Microsoft FUD Watch 154
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"
Microsoft aren't entirely truthful? (Score:5, Funny)
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
FUD (Score:2, Insightful)
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A sign of lazy thinking, or someone who daren't contemplate something that do
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Oh wow what a worthless site (Score:4, Insightful)
Hi we are Microsoft Watch and we spread FUD about their FUD, please FUD our FUD by FUDDING some FUD, preferably via FUD.
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Re:Oh wow what a worthless site (Score:5, Insightful)
FUD has kinda of lost all meaning if you want to insist that generic PR statements are FUD. They even went into detail to explain why each statement was FUD, and that made them look even more pathetic and clueless.
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No "kinda" about it. Few people understand this term anymore. The term FUD originally indicated a specific marketing technique popularized by IBM in the 1970s and 1980s but now has been diluted to mean anything that is untrue or which has a disagreeable agenda. (I liken it to the use of "unique," which no longer means "one of a kind" but instead seems to mean "rare.")
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Moreover, I actually think what they said about phones was sensible. From TFA:
By 'full' he presumably means physical. Like say, the Blackberry (not even a MS product).
This is just such an unexceptional article, it's surprising that it was linked.
Re:Oh wow what a worthless site (Score:5, Insightful)
Not surprising at all. The quality threshold slashdot editors use for any anti-Microsoft article is extremely low. I'm not surprised at all that they accepted this vacuous drivel. In fact, I would've been surpised had they rejected it. Remember, this site uses a borg icon for "Microsoft" topics and a broken window pane icon for "Windows" topics. All other topic category icons are "neutral", devoid of editorial spin. So slashdot doesn't even have any pretense of objectivity when it comes to Microsoft, they proclaim their anti-MS bias with each and every MS and Windows article by using those icons.
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"Some" and "a bunch". Good quantitative analysis there. Nice how you can make up nearly any statement you want using those words and have it be darn near irrefutable.
Although apparently a bunch of people (e.g. over a quarter of a million) seem to like the iPhone's virtual keypad, as Apple sold 1/6th as many iPhones in two days as Microsoft sold in an e
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Microsoft would prefer not to have DRM but because the Entertainment industries have such control over the content and how it is distributed, they must respect their wishes. Unless Linux which steals and distributes content without the authors permission - that is the type of society you live in Chips, being a thief! Which programs are broken in Vista Chips??? You are the same person who said you don't use Windows - stop telling lies hypocrite or stop mistaking the garbage that is Linux for the best desktop OS on the market (Windows). If you are referring to third party applications that do not work, have the common sense to check the manufacturers website for updates. 2000 applications are fully certified for Windows Vista, 2.1 million devices are fully certified for Vista.
Even applications on Linux tend to break when you upgrade to a new version of the OS. There is no support in hardware and commercial software industry for Linux compared to Windows. Who wants to use a stupid OS like Linux that requires that you compile every mouse click you make on it, whether its to import pictures, write a document, browse the web, installing it is like wasting your time. All my devices are supported out of the box Vista, plug my digi cam in boom, they pop right up in Photo Gallery. Play a DVD, pop it in boom, it opens in Media Player. No need to be using illegal codecs like Linux, I can play CD without feeling guilty. Connect to a wireless network, boom, no compiling, no headache, no Linux! I want to surf the internet, not be a computer scientist - that is Linux mantra, have PHD to use a PC! Lame!
I would post more but then I'd need to move my mouse and I can't be arsed with the recompile.
Completely agree. (Score:2)
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Possibly. It just goes to show, however how people can adapt to accept absolutely everything as normal, as long as there's lots of it everywhere around us.
We're shaping the reality around us. You can't judge things based on simply how prevalent they are. Judge them based on what you'd prefer they would.
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Isn't that the definition of normal?
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Isn't that the definition of normal?
It's a very poor passive definition of normal. During WWII the entire environment suggested it's ok to kill torture and abuse jewish people, so most germans considered it "normal".
