For those who review for communities…

So.. someone contacted me via email from a company which didn’t really get a hold of the Indian market yet (strange, because the memory kits that you see are mostly G Skills around the state capitals to say the least- and then you happen to see Corsair XMS3- and then few value memory kits) but they have a track record of making good stuff Not the first time, in 6 months this is probably the second and in both times- I haven’t received a reply. They remind me of another Taiwan representative of another company a year back with similar tier 1 manufacturer (the guy I am talking about are from Taiwan too). An impression is made (it feels that way- yeah) that they are willing to give you that stuff “for free” (or maybe a favour) if you write favourable review and post it on all forums. Yeh -THIS is happening in India. Right now. I refused.. and someone else I know is refusing.. and someone else who is associated with lan gaming also refused it. So.. eventually they’re going to bump into those guys who will do stuff for free stuff. Yes- we have THOSE type of writers too- some of them are even reading this. I find it more strange that a company with a decent/good track record is asking folks to do this- maybe because companies who dont make good stuff do this? Nah- that’s the reason…or is it?

But I am talking from their perspective. This is from us as in writers and contributors and “contributors”. In short-term, maybe it’s not a “big deal” unless you’re using it to bash other brands to make this brand look good and to impress them long enough to let them keep it- or over-exaggerating facts/lying like an idiot. If you do that, that’s not cool. Let’s admit it: there are those who do not mind doing it for free stuff. Its more of a tradeoff according to them. In short-term, maybe…just maybe it’s not bad. I mean.. hey! it’s not your job to convince people. you’re an honest guy ((right?))

NNNNNnooooo… its a no for me.

Forum owners/moderators won’t come to know about it. They usually don’t. You end up relying on your instincts. But if a product is actually good and other reviews pretty much say the same thing, then its all good…or that’s how they think.

That’s why if you see international forums, the owners and mods are real enthusiasts who are involved deep in the community deep enough to know that 1 is writing for freebie or not. They keep a control on such people. You might not know, but if you are doing a special rig build on behalf of a company or a group of company -money is involved. So they ask for money in exchange of letting it to be published. That’s fair enough -community needs money to sustain itself. But there are those who get few hardware from companies and they spend their own money -like how Rakesh Sharma did…and he blew some stuff accidentally part and parcel of such rigs being built.

In long-term, it is a big deal. You spend a lot of time testing hardware and your own money to produce a content. It’s fair you should get something from it. Only way: ad revenues. There are some “promotional plans” that some people have and that’s fair enough as long as it does not influence the review.

It came on xtremesytems and The Overclocker that people who put reviews on forums 90% of them do it for freebies. Favourable reviews in exchange for free hardware. They don’t say it directly- I am not sure how you’re supposed to understand because I got 3 contacts like that- 1 stuff turned up to be a meh! and impression is made that they didn’t really like it so they cut communications -2nd…yeah pretty good stuff. I was happy (because it was genuinely good) and they were happy (not because it was genuinely good maybe…well…I don’t know how Taiwan PRs think..they’re a different breed that I feel intimidated with some of such PRs only because I get confused with what they’re trying to say and with what they’re saying in literal sense). 3rd…well..they’re trying to say (or at least that’s what I am able to understand) is that it would be nice to write a positive review and post on multiple forums. They’re trying really hard for few months and they asked someone else too. So.. maybe if you see such review from a guy who is in the forums for a very long time, I’ll know. I’ll not say it out loud- except maybe to few people. Its down on their consciousness so..yeah.

I am confused. Yes, usually I am confused in the real world but I was more confused than I ever was ask bikey and Machine man- THEY know. I think…

But my instincts were sort of in the right place because they made a similar pitch to someone else- and they decided not to reply it so I guess its fair enough because he does not intend to go down THAT road. I did reply (I always do….mostly) and I did say “in the same tone of language” (not very easy way of communication) that they were using that “you can go ahead and send the media sample but you need to acknowledge that if a product is genuinely good- why do I need to say something extra?”. They haven’t replied back. So…I guess they understand.

Its right from my side because I write for long-term and I don’t want to belong to that 90%- and I try – so far its a success. I have a lot to learn so… yeah. I am sure the Indian enthusiasts have felt that when they read some reviews from a particular writer that it looks more like a marketing pitch. Sure, they will get +1s and likes and stuff from their peers. But hey, back of your head- you know. And eventually you lose interest. So such writer gets affected. That’s how the real world works. The things you do or willing to “compromise” has consequences.

We live in a shepard-sheep mentality- and we all follow it- in some way or the other. Besides, you need good enough hardware to use it on your test bench. Not “awesome” and “expensive” hardware- but something good enough that can be with you for…2-3 years atleast- or at least long enough like 6 months, especially when its done with the circulation. Some companies (that I’ve heard) would love you to use it on your test setup and mention it.

Why PRs do it? Because maybe times when some reviewers say “what if…” like how Eurozone replaced a drive in PS3 with a hybrid storage drive and that turned to produce good results…and then with an SSD which produced better results. When such reviewers put up articles, they mention the model so that people will know what did you use to get that result. I am using the word: maybe. Maybe there’s no reason at all. There are those who really would love you to use their product and know what you think of it. If THIS happens with you- that’s because of pure respect. I remember when Harshal said that someone came out of nowhere and gave a kit like that when he was in GOOC (I think it was GOOC) so…there ya go!

