Comments on: How the Net makes people stupid, and Microsoft rich http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/ An infuriatingly infrequently updated reflection on the Internet, the US, and life in general Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:53:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.1 by: Some good points about journalism | Bigmouth Strikes Again - Freelance journalist Gary Marshall on technology, the Internet, music, Macs and more http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-27691 Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:29:40 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-27691 [...] Kieren McCarthy’s written about the Net, Vista, journalism and remote controlled planes in a typically epic post - but almost in passing he nails something I think about a lot. I know a fair amount about a comparatively tiny number of things. But thanks to being a journalist where I write about subjects publicly all the time, I have been forced to realise two things: [...] […] Kieren McCarthy’s written about the Net, Vista, journalism and remote controlled planes in a typically epic post - but almost in passing he nails something I think about a lot. I know a fair amount about a comparatively tiny number of things. But thanks to being a journalist where I write about subjects publicly all the time, I have been forced to realise two things: […]

]]> by: Charles on… anything that comes along » Why you don’t get smarter reading Wikipedia, and other thoughts of Mr McCarthy http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-27685 Tue, 06 Feb 2007 10:52:19 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-27685 [...] Via a man who tried to fly his model airplane in the road instead of the nearby park, and the Daily Show and Wikipedia, Kieren (yes, him again) offers a tour de force on why the Net won’t make us any more clever - at least not until we admit that we’re stupid. [...] […] Via a man who tried to fly his model airplane in the road instead of the nearby park, and the Daily Show and Wikipedia, Kieren (yes, him again) offers a tour de force on why the Net won’t make us any more clever - at least not until we admit that we’re stupid. […]

]]> by: Andrew Crystall http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-25923 Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:55:41 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-25923 Well, I've informed anyone who wants me to help with their PC that if they're running Vista, I won't be helping. And no refunds. I only recently moved to XP myself, and that was only due to hardware which was deliberately designed not to work under 2k. There is simply nothing whatsoever compelling about Vista, and the damage it'll be doing to a number of industries (starting with casual games) is going to be dramatic. It's creating jobs...yes....jobs because it's so inherently inefficient. When did this become a GOOD thing? Well, I’ve informed anyone who wants me to help with their PC that if they’re running Vista, I won’t be helping. And no refunds. I only recently moved to XP myself, and that was only due to hardware which was deliberately designed not to work under 2k.

There is simply nothing whatsoever compelling about Vista, and the damage it’ll be doing to a number of industries (starting with casual games) is going to be dramatic. It’s creating jobs…yes….jobs because it’s so inherently inefficient. When did this become a GOOD thing?

]]> by: Max http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-25887 Wed, 31 Jan 2007 11:15:01 +0000 http://kierenmccarthy.co.uk/2007/01/30/how-the-net-makes-people-stupid-and-microsoft-rich/#comment-25887 Microsoft has not just courted bloggers: it also assiduously courts the mainstream media that it knows will give it an easier ride, witness the oleaginous 'interview' by Huw Edwards on the BBC yesterday (of, for those with longer memories, Paxo's interview nearly a decade ago where the BBC's famed rottweiler looked distinctly ill at ease). But the company's marketing people aren't stupid: they do this because it works. You'll wait in vain for any indication that Vista's pricing is not quite what it seems or any concerns about DRM ...or indeed anything negative. No doubt in time, there will be much more critical dissection of Vista but the damage has already been done. Yes, the web makes everyone a potential journalist but I'm not sure that that leads to better reporting. Microsoft has not just courted bloggers: it also assiduously courts the mainstream media that it knows will give it an easier ride, witness the oleaginous ‘interview’ by Huw Edwards on the BBC yesterday (of, for those with longer memories, Paxo’s interview nearly a decade ago where the BBC’s famed rottweiler looked distinctly ill at ease).

But the company’s marketing people aren’t stupid: they do this because it works. You’ll wait in vain for any indication that Vista’s pricing is not quite what it seems or any concerns about DRM …or indeed anything negative.

No doubt in time, there will be much more critical dissection of Vista but the damage has already been done. Yes, the web makes everyone a potential journalist but I’m not sure that that leads to better reporting.

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