Let's not fall pray to such poor definitions. I better definition would be "serving to establish a standard". We don't want PR speak being worthless and misleading to be the standard, s
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To invoke a slashdot cliche, I don't think it means what you think it means.
If you want "normal" to mean the same as "the right thing," don't accomplish it by changing the definition of the word -- let's focus
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Remember folks,
127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net
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way to go (Score:5, Funny)
Re:way to go (Score:4, Funny)
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But, dude, did you have to marry her? Even after you found out she was your sister?
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Fixed that for ya!! (Score:2, Funny)
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!!
well (Score:2)
note that
hence the antipathy and fear and annoyance.
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Ah... I see... so it's Microsoft's fault that you are a propagandist and liar!
..... At least you admit your irrational bias, and pathetic fear.
yes, yes i confess i cant take it anymore !!! ive been spreading microsoft fud all my life, since i touched the keys of a sinclair zx spectrum back in 1982 while i was 7 years old !!! god i cant stop it since then. if i dont spread enough anti ms fud that day, i wake midnight sweltering from the anxiety and run to the pc to spread fud. its like drugs !
FUD? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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I know how picker the regulars can be so I thought I'd beat them to it and correct myself first. Ah the humiliation....
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Re:FUD? (Score:5, Funny)
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Unless you're scared of features, in which case you have problems that even 'Microsoft-Watch' just can't cure.
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"Spin" is when you deliberately obfuscate or selectively reveal information in order to mislead and change the overall perceived picture. It's like "fossil-fuel consumption is good for the economy", that disregards the long-term effects of climate change on the said economy.
"FUD" is more targeted in that it aims to create doubts about your competitors and to misrepresent your ability to deal with said competition - and to manipulate the market into delaying investiments becaus
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So if plain old fasioned Spin is now called FUD, as the article was trying to do, then the OPs comment was spot on.
Re:FUD? (Score:5, Funny)
I hope that clears things up!
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Re:FUD? (Score:4, Insightful)
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So does that mean that if I set ButtonProperty to Buttons (ButtonProperty=Buttons ?) and then later reference the value of Buttons I'm supposed to get the button the user pressed which I can use to decide what function to call?
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Euhm... am I really the only one that likes my installation experiences to be SIMPLE?
That said, I'm quite experienced in installing Linux. And that is not always easy. And no, I don't enjoy doing it.
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That being said, for the most part Microsoft Press books are pretty bad, with a few notable exception, though if you want to see something awful, the chapter on configuration of the 70-536 training kit book is something out of this world...
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For
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Well, hell, try reading anything from FSF, like GPL3!!
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FUD? (Score:2, Funny)
RayOzzie == "more of the same" (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Good Idea (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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The reaction's been negative because this simply isn't FUD. If you're going to call every single bit of marketese "FUD", pretty soon the term will be meaningless. If you're going to be hatin' Microsoft, then at least try to remain honest and truthful yourself.
Ah, so sorry, the FUD moniker became a meaningless term about 50 seconds after it was coined.
For a term to have meaning, it must have a scope and we must agree on the scope for it to be useful. I believe FUD has failed in both cases. The term developed scope creep (thus it had an ever widening scope) and it developed marketing spin (thus having no set meaning, and frequently wagged the dog, as it were) from the onset of popular usage.
I still try to use it on occasion. My preference is to either c
You're right (Score:1)
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.
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Yes, FUD is bad, but if you're going to complain about FUD it should at least meet that definition.
If the definition, as you say, 'has nothing to do with Microsoft', then I don't see how on earth were they flagged as FUD by the author.
Where is the unwarranted Fear, the Uncertainty, or the Doubt?
Were these statements directed at consumers considering competing products? (per the article itself, no).
3 of 4 statements are obviously non-FUD, since they're just positive statements a
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So what happens when the fud watchers spew out fud? Do they then watch their own fud and create an infinite loop?
This is a terrible idea because it's like fighting fire with fire.
Unresponsiveness and inaction on /.'s part... (Score:5, Interesting)
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I also wonder what this thread will become in the next few hours.