I am not sure how that favours PR in that sense, but I usually say thank you. I remember before I started BBQ, 1 specific person from Chip made an indirect/direct comment that “why would you thank someone for giving this?” well..I don’t say thanks because I got something for free. If one thinks that way, then life is going to suck. I know it’s a media sample and they have their reasons to do so- probably for the one above- and they know that I know. I am saying it- out of courtesy. I mean, if you’re saying this then I can’t imagine what goes through your mind if someone gives you a birthday gift. You’re not gonna flash that “mightier than thou” attitude. You’re gonna say thanks even if its re-wrapped old gifts (don’t boo me…people do that…and that’s why I believe giving a gift voucher makes much better present for birthdays and maybe weddings) . It’s not that you necessarily mean it. But you say it. Its courtesy. It still has the power to bring warm and fuzzy feeling on the other person (then again, it might suck if you bring fuzzy feeling on the person that you’re not interest so….yeaaaaah). Since YOU are the one who said it: You’ll never ever EVER get a cake!!! An illusion will be made that you are getting a cake and you’re eating it- but you and I know: dude, the cake is a lie!!!

Unlike regular users- reviewers don’t get a lot of time to have intimate moment with their hardware (no…not that version of intimate…behave, you!!!). All the more reasons it makes sense for reviewers to be in constant connection with a user who gets a hands on a lot of things and uses it regularly. You tend to learn good shit. Contrary to popular belief: Reviewers are supposed to have constant communication with readers and such users more than users interacting with reviewers. That’s the only way you learn from a different perspective. Yes.

I remember I put up a review of WD hard drive that taken some time to come out. It was a genuinely great drive and I said it in simple terms. Before putting it in forums itself, People contact me in email or via FB/Forum PM that they’re not able to find it. Yeah…I didn’t say the release date because shipping usually takes a toll- and it happens. Same thing happened with Seagate drive (2nd gen momentus XT 750GB). Then because of so much issues in price and all, I put a disclaimer that I’ll not be judging internal hard drives, based on price because of availability issues taken most of the stuff for a toss.  But it showed that people are reading it and they are genuinely interested in good stuff- far more than before. And I am honoured that people slowly are giving weight to my reviews and conclusion.

But I have few issues that I wish I can vent out freely and there are times I wish I can mention their names- and be done with it. But I can’t because unfortunately the world is evolved in such a way that you cannot make horse out of donkeys, the person I refer to is irrelevant- the actions is what is relevant. Some guys here even in India who write for tech sources said that they didn’t like the way I write because I make them look bad. I was pretty flabbergasted at first but they didn’t the real reason- except maybe I was contradicting theirs- all the more strange. I know some people in this business who say “Why would I give anything more than 70 out 100 to someone who doesn’t give us ad revenues” or “why would I give an award to those who never even given us ad revenues”. I am not saying all do it- nor I am saying people do it with “full intensity”. But some people say it. That’s why power users don’t trust reviews. I know. This is what one guy I know told me and I do believe him because he has interaction with his crowd and he’s not one of those guys who will beat around the bushes.

Then someone in the forums has issues- and he’s a writer. He conveniently “mistyped” (yeah right!! A person who is writing for a long time is mistyping the words “ripping off”- cool story, bro!!) that I rip off/plagiarise content and he had issues with me using the BBQ watermark. Fair enough from their point. If you have such issues then: Pay me for my time, give me a test rig (most of the hardware that I use is something I purchased for my personal use) and you pay for other expenditures and give me a workplace plus an acknowledgement that I officially write for you- on paper- and with a condition that you will butt-off from changing/altering my articles without my consent. Correct me if I am wrong- fair enough? I mean if you want to bring that “publisher corporation” mentality it works both ways.

I haven’t told them because it was stupid. If I really told them they’re going to have the same point of view that I have about them. But here’s a simple fact: I am not running a forum. Unlike couple of guys (at least- I think its sumonpathak and some guy called power_user_ex) from OCFREAKS who are leaching members from digit and techenclave via PM (Deja vu- at least something like happened in India alone…5 times out of which 2 of them are now shut down… like battlestar galatica- someone has to be smart enough to break this cycle), I am not running a forum- nor I intend to. People read BBQ and then…that’s it, they do their thing. I don’t like the concept of starting forums. Too much work. Besides, that way I see how newer forum came out- they target the same crowd. Its silly and stupid. Its going to be the same conversation and stuff over and over. If you go and interact with lan gamers and few bloggers and even power users- you’ll be amazed that we have more end users who such hardware at least much more than the amount of users who joined the  forums. A company in Bangalore is setting up a small meet with bloggers and end users to have a discussion. Its not publicized and I was invited but unfortunately its in Bangalore and BBQ is not in that level that I can spend money from it to travel for such stuff…yet (To that particular person- yes he knows – wipe that silly smirk off your face- 600D is coming next month ) . Before you think I am being arrogant- I am not. I don’t know everything but then again- communities should have that “life” that makes you want to come over and over. That’s how you learn. You don’t mug up shit, you learn stuff with that “zing” flavour. If you’re being a literate asshole then God have mercy on your soul because karma is a bitch.

What I am trying to say is that reviewers (even for short-term and non professional guys) are not PRs and not sales guys making pitches. If you want to be, I think there might be an opening in Star CJ (oooh please- don’t boo me!! ). If you are trying to be one: then there are consequences. You lose trust and you lose credibility. You also develop that “friction” where people don’t believe you and you lose readership (lose….looose…lose). Its not easy to be honest towards the readers because everyone has their own reasons to do what they do- to earn. But you need to learn the art of “balancing” by keeping those such people happy with one leg and 1 hand tied behind your back…. and producing honest, unadulterated and…downright to the point reviews.

