The brown noses of the BBC
— When automated content management starts to make the BBC look biased.”
Just over a week ago, I indirectly criticised the BBC for running away to the the Jade Goody media circus. A bad case of overexposure if ever there was one!
Now they’re at it again and this time the Beeb is cosying up to our old friends from Redmond:
Spot the overexposed product!
You see, ever since the BBC signed an agreement with Microsoft to “explore ways of developing its digital services” I’ve been a bit sceptical about just how impartial a digital news service can be in today’s times.
Sure, the release of Vista is a newsworthy event. After all, it’s taken Microsoft several years and several dramatic delays to rebuild and market their operating system.
The release of Mac OS X enjoyed a paltry three articles over the period of several weeks and for the popular press, Linux has an image problem.
The logic here would be: “Windows is the most popular operating system, so it should get the most attention from the popular press”. Well it’s a chicken and egg equation, isn’t it? Plenty of exposure equals increased marketability, whilst increased marketability equals more press attention.
Note that our equation takes no account of the product’s actual quality. But in our times that simply doesn’t matter.
Just ask Jade Goody…
See also:
Microsoft takes on Adobe / Macromedia
Microsoft are pissing in a small pond with new design tool Expression. But will it turn the water a funny colour?
- Originally published: 17 Feb 2006 in Technology
Accessibility may affect feasibility of Sharepoint intranet
Microsoft’s Office Sharepoint Server 2007 packs some cosmetic improvements to accessibility, but considerable development will be needed to resolve out-of-the-box problems.
- Originally published: 22 Oct 2007 in Technical
Flash is 10
Love it or hate it, after a decade of design Flash is still with us and with impressive video support, it’s still relevant.
- Originally published: 13 Dec 2006 in Technology
The forced downgrade: going back to Visio for web prototyping
What happens when you have to drop your fancy prototyping software and go back to Office apps?
- Originally published: 8 Nov 2008 in Technical
Smart clients dress in grey
I’ve been working on several .NET Smart Clients recently. A Smart Client is a hybrid application in that the user runs it from the desktop, but its data is provided by
- Originally published: 21 Mar 2006 in Technical
Who you gonna call?
Hello you, I'm Mike Padgett. I'm not a Princeton curator, Knoxville mayoral candidate, Kentuckian pastor or Arizona journalist, I just share the same name. In fact, I am a consultant working in user experience and information design.
I also enjoy travel, concerts, films and walking.
I'm originally from Yorkshire, England but nowadays I live in Belgium. My current favourite Belgian beer is Black Albert.
Shameless self-promotion
Over a year in the making, Dopeology.org is my latest personal project: a topology of doping in thirty years of European pro road cycling.
I collected information from thousands of sources, then I modelled and published it via a lightweight user interface.
Comments
No responses yet to The brown noses of the BBC
Why not give me your comments?