Today's headlines:
* ComputerWorld: Microsoft uses Zune to stab friends in the back
* Cybernet News: My Experiences with Windows Vista…and Why I’m Still Using XP
* Stowe Boyd: Microsoft Eats Its Young
* Barrons: Microsoft Music Partners Get the Shaft
* ComputerWorld: Iowa antitrust case: Microsoft exec called software developers 'pawns'
These headlines are remarkable, because journalists today feel free to write the truth about Microsoft. The oppressive hand of Microsoft PR no longer casts its black shadow across the happy people of Techville. Ten-15 years ago, the headlines would have read differently:
* Microsoft uses Zune to pat friends on the back.
* My Experiences with Windows Vista…and Why You Must Upgrade.
* Microsoft Cherishes Its Young.
* Microsoft Music Partners Thrilled with Changes.
* Iowa antitrust case: Software developers called Microsoft 'friend'.
That's because 10-15 years ago, Microsoft pr or its hired hands would be on the phone screaming bloody h*ll at any journalist that didn't respect the natural superiority of Chairman Bill and his Gang that can't shoot straight. As a Microsoft evangelist said, "...I talked about how you're [Microsoft] using the pawns [independent developers] and you're going to screw them if they don't do what you want..."
And so consumers suffered from reading mistruths from cowed computer journalists who wrote about how wonderful it all was. Because it's painful being screwed by the world's largest software company. But after a while, you want to regain your dignity, and so you decide to switch to writing what's right -- not what's easy.
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