This works but it has limitations. Sometimes they might not like it and even blacklist you. But if you’re a long-term reviewer and you eventually gain readership based on trust and credibility- that blacklist magically becomes into a whitelist. Your and your only goal are your readers. They spend their hard-earned money based on your recommendations -some of them are also PR guys (yeah well- all of them work their butt off so that they can earn money to buy something- its a cycle). I mean…whom you rather be? A writer who gets +1s and “likes” but in reality you are being used and people don’t trust you…..OR…a reviewer who many people hate for your attitude and arrogance/pride/whatever fancy word you want to use…but they can’t ignore you because: you’re professional and your credibility, conclusions and readership value cannot be overlooked.

Yes, a lot of people will hate you for it- so much that they’re going to behave like jerks and quote rules like patent trolls and say stupid stuff like “….oh that’s because back then there wasn’t such RULES that existed”. Some of those people will even ignore you- talk behind your back in one of those little gay groups online as if they are circling around a bonfire (or some shit)… but you have your readership. Besides, you become big and all, they’re gonna lick you from top to bottom (not in the literal sense). That’s how the shit rolls: the more readership you gain, the more power you get to be honest- and more honest you are and able to market that honesty (far more easier and takes least effort than marketing bullcrap- even products), the more readership you gain. A level of consistency and growth needs to be present as well.

I think I am the other guy (yeah…sue me for being arrogant now)…I mean..atleast one person said something like “we let THAT one slide because of the stuff and the way he writes”. Not the same set of words, but yeah something like that. You might say shit like “I am being too childish” or “you’re doing personal attacks” well..I rather say it on your face (well..maybe I might not get that chance all the time…but maybe by max via phone….) vent it all out and be done with it and not beating around the bush and behave like a sour-puss. Most of all, to that person whom I removed from my FB contacts, I rather be myself than to be a push-over who is commanded by his peers. Man, where’s your pride? Be a man and stand up for what’s right rather than telling me to understand. The way I see it, you’re not so different from those people who are unfortunately have to pretend to be buddy buddy on “the other forum”, huh? Think about it.

Its a tradeoff. You might try to justify it but…nah. A part of it that I do is for me is because I love doing it and the increase in readership is also a strong motive for me to push Hardware BBQ FAR more than before. Yeah, money will come once the crowd increases a lot and eventually i’ll earn from ad revenues enough that I can hire guys like me and make this as a proper thing- but like those reputed guys I know- ain’t gonna do favours. I’ll do things honestly and practice professionalism to the best of my ability, but you need to respect that as well.

What happened to those days? When mods used instincts and better judgement rather than rules and regulations like “the law of the land”?  Stupid trolls.. now people are getting jobs based on their trolling experience in forums. That’s how patent trolls came in picture. Lawyers and some managers….YEAAAAAH.

Sad world we live in: They hate you while you’re alive and pretend to like you and all that when you’re dead. Same bunch of people who throw that attitude that will not make you hesitate to kick in the balls so hard that they’ll spit it out their mouth. I am sorry if you’re reading this first thing in the morning- which all the more reason…..nah….or else this small little blog will lack that “personality”. Besides, I use this to vent it out. Either you ride the shitstorm (again!!) fille with cheesy cliche’s or stay away from the ROFLCOPTER tides.

Set of question to Tech P.R.s I wanna ask…

Yeah, long time. That’s not important.

This is…
I was watching Tech guru show in CNBC Awaaz. They were putting a system together for I think about 30k with AMD Radeon 6670 with a VIP power supply *rolls eyes*. I am not going to say anything about those guys because there’s no point. Here’s a set of questions to Tech PRs.

#1. Why don’t you ask your media guys if they have a fixed test bench (yes it matters) setup?

#2. Why don’t you ask about their testing methodology, especially when there’s a chance that wrong testing methodology can easily make a good product look bad (and maybe a bad product look good)?

#3. Why not ask about their rating system and on what basis they give an award? (fair question to ask considering a general impression is made that no1 seems to be having a standard testing methodology and I don’t think “I don’t like a desktop therefore….” type guys should evaluate notebooks…i mean come on!!!)

#4. Why not think for a moment: what’s the point in giving media samples to people with a fear that since you don’t know if one has a fixed testing metholody and a standard test bench setup (and worse- to those who put up system with exotic power supplies that will make the user take maybe more than 1 trips to lamington)- they’re gonna trash talk anyways and support someone based on vague/improper testing. Fact.

There’s more questions but I think you get the basic picture. The reason why pc tech is so…..seemingly non existent in a population where a lot of people buy a lot of systems, out of which few (but significant amount- considering there were times i see people walking away with corsair H50 whenever i entered prime few months ago) put up decent systems which are good enough for gaming. The problem is not “how many people we have who are interested in tech?” the problem is “Is the information flow proper and accurate?” because if this crowd matures- and they get convinced of such bullshit, karma pretty much circles around like a bitch that a good product might get psyched out REAL bad and maybe a bad product will look good- which if you see in the long run is bad in both scenarios. I am sure that when the Taiwan PRs read all that crap they ask you a lot of question- a LOT of them. You try to battle it out, because talking to the journos and reviewers (and “reviewers”) is as good as knocking your head against a concrete wall at most parts. Then that impression is made by Taiwan counterparts: boy these (they might use the word Indian, but that’s irrelevant to the nationality so let’s not get senti and get offended) guys don’t know anything at all!

This is bad. For you as a PR, for consumers who feel pissed off that Indian management don’t bother (according to them) to understand the needs of their users and well…for people in the middle too.

