Heh yeah, they are whores, it’s not a secret. But the big wigs tend to read their reports as they seem to be pros at it.

Paid hacks are an ever increasing problem on the net. Companies know people tend to ignore ads so they disguise ads in the form of an article and pay to insert it in strategic places. The ad is written up to look like an article and all the columnist has to do is lend his/her name to it.

There was a discussion on slashdot about this some weeks back, in particular it was regarding a shop called the Men’s warehouse in the US. Said company paid to get articles written about how suits are making a comeback, before you know it ppl are actually saying/thinking the same. Quite insidiuous but that’s the best proof of concept you will get.

The extent to which it goes is directly proportinal to how big a companies PR budget is.

I guess only defense aginst such things is to be more critical of what one reads. The web helps but also is a source of distraction here.

The often given excuse is who has the time or cares

Heh yeah, they are whores, it’s not a secret. But the big wigs tend to read their reports as they seem to be pros at it.

Paid hacks are an ever increasing problem on the net. Companies know people tend to ignore ads so they disguise ads in the form of an article and pay to insert it in strategic places. The ad is written up to look like an article and all the columnist has to do is lend his/her name to it.

There was a discussion on slashdot about this some weeks back, in particular it was regarding a shop called the Men’s warehouse in the US. Said company paid to get articles written about how suits are making a comeback, before you know it ppl are actually saying/thinking the same. Quite insidiuous but that’s the best proof of concept you will get.

The extent to which it goes is directly proportinal to how big a companies PR budget is.

I guess only defense aginst such things is to be more critical of what one reads. The web helps but also is a source of distraction here.

The often given excuse is who has the time or cares

Atleast they should admit upfront for that matter- since profit making remains an end all goal by hook or crook. Herein, certain paid hacks are worse than independent reporters. I report from a user’s perspective, rather than track every shake and move of a particular group.

On thing I really hate is the “analyst reports”. Gartner, Forrester et al. I really wonder at times as to why we give them undue reliance anyway. Some scums I know of, they really do.

Atleast they should admit upfront for that matter- since profit making remains an end all goal by hook or crook. Herein, certain paid hacks are worse than independent reporters. I report from a user’s perspective, rather than track every shake and move of a particular group.

On thing I really hate is the “analyst reports”. Gartner, Forrester et al. I really wonder at times as to why we give them undue reliance anyway. Some scums I know of, they really do.

After having this setup for nearly 2 yrs now, i can agree with this. There are just too many things that can go worng and do. The connection is as good as its weakest link.

“I am anti corporate sector- somthing that I disclaimed right from the start.”

I’m not sure what you mean when you say you are anti-corporate ?

If you mean you would rather make your own opinions rather than be their mouth-piece, more strength to you. Is that it ?

After having this setup for nearly 2 yrs now, i can agree with this. There are just too many things that can go worng and do. The connection is as good as its weakest link.

“I am anti corporate sector- somthing that I disclaimed right from the start.”

I’m not sure what you mean when you say you are anti-corporate ?

If you mean you would rather make your own opinions rather than be their mouth-piece, more strength to you. Is that it ?

The sadder thing is people continue to patronise them. Are they not aware of alternatives ? Or does Sify just have more penetration. i notice they are the only ones running ads on TV, though they are touting VPN (seems more corporate than to the masses)

Some nice links…wil check out.

The sadder thing is people continue to patronise them. Are they not aware of alternatives ? Or does Sify just have more penetration. i notice they are the only ones running ads on TV, though they are touting VPN (seems more corporate than to the masses)

Some nice links…wil check out.