Read 3rd party sites!!!!!!!! I can't stress this enough. Don't listen to websites and companies talk about their own products. Don't listen to that guy at frys or best buy either. They usually do not know what they are talking about sufficiently or are encouraged to push certain products and always... insurance plans. (hint, for most products most of the time, you don't need any store offered insurance plan.)
I know this is going to sound crazy, but companies LIE to you when they talk about their products.
No, they’re not out right lies, of course not, because then thanks to our wonderful legal system they would be sued.
But they are half truths. Favored Benchmarks. Selective comparisons, and much more.
See, companies spend millions of dollars on advertising and marketing, as well as on their legal teams. They know exactly what you want to hear, how you want to hear it, and how they can tell you that without getting in trouble. You think I’m being extreme? Just read about “n150” routers. Or look at any company’s “competitive analysis.” Or better yet, watch some of these videos…
Everything that makes the Tab “better” is in fact quite debatable. Also hard to believe, but the world does not need adobe flash, albeit it is sometimes nice.
Ok wow, this commercial does so many things right.
Ok, I have to admit, I have the utmost respect for Apple’s marketing team. (I also really love their products, they are good.) They are scary good at what they do. Too good. “Jobs’ Distortion field” may be fake but his marketing teams are extremely talented.
Watch this video, and think about these realizations…. Apple knows what you want to hear, and they are telling you just that. They’re not lying, but they fail to mention little things like how much that slick cover costs or that the front camera is crap and you will want to upgrade when the ipad3 comes out... That being said, I love this video, I think the product is great, and I think its the best video of tech marketing… ever. Just listen to how he says “aluminum” and try not to want this product.
There are a lot of 3rd party sites out there. They are worth reading. You can gain real knowledge and better yourself to understand this crazy fast changing tech ruled world.
There are some distinctions, that the reader should understand….
There are News sites and blog sites…. Editorial Reviews And User reviews…..
Some sites focus on news but have editorial reviews… and usually all sites, even stores have user reviews.
Many sites now combine all those features I have mentioned.
News Sites and Blog (rumor) sites
They are useful for seeing what is coming next, where things are going, which companies are doing smart things, dumb things, mean things, nice things. The comments on these articles also give you an idea of what the general population’s views on these things are.
I would not trust their comments however for reviews, or any factual content.
I would check their facts for consistency with other 3rd party news sites. Believe it or not, but modern journalism no longer lives in newspapers and magazines, its on the web. This means that although NY Times and the WSJ still have websites and are reputable, a lot of breaking news comes on other sites that do not necessarily have the same standards of journalistic integrity. What you read can not be true. You have to be smart.
This is especially true of people’s personal blogs (yes, even mine,) where people’s opinion often supersedes facts. Does this make blogs useless? Of course not (otherwise why would I write this?) you just have to use some common sense when you do research on the web. If it sounds fishy, it probably is.
One must remember than many prominent news sites are actually collection of many people’s blogs that get posted on this site. Opinion, like I just mentioned, often can get in the way of facts and you have to look out for that.
Rumor sites, are another fun little bundle of joy the internet brings to us. These sites tell us all kinds of wonderful things like Microsoft fired Steve Balmer, Jobs is dying, and the next iPhone will run Windows.
Rumors can be right. They can at least be interesting and give you ideas about whats coming.
But people are also dumb and have really bad ideas. Besides that they only get half the story, over emphasize things, and sometimes just lie. Often times “analysts” are just pulling things out from whence they should not pull things out of. They really don’t know what they are talking about.
Editorial Review and User Reviews
Editorial Reviews
Ok, so these are where you find good, trustworthy, 3rd party reviews of all kinds of products. You can mostly trust these articles. These people have no connections with any specific company and honestly mention features, problems, and personal preferences.
The one thing they lack, however, is exposed time with the device. Usually, these guys get several things from companies and only have a few days, one day, or maybe just several hours with the device. This lets them get a general feel for it as well as notice any glaring problems. What it doesn't do is let them see reliability. How can they? Will it last one year? One month? One week? They can’t answer that.
They also can’t answer how many products will be defective. They usually receive samples (rather than retail) versions from companies which I'm sure are tested to make sure they work right. So the device which is reviewed works great but what they don’t tell you is %25 percent of these products are defective (lemons).
This is where we turn to customer reviews. Customer reviews, are sometimes good, sometimes bad. One must realize many people have no idea what they’re talking about yet feel compelled to rant about it on the internet because... they can. (ok, stop snickering about me right now, I beg to differ.)
So usually I don’t trust them for their specific features, performance etc content. However, they are quite useful to see if a product is not reliable, or has quality control issues. Sometimes you do find very good, very informative reviews as well, but I imagine for one who does not know a lot about technology (and for whom this blog is intended) they will not be able to discern the difference.
When I do research on an upcoming product, I will actually look at the 1st party website just to see what they say, find at least 2 rumors rumors saying the same thing, and most importantly wait until actual official news of some kind is released about the product. Trust me, no one is going to know exactly what the next iPhone will be like until Apple releases it.
When I do research on a product to buy, I try to find at least 2 independent 3rd party reviews as well as many user reviews. When all of those are good, you can be pretty confident the product will be awesome.
Here are some sites I very much respect and enjoy.
General tech news and reviews and rumors
Tech rumors and news
Apple and general tech rumors, news, and reviews
CNET does everything. And although I often consult them, I don’t trust their reviews very much to be honest. I always try to find another review to go with or against their opinion and usually find that other site is right. By doing everything, they don’t do much very well.
One of my favorites. Also does everything, but more focused on computer tech, so they do it well.
Solid reviews and editorials
Great site for PC hardware, reviews and news. Very technical, very good
Another great site for PC hardware reviews and news. Perhaps even more technical; great for PSU reviews
Great place to buy tech stuff, and has some of the best user reviews around
Wonderful site for technical reviews of routers
Great site for technical reviews of PSUs
Good site for more hardware focused news and reviews
There are also several good over clocking forums and more specific hardware sites that are good.
Good places to buy things from include…
Amazon.com, and it is pretty good for user reviews
Best buy
Newegg.com
Apple stores. Well, just for apple stuff anyway.
I will probably develop this section more later in life… you know, when I actually own and buy my car. Still, this site is worth mentioning for those looking for whats coming next.
Great site for Car news
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