Why you as a PR should ask these questions and why am I asking you to do this? Well- being with a lot of people, an impression is made that between journos and PR guys, PR guys are competent and quick on the feet. You’re like one of those types where we can have a proper discussion about stuff- to a certain but better than that crap extent. You should because you take care of your brand and as of now most of you guys take care of tier 1 products (And also tier 2 and couple of them dealing with brands that import bulk chinese hardware and etch their indian brands name on it- and don’t bother to deny) and if one doesn’t have a fixed testing methodology  and test bench so that comparison will be accurate enough- your product will (yes- WILL) be shown in the bad light.

MSI!! I don’t know if you are reading this (I believe you did say something like this in the phone once) but this episode in CNBC awaaz, your gaming notebooks was banged and embarrassed by a bunch of people who make flash games for mobile phones for a living. I am not saying that they aren’t into pc gaming, but deeming them gaming gods and having people nod their heads off like a boggleheads drunks- comeon!!

What was tech guru even thinking getting THOSE guys? No bother- atleast I wont! What were the guys saying- “ooh its too heavy its not even like a laptop” and shit- yeah well- gaming notebooks are in the same league as desktop replacements- THEY ARE DESKTOP REPLACEMENTS. Some other guy said he rather buy a Tata nano and a psp. Yeah- cool story, bro!!!

And the other guy. 25k-30k worth system? 6670 with a vip power supply? Dude!!! That’s just wrong- and you know it (well… the title did say you are an assistance editor so….). Looks like the entire episode was made to bash gaming notebooks in general. Its bad. They just got some case (from circle) and put it together and he said proudly “Look!!!! I even saved 4K!!!!” YAY!!!! *sarcasm*

It might look I am making fun of them (well..not entirely.. I dont take any fun in this…. and I am a bad liar) but we need to look beyond it. This is going to hit us back and this is going to discourage the hardware scene. Your clients sitting overseas will judge the population based on these guys and people will not get the good stuff. Taiwan PRs ask questions about testing methodology too- so its really nothing new. I am not saying to go crazy (I would like to see that happening) on them but ask questions. Make them look. They’re not gonna look and do it propely and since one will have to admit that most of these journos are spoonfed and made fat and spoilt for a long time, you’re the only guys to whip them in shape. Laziness becoming an excuse not to do things properly is dangerous. They can’t do their jobs because they just can’t look because they say that they are packed with work and stuff (guess what dude- so is me- so talk to the hand!!!) and they are SO lazy that you will fortunately or unfortunately take a hot iron rod and ask them series of questions. Let’s be honest: techtree is good as dead, especially since most of them were “asked” to leave long time ago. So will these shows (maybe not magazines and few online sites because they get heavy ad revenues to stay in business and you guys need the mass viewer exposure) they will be extinct- but the impression these guys have will not only stay- but it will grow. They won’t consider India for having technical telephonic conferences (when someone makes a presentation, some idiots laugh their ass off in full glory and make others look bad) they wont consider flying in people for technical seminars and presentations, they won’t even consider to send anything before NDA is lifted, especially by a bunch of people who have a habit of spilling the beans. and its worse.

PRs. ask questions. its good to ask questions. Then you can make a decision: you can either intervene and express doubts about a testing methodology or you can be relaxed that the least that can happen is that a genuine bad product will be deemed as a bad product and it wouldn’t matter because most will pretty much say the same thing- or discontinue.

Feedbacks? Yeah- its good to ask but here’s a question. What the point in reading a review and then asking for feedbacks? The review should reflect the feedback (extracted from criticisms and doubts and all that). Either you haven’t read it and understood- or there’s no feedback- or its covered with rainbow vomit. If there’s no feedback, then unless its a dead horrible product he’s just saying B.S. and he’s not sure but he just said whatever came in his mind because “he is busy to take care of other stuff”. I am not saying that these guys are entirely dumb at the same time, but…some of them will need encouragement for the greater good.

At the same time, you guys need to consider giving few stuff to people who follow proper procedures so that they can use the hardware to test other products. If you’re going to say “its not going to be beneficial for us” well.. its not really gonna work in the long run. Being honest and accurate is expensive.

But if they spew out B.S., you have to wonder- why bother with such people? Food for thought. There’s no point denying that you guys do a lot of feeding to media, especially those TV aunties from Zee business (and if they read it- which I highly doubt- stop trying to mimick American accent)- so it should end to bite you back.  If the criticism is justified you don’t have to worry about because its a genuine criticism and it doesn’t make sense to argue on this or try to convince the reviewer because one realizes “yeah- he’s right”. More of this happening, more people will think- this is for real and more people will bring stuff for the buyers. Everyone goes happy- except maybe you guys because you’re sorta doing the taser work.

Ask questions based on doubts. Why!! A very good and most important question of all.

Chopping off the rat’s tail for RMA: Razer’s 2nd year warranty claim turning out sour for people’s taste

Hey, one thing you should/can give a credit to me to say the least- whether you like me or not (especially YOU!!!) a lot of people do read this shit. I mean- come on!! People who claim/behave they are busy but there have shown “some” indications that they keep a regular eye on my facebook. Its creepy, because unfortunately the people who keep an eye on it are guys. Saurabh always says “Dude, there are way too many guys around here- where the f**k do you see women around??” I mean- yeah. Gender ratio gone for a toss sadly. Parents need to stop exporting girls out of the country before we become an all-guy country. That’s not cool. I guess that’s why a lot of guys want to leave country. The things we do what we best (No…not THAT silly!!)

