Microsoft and the Massive 7 UK Con
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The internet is probably the most useful place any American can go to for a bargain. In the UK the situation’s slightly different: Yes; UK people can find things at a decent price on the net most of the time and/or cheaper than in most High Street shops; but the way the cookie crumbles favours Americans. I’m not sure whether this is why Americans use the internet a lot more than the British; or whether it’s a result of the British using the internet less, possibly due to the comparative lack of education and abundance of negativity in UK culture when compared with the American equivalent. – ‘Sorry Brits; but honestly we’re going to end up a nation of half-witted moronic thugs and delinquents unless something radical happens, and soon. I’m not going into politics right now: But perhaps I should; as the stuck-up self-interested privileged “elite” currently in UK politics who have allowed this situation to deteriorate over the last few generations seem to hardly be able to run a bath; let alone a country. The term “Americans” herein refers to those who are resident in the US and Canada. I found it rather, to all intents and purposes, racist, that an overwhelming number of sometimes crazy offers that appear on the internet are only available to US and Canadian residents. One such offer concerns Microsoft’s up and coming operating system; Windows 7: An article by Rich Menga on PCMech.com; which is run from Tampa, Florida, by David Risley and others, announces the headline: - “Windows 7 Home Premium Pre-Order, $49.99 Upgrade, $199.99 Full” Inside the article; Rich clearly states: - “Starting today, if you pre-order Windows 7 as an upgrade, the Home Premium Edition (which is what most people would go for) is just a tick under $50. See below.” Wow; that’s amazing! I can order my own copy at a massive discount! (The three images below are copied directly from Rich’s article on PC Mech.)
“The full versions start with Home Premium at $199.99. That’s still steep, but it is cheaper than Vista. See below.”
“What versions of Windows qualify you for the upgrade?"Windows Vista or Windows XP. Yes, XP qualifies be it Home or Pro Edition. Is says so right on the Office Depot sale page for this product. “
Brilliant! I run XP professional and Windows 7 RC. – I qualify! “A near-60% discount on the purchase of Home Premium means this is the cheapest Windows upgrade we’ve seen in a very long time. I use Windows 7 RC on a daily basis. It’s stable and solid. And now, thankfully, cheap (at least for the upgrade). This upgrade offer lasts from today, June 26 to July 11. Where to get it?The links go directly to the Windows 7 pre-order page for the respective vendor.” I attempted to order from Amazon.com: They are unable to ship this product to my address. I looked at Office Depot… Office What? ‘Never heard of them. – An exclusively American company.# I tried the Microsoft Store: The words “United States” were written in the banner at the top of the page. I was asked to sign in with my Windows Live ID: No problem yet; but it wouldn’t allow me to leave the ‘state’ field blank, neither would it allow me to enter a British postcode in the ‘Zip’ field – So I’m stuffed there too. I know; how about if I go back and select ‘United Kingdom’ from the drop-down list that appears when I click ‘United States’ in the banner bar?.. - NO! <stifled scream> :-
I don’t want Vista. I hate Vista; Vista sucks. I’m definitely not buying it just to get 7! Even if you charged me for 7 and gave me Vista free I’d send Vista back. Hang on a minute: How much?
Unless there’s been a massive devaluation of the UK pound against the US dollar that I missed, then I make that offer about 5 times the cost in the UK as it is in the USA! – + I’ll have a copy of Vista to use as a coaster on my coffee table. If you’re in the UK and are thinking of going for this offer; my advice is don’t. Microsoft are fully aware that a lot of British people don’t have the brains they were born with, and are too lazy to even browse the internet: That’s why they’re offering you the chance to increase their Vista sales figures, so that they can say “We did well with Vista in the UK; the figures prove it.” In the meantime you’re in reality paying probably full price for Windows 7 and also jointly all buying a backlog of unsold Vista DVDs at a knock-down price just to make some room in Microsoft’s warehouse while saving on their recycling bill. Yes it stinks: It’s a big con, and if you’ve already fallen for it then Microsoft saw you coming a while ago. Well Brits: Don’t all just sit there with your stiff upper lip, tutting and murmuring “Terrible!”: Get your arse in gear and complain; to the EU bureaucrats you’ve just elected, (– Let’s see how helpful the BNP can be, eh?) to Parliament, to the European Court of Human Rights, to Microsoft themselves even. You, me, and every Windows user in the UK who owns a computer and wants an operating system upgrade are being ripped off! Are you going to let them get away with it? What did you say? – “What’s it worth to me?” – About £120 odd; that’s how much you’re being ripped off for. Are you just going to take it lying down? – No don’t answer that.
