>Better to just push it out there and hope that grannies and five year olds will be fooled into buying it.
Not even that. It costs money to do the boxes, ship them out etc. They just can them and write it off.
What I'd do in that situation is mark it as if it's a first time purchase - getting maybe 9/10 as per your example but in the conclusion, noting that if you have FIFA 2009, there's not enough new to warrant an upgrade this time round.
I used to write Amazon reviews - you know, the bit before the buyers reviews but after the manufacturers descriptions? I was impressed when I signed up that made it clear I could slate a product if it really wasn't any good. Their only stipulation was that I should suggest another product on their site that was know to be better. Seemed fair enough to me. I stopped some years ago but if that policy is still in effect, it owuld add some weight to their value IMO. This was the.co.uk - the.com had diffferent reviews and possibly different criteria.
This is certainlhy an issue with US based sites/magazines. Over in the UK it's less driven by advertising spend (in my experience, at least). I've given fairly bad reviews to a few products and I still get new stuff from them to look at. Equally, I've had software from the US where they've asked outright if the review will be looked upon favourably if they advertisise with us. They seemed amazed that I was adamant advertising and editorial don't talk to each other. They can't, otherwise the whole point of reviewing is null and void.
There is possibly an argument that because some firms let you keep the kit (sometimes quite expensive kit) and others always want it sent back, that this could affect your scoring but I try hard not to fall into that trap. That said, I often request review items I actually have a need for and this can actively work against it if it doesn't do what I'd hoped.
>But we don't do we ?
There is a reason for that. It's a lot of hard work and cost bringing a product to market and generally, the real dogs are killed long before they hit the shelves. I've been reviewing hardware/software for 20 odd years now and I can only remember giving a score of less than 4 a handful of times. Equally, 9 & 10 is rare (for me). The vast majority of stuff is 'good enough' and merits 7 or 8 out of 10. TBH, I get really frustrated by constantly dishing out 7s and 8s and the few times something has turned up for review that's truly bad, I'm been delighted as it gives me a chance to have a real opinion.
>Would love to see a distro geared towards anime fans!
And I want an OS based around gardening, sericulture and possibly quality headphones but then I've got my head stuck my ass and no life.
>and I think Ubuntu is fucking stupid.
Sums it up nicely. This has to be the dumbest combination of two random things since someone tried to sell Windows 95 at a double glazing exhibition. Hey, we all like the word window, right? Don't we?
>more appealing that an endoscopy
Given a choice between a cable that's tethered to the outside world and a robot spider scuttling around inside my butt, I'd say the former was a win.
I'm not sure what the deal is these days but for years, where I worked, there was a deal with Microsoft whereby employees could install Office at home for free. Pretty sure that was the licence arrangment with MS rather than the firms coughing up for licenses.
That the vast majority of PC owners I know go 'what's that?' when you mention P2P, torrents etc. Sure, there's a hardcore that use it heavily, usually younger sorts (get off moi laaaand!) but most people I know have nothing but paid for sofwtare or more usually, tons of 'free' crap they've downloaded from some pop up advert or got from a magazine cover disk.
Even amongst the hardcore, I'd wager a fair chunk are moving towards opensource/free anyway. My laptop has OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Aptana, NetBeans, iTunes, Audiograbber, VMware Player and any number of other free (to individuals) but fine sofwtare products.
But in a year you just know you're friends are all going to say 'Dude, your eBook reader looks really gnarly and well, liked sun bleached to death. What did you do to it?'
Ever heard of a 'busman's holiday'? Generally, you'll find the opposite of what you want. Builders/decorators have messy homes, electricians have wires hanging out everywhere, engineers have piles of broken stuff in the garage on the 'todo list'.
When you've spent the day doing x, you don't want to do more of that at home.
I suppose coding does give you some cop out though, Day time I write standalone apps - never web stuff. So at home, I do web stuff, when I get time, which is rare having a family to keep happy.
Yep. All good stuff. My commute is 4 hours a day and I use a mix of watching films/TV on my laptop when sitting down and podcasts of radio progs etc when standing up. Plus reading the freebie paper every morning/evening. TBH, I need a longer commute, I can't pack it all in;-)
Amazing number of attacks on who or what the author might be as opposed to what he has to say. Why do people feel a need to complain he's just a blogger or whatever? Do you have to be famous to have an opinion? Very strange.
Slashdot Mirror
>Better to just push it out there and hope that grannies and five year olds will be fooled into buying it.
Not even that. It costs money to do the boxes, ship them out etc. They just can them and write it off.
Curious - I seemed to have upset someone - all my posts are getting marked over-rated. Still, maybe they are!
What I'd do in that situation is mark it as if it's a first time purchase - getting maybe 9/10 as per your example but in the conclusion, noting that if you have FIFA 2009, there's not enough new to warrant an upgrade this time round.