Nah! This got nothing to with Razer. THIS! This is what you need to check out! Yeah- another warranty rants. But you see, the reason why I create such threads on the forums is that people get this opportunity to put it out for everyone to see and so that I can show it to everyone. Those who read here? Lamers, crybabies, forum guys, the awesomesauce, company suits and 100% backbone support PR guys (almost most of them anyways). It does work- to a small (but not insignificant extent) way. Atleast it creates a spark in people’s mind to do the needful. There are some companies that I do bash and I admit, I do get….excited but they see the point I see rather than how I deliver it so its pretty cool. I have respects for everyone, but I never let that stop me to keep my mouth shut.

The thread that I am talking about is this. To sum it all up Razer wired mouses have 2 years warranty. 1st year is taken care by the Indian distris but the second is taken care by Razer. In the box it says 2 years (the older ones- I atleast I don’t think I’ve seen warranty period being mentioned on razer imperator 2012′s packaging which BTW- is a con in my books). The problem is that buyers are not being told by the dealers about this. Few months ago when I bought a mecha board for myself in Prime ABGB, I’ve asked them about the warranty period in razer’s wired mouses. They said its 2. I’ve told them NO! Distris take care of it for 1 year only. Ashok had to make few calls- and that’s when Prime came to find out. If a store like Prime ABGB does not know about it, imagine other stores!!! And if dealers do not know, how will the buyers know???

What I really do not like is that if someone pays 2-6k for a mouse for gaming knowing that he has 2 years of warranty period but when he claims RMA on second year, he comes to know the hard part. He then has to email Razer and then Razer sends instructions to do the needful. Bottle did the same but he had to RMA his Deathadder twice. The problem is a lot of time gets wasted. Even bigger (as he indicated) that he was charged by customs to cough up Rs. 600.

I’ve asked one of the Razer Singapore guys about the warranty thing, bit before I came to know who handles Razer India (No! I knew about it before- it skipped my mind or something- sorry about that). When I asked them and they asked guys from their end, the reply came was as funny as a particular distri telling taiwan based memory manufacturer that we do not require anything more than 1600MHz CL9. They said that this is the procedure that everyone follows. OMG!!!! Everyone???? O RLY??? *sarcasm*

Coolermaster storm mouses come with 2 years warranty- and they handle it AFAIK (but its not mentioned on the box and yes its a con). Logitech wired mouses come with 3 year warranty support- and its mentioned on the box. If the older mouses have warranty period mention on it, why not back it up? If products come without mentioning warranty period on it- its a con. You’re damaging your own fanbase. And it does hurt!! If you’re going to say that “We cannot do anything!” then the only thing I can say is that you’ve been warned. Remember transcend!! Prevention is better than cure. Dont let distributors take your brand for a ride because gaining a lost reputation for such hardware is tough!!!

Remember transcend? Back then a lot of people bought 800MHz cl5 DDR2 with powerchip ICs. Here’s the thing some got it dirt cheap, some got it higher than other prices. Then transcend memory kits dissapeared- atleast in main cities. One fine day I listen to a wise-ass who barely picks his calls that there were people whose memory kits had a year warranty, whereas others had 2 years period. Basically its the same hardware under same brand- but different prices and hence different warranty period. This is how distributors plays you around. Then all of a sudden a lot of transcend needs to be RMAed. A major distri backed out, and the smaller ones couldn’t handle it. This damaged the company’s good name. Mind you, transcend was a household name back then. Now- other than small stores and few glimpses of flash drives and class 4 SD memory cards, do you see anything else a lot??? hmm???

Razer, do not give so much power to your distributors and please do make sure you mention your warranty period on the box. People pay a lot of money and if they don’t get atleast the support that they have to get, that’s going to leave a mark. In the meanwhile make an effort to “request” the distributors to give full warranty support. People cutting the USB mouse cable, sending it and getting it back after sometime and then one fine day our good customs guys charge the buyer. With Corsair, CM Storm, Alienware (they started off with boards to say the least) and Thermaltake sports showing few of their stuff in India (through Taiwan excellence)- especially cases and power supplies. I’ve also seen a gigabyte keyboard around too. One fine day they’ll come and if the products is so good they would probably shift there. ROG series from Asus is there. They have a headset to say the least. They’ll cook up an armada of gaming h/w any moment now. You need to buck up that part. Cure the issue rather than preventing it. Food for thought!!!

P.S.: Not a rant, just simply putting 1 of the few points across (second point is that the product lifespan is questioned by a lot of people and its not only talked about in techenclave)- mention the warranty period on the box (not on the imported by sticker please!) so that people will know what they are buying. Also, Coolermaster and Razer, some of your mouses use Phillips twin-eye sensor for the laser tracking on some gaming mouses. A lot of people from a lot of forums said it: They suck. Drifting issues are annoying. I’ve tested 4 mouses that gives an impression that they have the same mouse and the drifting issues are annoying. Surface calibration doesn’t work- atleast on cloth (goes without saying a LOT of people use cloth pad and few use hard surface) and no matter how many frimwares are out there,drifting exists- a lot!! I don’t know about others, but I find it annoying especially during FPS. An optical mouse like MX518 doesn’t even do it.

Tech press meet/Conference: Difference between how things are done here and how others do it.

I was in Singapore for a seminar about few hardware stuff. I am beyond impressed. I am still very impressed and overwhelmed about the rush of information that I’ve got and I am writing a draft while it’s still fresh in my mind so please excuse the bad sentence construction and grammar in this writeup. Most likely this would be more confusing and irrelevant to the thread title. This is what guys from tech review/media REALLY want (provided they know how to do it).