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Politico-geek
| An intellectual geek, self-confessed nerd, soon-to-be online-marketing-success-story, professional blogger and family man; David Risley could quite easily be described as Tampa’s “Mr Tech”.
“David Risley is an internet entrepreneur and professional technology blogger. With about 10 years of experience in this field, David has a solid and practical understanding of the web and what works. He is the founder and President of PC Media, Inc., a Tampa-Bay based company active in internet media publishing. |
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| Recently, in an entry posted 15th July 2008 to be exact, he posted what appears to be a one-off foray into politics. http://www.davidrisley.com/2008/07/15/bloggers-for-obama-lemmings-for-something-shiny/
Using his excellent flowingly-articulate writing-style he managed to keep the coverage to as level a playing-field as possible, showing very little if any of his personal political preference, yet still succeeding in giving the mass-ranks of pro-Obama bloggers a flea in the ear for their one-sided biased coverage of Barack Obama’s political campaign.
Did David really keep the playing field level though, and did he, a professional tech blogger, inadvertently take a step into territory where the nerd-angels fear to tread? His second paragraph starts off:”We’re in the election season and that means we’re seeing lots of politics online. Since I follow social media, I can clearly [tell] which of the candidates seems to be the favorite of the blogosphere: Barack Obama.” |
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| OK so much for proof-reading; but ignoring an honest accidental mistake in leaving a single word out; does the above indicate any political preference or bias? It could be loosely construed if this passage is taken by itself ignoring the rest of the article that by his mention only of Obama he sets a biased tone for the underlying theme.
However in reality we have to take the post as a whole and analyse the bigger picture.Further down he shows a more balanced approach when inculcating both candidates. : He states:”I have no doubt Barack Obama is a good man. I have no reason not to like him. But, when I see bloggers so blindly vouch for the guy, and so eagerly blame Bush for anything and everything and find every possible fault in John McCain…” Is this really balanced though, or does it have a supportive slant for McCain? By itself perhaps; although once again we must look at the bigger picture. Let’s do just that from a statistical point of view:- Mentioning of Candidates Obama: 7 mentions McCain: 1 mention Can any conclusion be drawn from this? I wouldn’t say so despite the repeated mentions of Obama: After all; that is part of the overall theme: Bloggers’ documentation of Obama’s campaign in exclusion of and to the detriment of, McCain’s.
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| Overall it appears that David Risley has done an extremely good job of maintaining a viewpoint of neutrality despite his political convictions while covering this topic: An achievement which is rather commendable.What are David Risley’s political convictions? I have no idea honestly; and even if I did know this, the fact that I revealed them in this article of mine would lead to a distortedly-biased view of his words by the readers.
He concludes with the words:”I’m not a political blogger and I’m not going to start. I follow tech, not politics. But, as a professional blogger who wants to see blogging recognized as the profession it is, I do not want to see bloggers as a whole turn into blind lapdogs for the latest shiny political figure…”
- All-in-all a quick dip into the edges of the political quagmire out of partial-necessity using the correct safety-harness and coming out completely unscathed. This demonstrates resilience and the mark of a talented writer: There aren’t a lot of bloggers out there that could even do this; let alone in such a manner. If I were running a “Blogger of the Month Award” then I feel that this post would be a very strong front runner at this time, and could easily end up winning first prize. |