I used to write Amazon reviews - you know, the bit before the buyers reviews but after the manufacturers descriptions? I was impressed when I signed up that made it clear I could slate a product if it really wasn't any good. Their only stipulation was that I should suggest another product on their site that was know to be better. Seemed fair enough to me. I stopped some years ago but if that policy is still in effect, it owuld add some weight to their value IMO. This was the .co.uk - the .com had diffferent reviews and possibly different criteria.
This is certainlhy an issue with US based sites/magazines. Over in the UK it's less driven by advertising spend (in my experience, at least). I've given fairly bad reviews to a few products and I still get new stuff from them to look at. Equally, I've had software from the US where they've asked outright if the review will be looked upon favourably if they advertisise with us. They seemed amazed that I was adamant advertising and editorial don't talk to each other. They can't, otherwise the whole point of reviewing is null and void.
There is possibly an argument that because some firms let you keep the kit (sometimes quite expensive kit) and others always want it sent back, that this could affect your scoring but I try hard not to fall into that trap. That said, I often request review items I actually have a need for and this can actively work against it if it doesn't do what I'd hoped.
>But we don't do we ?
There is a reason for that. It's a lot of hard work and cost bringing a product to market and generally, the real dogs are killed long before they hit the shelves. I've been reviewing hardware/software for 20 odd years now and I can only remember giving a score of less than 4 a handful of times. Equally, 9 & 10 is rare (for me). The vast majority of stuff is 'good enough' and merits 7 or 8 out of 10. TBH, I get really frustrated by constantly dishing out 7s and 8s and the few times something has turned up for review that's truly bad, I'm been delighted as it gives me a chance to have a real opinion.
>Would love to see a distro geared towards anime fans!
And I want an OS based around gardening, sericulture and possibly quality headphones but then I've got my head stuck my ass and no life.
>and I think Ubuntu is fucking stupid.
Sums it up nicely. This has to be the dumbest combination of two random things since someone tried to sell Windows 95 at a double glazing exhibition. Hey, we all like the word window, right? Don't we?
Even up market HiFi headphones don't convey the music they way half decent speakers do. Do the tests again with speakers and come back to us.
Can you imagine how bad you'd feel if you were site 1001 and had just kissed $1m goodbye?
>Asda seem to cut costs by selling poor quality tasteless food.)
Asda are owned by Walmart - go figure.
Unless I've missed it, I can't believe no one has suggested a digital pen such as the e-Pen ones? http://www.practicalpc.co.uk/reviews/hard/peripherals/e-pens-create.htm
>A mirror question is, "Why have the Africans accomplished so little?"
Read "Guns Germs and Steel". It's not the answer you're hoping for.
>Googlebot
Googlebutt, surely?
>more appealing that an endoscopy
Given a choice between a cable that's tethered to the outside world and a robot spider scuttling around inside my butt, I'd say the former was a win.
>Scientists in Italy have developed which will move around the lower digestive tract using legs.
Have developed what? Developed which?
I'm not sure what the deal is these days but for years, where I worked, there was a deal with Microsoft whereby employees could install Office at home for free. Pretty sure that was the licence arrangment with MS rather than the firms coughing up for licenses.
That the vast majority of PC owners I know go 'what's that?' when you mention P2P, torrents etc. Sure, there's a hardcore that use it heavily, usually younger sorts (get off moi laaaand!) but most people I know have nothing but paid for sofwtare or more usually, tons of 'free' crap they've downloaded from some pop up advert or got from a magazine cover disk.
Even amongst the hardcore, I'd wager a fair chunk are moving towards opensource/free anyway. My laptop has OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird, Aptana, NetBeans, iTunes, Audiograbber, VMware Player and any number of other free (to individuals) but fine sofwtare products.
But in a year you just know you're friends are all going to say 'Dude, your eBook reader looks really gnarly and well, liked sun bleached to death. What did you do to it?'
Ever heard of a 'busman's holiday'? Generally, you'll find the opposite of what you want. Builders/decorators have messy homes, electricians have wires hanging out everywhere, engineers have piles of broken stuff in the garage on the 'todo list'.
When you've spent the day doing x, you don't want to do more of that at home.
I suppose coding does give you some cop out though, Day time I write standalone apps - never web stuff. So at home, I do web stuff, when I get time, which is rare having a family to keep happy.
Yep. All good stuff. My commute is 4 hours a day and I use a mix of watching films/TV on my laptop when sitting down and podcasts of radio progs etc when standing up. Plus reading the freebie paper every morning/evening. TBH, I need a longer commute, I can't pack it all in ;-)
Amazing number of attacks on who or what the author might be as opposed to what he has to say. Why do people feel a need to complain he's just a blogger or whatever? Do you have to be famous to have an opinion? Very strange.
>If you let your kids take over your entire free time then your not doing yourself or your kids any favours.
I'm guessing you're not a parent?
Good news - Too many modern CDs are utterly wrecked in that final stage.
>Is he related to Darth Mall (whose first name I discovered is Paul)
No, he's just a friend - Pal Mall.