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From my point of view Microsoft is attacking Linux and people get pissed when they havent done anything that shoul
Nice Slashvertisement (Score:2, Funny)
Oh man (Score:2)
Mistaken methodology (surprise!) (Score:2)
And that's your first mistake. Never heard of confirmation bias?
Dissapointing and misleading article title... (Score:3, Funny)
The only thinn more disappointing... (Score:2)
...and my typing (Score:2)
Business is was (Score:1)
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Slashdot's mission statement? (Score:2)
Isn't this the first item?
Microsoft sent me a survey this weekend... (Score:1)
I'm so glad that Microsoft has abandoned enforcement of their "patents" against companies like RedHat
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Old models don't work (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
FUD about Microsoft. (Score:3, Interesting)
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?
Microsoft FUD Watch? (Score:2)
w00t ? (Score:2)
Write up a nice FUD script - $300
Get assigned as speaker - $5000
/. FUD Watch (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:/. FUD Watch (Score:4, Funny)
Do you really? I mean, could just be FUD, you know...
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Hear hear!!
Lets have a Microsoft free week. If Microsoft is bashed or put on a pedestal then kill the story.
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You know... at various times I've seen slashdot posts saying exactly the same thing, except about "Apple" or "iPhone" or "Google" or "Linux Desktop Readiness" and a bunch of other "overly hyped" or "repeatedly posted" topics.
I'm not going to try and disagree with any particular one of those suggestions. I, too, sometimes find that a given topic is being over-hyped. However I think we should keep in mind that
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I'm not going to try and disagree with any particular one of those suggestions. I, too, sometimes find that a given topic is being over-hyped. However I think we should keep in mind that if Slashdot were to really stop reporting on all those topics, then we would basically have no content on Slashdot. Moreover, important trends would indeed pass by without Slashdot picking up on them. So, I don't think the answer is to have a "Microsoft-free" week or a "Google-free" week... but rather for Slashdot users to agree to skip stories if they are on a topic that they are currently bored with.
Seriously though, this article is barely a "topic". It's a MS basher bashing MS. Which I fine I guess, but if you RTA, it's so weak and such a stretch that it's hardly worth mentioning. A guy gets up in a financial meeting, spouts a whole bunch of corporate speak, and the article_author calls it FUD. It wasn't really FUD though in my option, it was just crap. So what's the big deal, find me one corporate financial meeting where there isn't some stiff spouting about how and why they're the best company
Re:/. FUD Watch (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually that'd be nice. We already know MS is evil and that they shouldn't be trusted. So, instead, the watchful eyes should be on Google. Every day they get more and more personal data on everybody. I know we like them now, but should that publicly traded company change its focus...
It'd be nice to put all this energy into preventing evil from being committed as opposed to bitching about stuff that happened years ago.
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Actually that'd be nice. We already know MS is evil and that they shouldn't be trusted. So, instead, the watchful eyes should be on Google. Every day they get more and more personal data on everybody. I know we like them now, but should that publicly traded company change its focus...
Google has the capacity to do evil that MS only wished it could do. Like you mentioned they collect an enormous amount of data, and I don't really know what they are planning to do with it. Sure most of it probably is used to improve their search engine, but having the data represents the potential for misbehavior even in a company that doesn't intend on misusing it.
Give it another 10 years and everybody is around here is going to be decrying Google's latest bit of evil corporate activity. Even what they a
Re:/. FUD Watch (Score:5, Funny)
I didn't divorce her, she divorced ME! Apparantly you listen as well as she does; one time I had asked her to pick up our daughter at soccer practice, as I had a late meeting and I wouldn't be able to get her, and do you know where she went? Do you? She went to the hairdresser! My daughter is standing out at the soccer field in the rain and she is off gettting her hair tinted. Can you believe it?
Re:/. FUD Watch (Score:5, Funny)
Joe, give it a rest, just let it go, she's gone, she got the house, the car, and she married her best girlfriend. So, you turned her gay, so what?
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Claiming successes in markets they are trying to get into by partnering with people who are already in that market.
We are pro-lotsastuff (Score:3, Funny)