Yeah, a friend said I should have a notebook however since Hardware BBQ is still “an infant” ((Okay, let’s be realistic even compared to mainstream medias- or maybe compared to many bloggers despite, she’s got a very long way to go)). And despite seeing smooth progress, getting an even better setup for reviewing takes higher priority. No week goes by when I think if BBQ will be productive for me to earn money so that I can take her to another level, hire people, get better resources, learn a lot of things and even push it to a level that only the international guys were able to do it. But its best for now to work on perfecting to do proper reviews so that people can make the right decision and so that manufacturers can get feedbacks and bridge the gap. Yeah, foolish it might sound but for now monetizing will take a step behind because we need to work on making our community stronger from ground root level and I need to work very hard to cater to that crowd. We’ll keep that conversation for another day.

There I was: Conference room. Guys from Australia, Thailand, UAE and few others from APAC region except Taiwan. The stuff that they talked and explained gave me that refreshing “feeling” that no press conferences in India has given me (Power User meets are not press conferences)- yet. It was my first REAL Tech conference. Not one of those where you will see people talking about business expansions and basic specs which usually happen in press conference here in India. In reality, those are probably more suited for “business journalists”. If a brand is more customer centric, I don’t think they care much about Indian economy and all that jazz.

When I came back and when I checked my mails (Yeah, sorry about that) one of the suits “really” wanted to have a massive (yes they used that word) Power User’s meets sort of “indirectly” hinting towards Asus‘ meet not too long time ago. Yes, the eyes are around. I guess few manufacturers like motherboards, memory kits who happen to make SSDs and even PSU/Cooling/Gaming have realized that having a proper power user meet on a yearly basis makes more sense than having press conference. Reality is bad, but its the truth (I think the best to say “from my perspective”). Most (yeah most is the right word) journos come. Out of which TV journos do their video thing and “exclusive” interview at times, print/online journos in reality take few pictures, clear the food and the drink (all are non-alcoholic btw- for good reasons I guess) then just put a press release. There are few bloggers as well. There are very handful of people asking the right questions, most ask questions like “How would your company’s growth contribute to the Indian economy?”, some…welll..they ask exotic questions when people ask series of questions that pretty much stuns everyone.

Yeah- I know. I am drifting away. Reality- the one I’ve attended in Singapore is something I can say with a very high note of confidence that it was my first REAL tech conference/seminar. Nobody said “I will get back to you on this” or “We’ll have to check on that”. They knew what they were saying and they know what kind of questions you will probably ask. And the fact that Shamino did one of the presentations, it was brilliant. He explained everything so well and so precise that everyone was left speechless. Everyone -even the Aussies and Thai guys had to take some time to ask the questions because the entire presentations did not have any vague stuff. Such presentation, in full glory, is something who knows what they are saying, how it works and RnD specialists can only give. I had a hard time containing my excitement that  a guy like me not only met shamino but also being in the same room and listening to his explanations.

Will we ever have such conference in India where even the presence of International Press? Maybe not to press (Most Indian journos expect maybe 3-6 of them) but most likely with End Users- and maybe handful of guys from certain media to “hang around”. Afterall since there isn’t any form of media in India catering to that crowd (I still have a long way to go before calling myself as the media guy) and who can understand it. The forum crowd is small, and compared to the number of people buying h/w on a daily basis, somewhat insignifcant. But hey, we are not ignored. The Indian tech forums (Techenclave and Digit, Indian Broadband forum- and no I haven’t “forgotten” to mention other Tech forum- ouchies!!!!)  makes a lot of noise and I am proud to call myself as “The forum guy”. I haven’t slept for 2 nights and I couldn’t sleep in the plane. But it was very well worth it.

But will we see people from RnD flown in to address such end users? Yes- provided they can get the right users. A time will come when I can say it out loud (yeah- bit premature from my end- proper word would be- I hope) gone are the days Indian mainstream media will say “Oh no! We can’t say that- its too “techie”. By their defination, almost all tech crowd in India are not “technically inclined”.  The fact, however, is pretty much the opposite to a small, but very much visible, extent.

Techenclave, by default, has that ability to do it properly and ethically if the senior guys are willing to invest a lot of time in it (which to a certain extent I doubt it). But I think its best if some people from the community (guys like who selflessly helped the forum without any need to be a moderator) are not only be employed as in-house PR-cum-sort-marketing-and-some-bit-of-a-sales-jack in the box to properly promote the respected brands- provided the respected brand in India is not being a PITA and not letting him do what he does best- and not forcing him to abuse his good name on the forum to help a brand. People ain’t idiots. They can probably be fooled once or twice, mostly because of the herd’s influence. They can smell a sellout when they read it. All you need is one person to point out the obvious. This way the guy does what he’s good at, he’s still an active part of the community he spent years and money (for his hardware upgrades to be “in the zone”), the company will know what to do and what not to do and everyone goes home happy- users and manufacturers. A good help is hard to come by these days anyways and most of them are discouraged/loose interest due to time, family and not able to get something out of it that will justify their full time investment in something they started out of hobby and then converted into real time passion.

Its also best if a thought to be given that people who spend a lot of time in tech forums to get jobs in such companies. Let’s face it: Most of the guys in tech journo either get a good job oversees or eventually hired by the corporates. If community forum guys join companies in a respectable position- like “power user communication specialist” or even a PR executive who has more than the usual influence, they can grow their community by understanding their needs and getting the job done accordingly- and they get paid for it. Remember, community guys learn a lot provided they do it right, but reality is that they do not get anything out of it- maybe a freebie here and there but that’s it. Hiring active community guys for a job makes more sense than hiring tech journos- in my honest opinion- provided that community guys do not abuse their influence over the forums/community to promote a brand blindly. If a product is good enough, all good. But like all people, he should work on feedbacks as much as possible.

