of their press releases are so obfiscated, long winded, badly phrased and rambling I find it difficult to follow. Its like Sir Humphrey Appleby from "Yes Minister", it takes a moment to actually understand what the hell they are talking about.
:-(
Is it just me or do these guys find it impossible to speak english in a plain and simple fashion?
Actually, I think there is a proper word for this - but for the like of me I cannot remember what it is.
Oh, Sweet Mother of God and Jumping Jesus on a Pogo Stick and Buddha in a Banyan, if there isn't something specific about Microsoft in the news on a Monday morning, some jackass has to manufacture something so there can be a day where MS is mentioned on the /. front page?
This is as bad as the guy at work that keeps talking about his ex-wife, who he divorced 15 years ago. Let it go! At least wait for Microsoft to actually do something, you know they will.
Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
Wow, I'm a noob. All this time I thought FUD stood for fucked up data. I need to study this list!
The link is just spin on spin, which I find totally worthless. There's very few definitive statements being discussed here, more like "Microsoft is great, rah rah rah!". What can be said if that other than "Microsoft isn't great, rah rah rah!"
AccountKiller
Yay! The only thing that can adequately combat Microsoft FUD- Apple FUD!
Can we go do something else now?
No one is just "anti-microsoft"- they're either pro-mac, or pro-linux. Anti-FUD is also FUD. It's just as stupid to read. And none of those Microsoft statements were even FUD- just marketing talk from a large corporation. Apple does this kind of crap all the time- as does Novell, or Sun.
That's the amazing thing, outside of their Windows and Office franchise they have seas of red ink. Now that Vista is doing badly and office is a yawn, even their core products look shaky.
So let them FUD, because FUD is all they'll have soon.
Ray Ozzie got his job because he worked alongside Dave Cutler at Digital, and he pretty much worships the Microsoft Way. Don't expect change from Ray Ozzie. Ray Ozzie made a career out of re-implementing VAX Notes. Twice so far, and neither successfully. He is overrated, and his image is overhyped. Heck, Bill Gates has better taste and better instincts for what makes good software. Microosft will continue down a path of FUDing and bullying based on their financial and market strength.
This isn't just how it inevitably is at big companies. Some are different. For example, Jonathan Schwartz got his job because he won't do things the Sun Way. No leader is perfect, and I know lots of people who don't like Schwartz. But Schwartz has backed up his promises by embracing GPL3 and hiring Ian Murdock to change the way Solaris is delivered.
You can reasonably expect Sun's performance to improve. You can reasonably expect Microsoft to continue to miss the point when trying to compete against Open Source software, and to grow worse, in fact, in the way they use PR, lobbyists, FUD, and financial bully tactics as they fail to find a way to stop alternative business models from chipping away at their lead.
Well, since the overall reaction so far has been very negative, I'll chime in and say that I think this is a very good idea.
FUD is a Bad Thing. It causes people to take decisions based on the wrong information. Short of getting really draconic, we can't very much prevent FUD from being spread. In that light, I feel the best we can do is make sure that the truth is also out there. That way, we can at least hope that people stumble accros the truth, or we can point them at it when we find they have been misled.
All this has nothing to do with Microsoft, apart from the fact that Microsoft spreads FUD. It would be a good idea to do the same for people and organizations that aren't Microsoft.
What's also a good idea is to back up any claims you make with references. And spend some time on the visual aspects of our writings. In order to beat the FUD, we not only need to spread the truth, we also need to make it clear that it _is_ the truth. We could do worse than looking trustworthy.
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
I'm seeing more people respond negatively lately to what has gradually degenerated into a Microsoft hate-fest in terms of FUD accusations, etc. Rational *nix and Microsoft folk alike seem to acknowledge hypocrisy and finger-pointing, in this case manifesting itself in yet another utterly banal piece of journalistic blood from a stone, a Microsoft Watch "news item". Who-watches-the-watchers comments aside, are /. staff ever going to take steps to reduce this type of flotsam? I'm looking at the upper left corner of my screen right now, and right next to the /. logo is the purported mantra:
"News for nerds. Stuff that matters."
I consider myself a nerd of sorts, I suppose, but I fail to see how Microsoft issuing generic press releases that would compare equitably to any other company, software or otherwise, "news for me." I also have a hard time grasping how it could possibly "matter", given the frequency and quantity at which it occurs.
