A Look At Free Reviewer Swag 144
chicl3t writes "It used to be that the lagniappes that came along with hardware for review were things like USB drives — makes sense, one 128MB drive for a 100MB presentation. But...iPod nanos? As in more than one? That's another story entirely. It's damn nice swag, of course, but at what point is it too much? A DailyTech writer talks about his experiences with swag."
Re:Great News! (Score:5, Interesting)
When I was more active in the Xbox scene I would receive hardware (modchips) to review. Never sent any of them back, but usually that's because they didn't work so well when I was done with them. Only had one vendor ask for it back, specifically to do Failure Analysis. They asked if I wanted a replacement and I turned them down. To be fair though I first tested the things as a normal user would use them, then as an extreme modder may use them, then as an idiot would use them (plugged in backwards). That usually did them in (though one did my box in instead...). I suppose plugging in an SLI PCIe backwards would be difficult.
-nB
"Swag" is a euphemism for "bribe" (Score:5, Interesting)
> talks about his experiences with swag.
If you are a reviewer nothing is too much. If you are a consumer anything at all is a bribe.
Re:For us non-english speakers (Score:5, Interesting)
Yes. It is. One of the interesting things coming out of some recent research [annals.org] is that even cheap trinkets (pens with blinky lights, post-it notes, etc.) subtly influence prescribing behavior. The drug companies know it. They've studied it extensively and will continue to do this sort of advertising as long as humanely possible. Unfortunately, as a species, we're pretty easy to influence, even if we think we know better and are above it all.
(Goes back to reading Slashdot).
Re:For us non-english speakers (Score:3, Interesting)
English is my first language and I consider myself to be relatively well-spoken; I still didn't know what a lagniappe was.
Aikon-
Re:For us non-english speakers (Score:2, Interesting)
My mother works in a semi-small doctors office. They have 4 docs one is cardio the other neuro, and two might be a more general practitioner doc. Dont know the specifics. About 12 more support staff as well.
They have Pharm Reps (Drug Reps) they came in atleast twice per week. They give little presentations on new drugs, but also new tools, devices.
Every time they come, they dont bring just pens, note pads and posters.
No, no no....
They cater lunch for the whole office...at an extreme level. The pick up enough food for 75 people!
Luches from Carrabbas, Smokey Bones, Texas Cattle Company, etc.
Then all the staff eat lunch like kings, and then bring home enough for dinner that night plus leftovers.
So, dont think its just $10 worth of office supplies, or some thing. its $1000+ Every day for every Rep.
Yea, Ill eat their food all day. But it makes me wonder how many billions get spent on PR, ads, and Reps. How much could have gone into progams for uninsured?
Good swag=good review (Score:2, Interesting)
Swag is just the tip of the iceberg. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'll bet the people in charge of certain magazines or blogs have enormous incentive to put the products of their sponsor companies in a positive light - or at least in a non-negative light.
At the same time you have to wonder if they'll spin the product of a competitor to their sponsor's product in a negative light.
For instance, I remember back in the day, Microsoft products would get reviewed much more favourably than WordPerfect or Lotus 1-2-3 or any other competitor based on subjective criteria such as "ease-of-use". Of course, Microsoft was the heaviest advertiser in magazines such as PC Magazine, and you wonder if their executives talked and made an agreement of money for good reviews.
At CNet, many of their reviewers have written books about Microsoft products, gathering information from people close to Microsoft - how they can maintain an unbiased opinion on any review with a Microsoft gadget is beyond me.
There are many blogs where the PS3 gets bashed over anything, from calling it a George Foreman grill, to bashing Sony's "evilness", to it's lack of backwards compatibility to it's price. However, the XBox 360, a product by Microsoft, doesn't get bashed nearly as much over it's failure rate, Microsoft's "evilness", overcharging for non-standard components and online play, it's non-backwards compatibility, and so on... - not surprisingly, Microsoft does a lot more advertising on these sites than Sony.
My point is, bribes go much further in the tech review/news industry than swag...
Re:For us non-english speakers (Score:5, Interesting)
But to illustrate how bad the advert/bribery has gotten in medicine: http://doctormental.blogspot.com/2004/11/doctors-and-drug-companies.html [blogspot.com]
Like this is new??? (Score:3, Interesting)
It didn't effect my reviews or commentary. I still slammed the companies I got freebies from.
Re:For us non-english speakers (Score:5, Interesting)
Its still a big risk... now I know how much easier it is to get an asthmatic to take advair than cheaper albuterol plus QVAR. So I am probably more likely to rx in the future because of that knowledge. But that is a moral choice I pay for my patient.
Other than that, I don't eat a cookie, take a plastic pancreas, or write with a Viagra pen. I don't even like to look at the time on a Tequin clock.
Nick