Are they telling it straight on the Internet?
That human beings can be irrational, foolish, or perverse is not news; just pick up any history book. But, ever hopeful for some light in the world, I keep looking for reasoned discussion of computer issues. There at least (I tell myself ) is a group of people who are trained in critical analysis and who will use concrete criteria like performance, ease of use, reliability, security, and cost when considering the merits of things like browsers or operating systems. Note that I am not talking about the marketing propaganda put out by companies like Microsoft. I am referring to the columnists, bloggers, and technical journalists that abound on the Internet.
Alas, discussion of PC subjects on the Internet is all too often not a reasoned discourse but a rancorous clamor that sounds more like the frenzied exhortations of religious fanatics than a rational comparison of merits and flaws. Use Macs and be saved! Switch to Linux and escape the evil of Microsoft! Use Windows or else!
In the nature of things, the majority of the discussion is by Windows advocates. In addition to the Windows religious sect, there are the numerous technical professionals who owe their livelihood, directly or indirectly, to Microsoft. This large group includes some influential people who write about Windows for a living. Without impugning their basic integrity, I think it is fair to say that this economic dependence on Microsoft has the inevitable effect of coloring the outlook of many in the computer industry and in technical journalism. Although they may try to be balanced in their judgments, it is only human for them to be affected, often subconsciously, by their Microsoft ties and friends. Of course, there are also columnists and bloggers who are professional detractors of Microsoft but they are much fewer in number.
The problem of objectivity is not new. Print media have had a similar problem with economics creating bias. If Dell is your biggest advertiser, do you pan their PCs? But respectable print publications have a wall between content and advertising. What is new on the Internet are the many conflicts of interest and the fact that these conflicts of interest are often not revealed or are indirect and not apparent. There are some straight-shooters out there and I treasure them but they are too few.
Having vented some of my frustration about the nature of discussion and reporting on the Internet, I think it appropriate to repeat where I stand; I have no ties with the computer industry and I view things as a consumer and educator. I don’t have to sell anything.
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