● 03.07.12

●● Microsoft Buys Vista 8 Reviews by Bribing Journalists Again

Posted in Marketing, Microsoft, Vista, Vista 7, Vista 8 at 3:05 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Summary: Microsoft reassures us that bribes are not a mistake but a deliberate act of marketing

THE MARKETING company known as Microsoft just cannot learn a lesson, or maybe there is no lesson to be learn when bribery is simply the business model rather than a “rotten apple”. Previously in this Web site we wrote all about Microsoft bribes that we are aware of. Vista 8 will be no exception because it is already happening. Ryan from #Techrights (IRC) writes: “They did something like this when Vista and Vista 7 went out. In that case, they sent out Alienware laptops to bribe favorable reviews for Vista from the people that got one. LINK (Archive.org copy, the original was disappeared)

“Now it appears they are promoting Vista 8 like this as well, only it’s tablets this time.”

Vista and Vista 7 had bribes as well. One former Microsoft manager wrote at one point: “I’ve been thinking long and hard about this, and the only conclusion I can come to is that this is ethically indistinguishable from bribery. Even if no quid-pro-quo is formally required, the gift creates a social obligation of reciprocity. This is best explained in Cialdini’s book Influence (a summary is here). The blogger will feel some obligation to return the favor to Microsoft.” The blog post is titled “bribing bloggers, █

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