Edit (30-10-2011): I’ve had a word with CM India. So they did use it. But they aren’t the only source that used this facility. What’s important is being neutral. If the international media houses that used this facility used it to evaluate products with no biased influence because they used the facility from one of the rivaled brands, its all good- even if the rivaled brand has a history of many bad series of power supplies. Then you might logically ask that if a brand has such sophisticated way to test product in such a manner, why have any room to have bad psu? Well- that’s one question we’ll have in our minds always.

Toms’ hardware using Coolermaster EU’s power supply testing lab equipment for reviewing power supplies? Even the Rival version?? hmm I sense a bad BAD cake.

I always had my doubts about Toms’ hardware. Always had an always will. I never was able to pinpoint it but I always had my doubts. It was as good as the itch at the back of your head in a place where you scratch it.

Left: Pics from Toms' hardware Site where they explain testing methodology. Right: Pictures from Coolermaster Europe, during the factory tour. Notice that its the same setup and the same table.

I was getting a lot of requests to test power supplies and I have refused it on the start. Ground reality: None of the mainstream media in India has a proper setup for testing such units, despite their fancy ways of creating a separate page for it and showing off their lab setup. I wished/fantasized (fantasized is the word here) to have a proper test appartus but for that I need lotsa and lotsa money!!! Let’s not forget I live in Octroi land so since such units are pretty heavy and cost $3,000 onwards (without the line conditioner, hot box setup, wiring, the works and a really good fire extinguisher **just** in case the psu is a piece of scrap beyond words), pretty much I have to get Hardware BBQ primed up and ready Big time (and fast) if I want to convert it to realistic goals.

But I found something “odd”. Out of all the stuff, the most “intimidating” and advanced setup was in Toms’ hardware. Then after sometime I got an idea to search for articles who have done factory tours on companies that manufacture power supplies. I am sure it would give some idea about how this can be done- you’ll never know.

And boy, I hit the jackpot. I then bumped into Madshrimps’ article about their factory tour in Coolermaster office, Netherlands. The pictures from this article in madshrimps are same as the one in Toms’ hardware. So is Toms’ hardware pulling a fast one infront of our eyes- or are they using CM’s setup to test power supplies- or worse- are CM guys testing/reviewing the power supplies for them ((I’ll have to admit. Its a theory based on the possibility of this happening is highly likely). I didn’t want to rant about it, because the only thing substancial is the same type of setup and table. Honestly, I needed something concrete and I didn’t really bother finding the cost of such equipments.

Today morning I was “rubbing the salt on the wound” when I asked series of people who held their upgrade plans for atleast a year for AMD Bulldozer, which unfortunately bulldozed itself in performance-power consumption benchmarks in multiple review sources.

So what made me post about it here? I didn’t find anything myself, but I lurked over a thread in overclock.net (credit to the person in Facebook who put it up somewhere but don’t who it is- sorry )and happen to see Phaedrus2129′s signature in one of the posts with the title “Why not to trust TomsHardware (for PSUs at least)“ and this pretty much kills. it. According to the thread, people were talking about this in JonnyGURU forums as well. Oh well. I remember 1 guy in a particular forum defending Toms’ hardware. I am not saying not to trust their reviews- especially psu. Chances are they might have taken it on “a rent” (lame word, I know, or maybe they had an “understanding”).If they are taking it for a rent and/or if there is something where Tom’s hardware will not influence their article just because they’re using their setup. If so, why not be upfront about it??

It could be worse. Like this one. Unless you’re Obi Von kenobi (or whatever his name is) and have the ability to sense “the force” in power supplies, such reviews are nothing more than the work of fiction.

One thing for sure, that itch ain’t my imagination- and I am speaking for myself here.

I read madshrimps, Overclock3D, Hardware Canucks, jonnyGuru and Hardware secrets, and only articles written by Anand Shimpi and to a certain extent: Jarred. Forums? Always!!! Overclock.net, techenclave, xtremesystems and geekhack forums. Digit is where I try to help people and Chip on very occasions, despite the very recent activities of displaying-err-certain tendencies.

Oh well!!! There ya go folks!! The cake is fishy.

Grumpy Indian tech bloggers are peeing all over the place- thanks to Indiblogger/Samsung Galaxy Tab contest.

Fish fingers with custard!!! I bet a lot of people tried that when The Doctor said that in S05E01.

Most of you guys know about my opinions about “tech” bloggers …well… most of them. I am the last person who thought I would do this because it’s all….”custardy“. Started by putting reviews of whatever stuff I buy in forums…one thing left to another and then our good friend Harshal sent the first media samples from Gigabyte and then after few months one thing left to another, started krystal projekt blog as a dump for my reviews and then I went “Geronimo” and Hardware BBQ. If all things goes well, Hardware BBQ is going on a major revamp this december…hopefully.

It’s a continuation of Indiblogger thing I posted when it started, where I objected about the contest solely because of this “giveaway”:

It’s not limited to tech bloggers at least it doesn’t say. Okay, so giving 20 tablets is pretty neat. Saying “Samsung will send you all the latest Samsung devices for review” pretty much means you’re banking on naïve reviewers to basically write good things about you. It’s not rare its common. I was offered Rs. 65,000 to do a positive review on the forums some tier 3 cellphone. I not only refused, but I also said that if anyone on the forums post an ass-kissing review, not only the “Attempt to bribe” emails will go public, but eventually people will question the mainstream media reviews. As it is most of us read India mainstream media “tech” content with a pinch of salt. They didn’t apologize, just a “misunderstanding” saying that most of the Indian sources say they will take some stuff for free and/or advertisement revenue should they need an article.