It's certainly "stuff", no argument there...
Bottom line, this seems to be a never-ending cycle that only /. staff can break. If they don't attempt to deliver on the site's motto, I don't know who's going to.
Oh gawd. Yet another technical wannbe, who only knows how to push buttons and hasn't got a single clue as to what those buttons do.
You know, like Homer Simpson.
Spare us the Web 2.0 crap. There are lots reasons why you don't want to use Web 2.0. And anyone who only knows how to bring up a javascript/flash/puke website without being able to fallback gracefully is utterly incompetent and ought to be fired. But mostly they'll be outsourced by an H1-B who doesn't know anything either, so that at least is nice to know.
Spare me the weak attempt at trying to present yourself as one of the technical elite. Your attempt is laughable.
Preaching to the anti-Microsoft choir; it's not just for Slashdot karma anymore!
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
all just die! Our lives are just wasted living anyway.
These people have way too much time..
Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
We look at who said what and why it's FUD.
And that's your first mistake. Never heard of confirmation bias?
=======
Science -- Sealed, Delivered.
You're right. FUD everywhere is bad.
I just turned off adblock for a second to see the ads that Slashdot trys to show me. The one main ad at the top of the page is creating Fear in me by indicating that integrating Tomcat, Axis, and other things may be too complicated for me to "get stuff done". FUD is a geek phrase. It means nothing. FUD = marketing. Yawn.
I don't respond to AC's.
I thought for a minute that MS had released a new product: "The Microsoft FUD Watch". i.e. Something you could strap to your wrist and monitor the amount of FUD present in any particular technology sector at that very instant - as well as being able to tell the time, set alarms etc.
Well, business is a cold war and FUD is the propaganda and disinformation it is waged with.
try { do() || do_not(); } catch (JediException err) { yoda(err); }
...is my spelling.
However, the strength of the beer here more than lives up to expectations
"...Our approach is simple: We look at who said what and why it's FUD. Lots of companies engage in FUD, and we only single out Microsoft because we're Microsoft Watch"
Isn't this the first item?
Not like what exists today, press-release recyclers.
The simple fact is that PR speak has become the one and only source of information for news outlets around the world. When was the last time you saw a journalist actually question the lines fed to him by some PR agent?
Doesn't matter wether it is about. Best examples I just see are the RIAA press releases being swallowed completly by the press and having the RIAA PR speak as facts without doing even the simplest checking.
This was proven recently by a dutch story about a baby factory being opened in africa were couples could have a local woman bear their child.
Complete and utter nonsense it turned out to be, just a test to see how gullible the press is.
It has to be noted that the press did report the story that they had been duped but not a single journalist was fired, not a single editor was forced to admit incompetence.
ALL THE PRESS FAILED A SIMPLE TEST AND NOTHING HAPPENED.
Back to business as usual, gather the press releases from the in-folder, insert grammar mistakes and spelling errors (Do I qualify) and rehash even if 10 seconds ago you were typing a story that completly contradicts this one.
Yes it is sad that we live in a world were the statements made by companies (legal persons before the law) are considered by any sensible person to ALWAYS be lies AND that we accept this.
Yet this means that we also owe it to ourselves AND to everyone else to make sure that we keep repeating this constantly.
Because there are people who really believe you can win the war on drugs/terror/whatever, who do think that drinking brand X will get you the girls, who really believe that Britney Spears is on un-employment because of piracy and who really do think MS Windows is the best OS ever and Apple just copied it all.
The basic duty of the press is to listen to what is being said and then check it and if it ain't correct say so. They don't just have to do it with politicians but with EVERYONE. If not, democracy will fail, the press, the working press is the guardian of democracy but for all that sentiment it is nothing more then people saying "you said this, and I know that ain't so".
I'm so glad that Microsoft has abandoned enforcement of their "patents" against companies like RedHat and IBM.
In my survey response, I told them that I would not purchase a single MS product (went on to list the OS, Office, Xbox360, SQL Server, Zune, Halo 2 PC, etc) until they detailed their "patent disputes" for response or resolution...not that I will make a difference to their bottom line, but if every consumer boycotted new Microsoft products...
Not talking any intarweb 2.0 here Homer... I'm talking about the internet standards.
http://w3.org/
While I agree with those that think a Microsoft FUD watch page is a bit of a waste of time, I'm still amused by the fact someone is posting it.
Let us not forget that Microsoft was the master of the FUD campaign. Consider how it used to be. A small, unknown company (Small Software Company) launches a software product that has great potential, but would result in users being semi-locked into that company. Microsoft sees the potential and announces they have their own version about ready to release, knowing full well they don't.
Average user thinks "Well, I'll just wait for the Microsoft product because I really don't know Small Software Company and whether they'll be around.", which gives Microsoft enough time to throw tons of money on a project to whip up a Version 1.0 to compete.
This model worked well for Microsoft for a number of years. But now, it isn't Small Software Company that Microsoft is chasing, it's Google and Apple, to name two. These are also well known to Mr. and Mrs. Average User.
So now, Apple or Google announces a new product, the Average User family starts using it. Microsoft announces their plan to release a competitor and the Average User thinks "a little late to the party".
The point is, people are getting more choice from companies they trust. So the FUD campaigns are not going to be as effective.
It is fun to watch, though.
If you want to spread fear, uncertainty and doubt about Microsoft products, point out that Dell went back to shipping Windows XP instead of Vista. Mention the problems with Vista activation. With the "tilt bit" that can kill your system. With Vista phoning home. (Do you want a system that regularly and secretly contacts Microsoft in your business?)
Wouldn't it make sense to wait and see about Vista? Wouldn't that be the safe thing to do? Do you want to take the risk of using a defective operating system in your business?
Is that anything like the Microsoft SPOT Watch?
seven two six five
seven four six one seven
two six four two e
That article itself is FUD. I'm extremely suspicious of a "watch" site operated by eWeek/ZDNet, a company which probably has strong investment interests in the technology sector.
I value sources of skepticism. Many information sources are little more than publishers and often shills for some other interest; the bad deliberately bullshit, the worst don't even do that. Fox vs CNN, for example.
The source in the fine parent has an obvious tilt against MicroSofts hot air factory. That it is obvious is a good thing, it saves us all time.
All things being equal, shouldn't there be 25 'anti-MicroSoft' articles for every 'anti-Apple'; or 100 for every 'anti-Sun'? MS applies the market share argument to justify wrecking peoples computers, why should they see any less of a factor in criticism?
Rethoric training - $200 ... tagging this story "wheredoyouwanttofudtoday" - priceless!
Write up a nice FUD script - $300
Get assigned as speaker - $5000
...and thanks to my handy-dandy bizspeak decoder ring, I can interpret this as: "We own the desktop at home and at work; our platform's everywhere; we have a metric assload of cash."
It's the epitome of bad bizspeak, and this might be BS if he actually addressed the services bit in detail but where's the FUD exactly? Come on, eWeek. Cashing in -- and getting paid -- on the anti-MS crowd is what this is all about. Of course Slashdot is there to lap it all up, eagerly.
body massage!
I still want the last 5 minutes of my life back. Who cares about nitpicking every statement they make? Yes, criticize their actions, their buggy software, their questionable business practices, but good grief, this is so non-news, not even "stuff that matters." I don't even know why I'm contributing to this thread, other than out of boredom from most of the other articles today.
if ms didnt have a legacy of providing fud or pulling out unbelievable stunts on its customers or partners, there wouldnt be that much anti-ms fear and its fud spreading on /.
/. is mainly an IT people's place, and there are many people, who were customers of microsoft or worked in microsoft partners who were screwed by microsoft at one point.
note that
hence the antipathy and fear and annoyance.
Read radical news here
This has to be the weakest posting I've seen in weeks on slashdot (and that's saying a lot recently). The guy barely wrote anything useful for slashdot and TFA was shit also. This should never have been posted, it's not worth the bandwidth it cost to host it out or for me to view it.
Mobius Custom Computers
unlike Apple, mayhap? (Which, when they do put something out, sounds a LOT like MS-speak.)
Not everyone checks Slashdot religiously. It's nice that there's some repetitiveness. You see things you'd miss otherwise. I, like many others, am interested in accumulating a picture of what it is MS does that makes people call them evil.
Moreover, skipping a post you'd rather not read is trivial. Missing out on a topic you'd like to know more about is tragic.
I've heard Microsoft FUD before and this sounds more like MS is "doing nothing". MS usually says a lot (i.e. .NET) when they are doing nothing.