Not-really-an-AMD “community” meet. SMC and Erodov “media pvt. ltd.”: You naughty boys :P

Dude, the cake is a lie?

You decide.

maxAxe posted on techenclave, digit and Chip at the speed of lightning about the AMD community meet. Suspicion was pretty obvious when MaxAxe said that the even is going to be in smc rather than AMD’s office because (according to what HE said) the space was small. He said clearly that this is sponsored by none other than AMD.

Here’s the link.

MaxAxe. Dude!! What’s up with that eh? Now don’t tell me you “accidently forgot” to mention that its hosted by SMC with Erodov’s usual PR help. Using AMD’s name like this and fooling around to attract people? Asus did their own meet. Same goes for a very very very very small Gigabyte meet. Tch Tch.

Correct me if I am wrong, you’re into forum scene since when? The defunct Kawabonka/Indian Pro league days? How can you know say it, unless its your obvious intention promote your “media company”? See this what why I don’t like a community suddenly claims to be a media pvt. ltd. The cake becomes salty, you see.

You should have said the AMD “community” meet is (in reality) hosted by SMC International, one of AMD’s channel partners.

I had no idea that channel partners (major dealers/official distros) can use a company’s name for a “community meet” like this- that too without letting the PR guys know about it: And its irrelevant to us. What AMD PR said, is infact, relevant:

This is not an event that AMD is hosting directly. It is one of AMD’s channel partners in Delhi [SMC International], who is hosting this event on his own.

IT Depot contest in Techenclave? I am sure “IT Depot” is an “official” channel partner for more than 1 brand, most likely the ones which they gave as giveaways for their contest. You don’t don’t see “Techenclave in association with whatever brands IT depot is giving a giveaway” contest- its associated with ITDepot. That’s how communities work. You are supposed to be clear.

BTW, The AMD India Fanpage is not officially hosted by AMD so they are “spreading the word on behalf of them or for the good of it”, take it with a pinch of salt. Did they mention it in their infomation tab? Nah they blindly left it.There ya go, boyz. Cakes are flying on a ROFLCOPTER!!!1111

For the PRs who ask me “What do you think about Erodov??” There you go! Last rant about Erodov? I hope so. Cakes to all!

Indiblogger promoting publicity stunt in the name of “reviews”: using inexperienced “tech” bloggers for free publicity access [Re-Edit]

It was said in a forum (not Indian ones) that 90% of the people who do reviews is because to get free hardware (some might find this questionable so we’ll leave that for another day). However when I speak to reviewers and editors in international sites, they have a very laid back system for their personal use except maybe a notebook and a camera.

You could call it mid end gaming system which they will use it for their personal stuff. The stuff which they get “for free” usually ends up in their test bed system because using the newer hardware (maybe not high-end ones unless it’s compared with a high-end product as reference) when they do a review. As far as how I see things, international PRs know that every review source should do the obvious and mention the test bed setup clearly. Reviewers do it so that readers will know which hardware they’re using and PRs give it because their product is listed there.

If you look at reviews in mainstream medias in India, they don’t really do that. So what do they really do???

In 1 corner, a memory manufacturing company asked me “What can I do for them” when we were talking about media samples. I was confused why he was asking that.

In another corner, a gaming clan called ATE made an announcement that they will start their own review site and make others follow them.

In the other corner, we have the media guys sending hordes of emails to countless people to get media samples and tempting casual users to reviewers (No, I am not saying its wrong, but the way they do it is…lol) with a clause that the content from the people will only post on their forum, and that content belongs to the ones who own the forum. Yeah, community power is commercialised for promoting self interests.

And in another corner we have Indiblogger.

Indiblogger is basically like an interactive community of bloggers where people share their ideas and stuff. When I started posting, some other guys started posting reviews as well. My purpose to join there is to try to tap in the general crowd without reducing the quality of the content. Mainstream media guys said that’s not possible because its not possible for “common people” to understand and I wholeheartedly refuse to believe that. To a minor extent, it does work. Its all on the execution. General users are PMing me via Indiblogger and asking about power supplies, surge protectors and tablets so there you go!

Their business model is sort of like PR , except they use free labour i mean bloggers. Its not really that bad, in fact its good. People will blog to get something for free. But now I feel (I emphasize on these words) that Indiblogger should have thought properly before going ahead with it. To understand how this works, I participated in one of the them, but I really didn’t like it. They’re using bloggers as a PR spin doctor.

They also started this thing with a tablet competition where people will talk about its “unique” features. Here’s the thing: No idea was given about the tablet except the paper configuration, and if you compare that config with others (3 of them) are the same hardware except 1 that comes with a keyboard dock. But they wanted bloggers to write about and make “those people” feel good about themselves and in exchange they get access to review hardware.

There’s something called “Paid Reviews”. Basically, a blogger is paid money by the the company who is providing a media sample to them. I know that by common sense (hopefully) people will question about the legit analysis in that content.

Edit: No. Indiblogger doesn’t promote this. I came to know about this when some people who are in one of those blogs with lot of guest bloggers. You pay them and they will blog on such sources with large memberbase. The blog owner is kept out of the loop because he doesn’t know. Still believe guest blogging is the right thing to do?

But Indiblogger is obviously getting money from brands to tempt bloggers to be used this way. Out of 100 bloggers, 1 wins the goodies. 99 free/cheap labour/bloggers. Imagine even 10 of them doing everything they can to promote one thing in a hope to win something in exchange, and out of 10, maybe the readership of about 2 bloggers is retwitted, shared and promoted via reddit, stumbleupon, forums…list goes on.

Reviewing in India is looked down as another source of PR. Its sad and its something manufacturers and people need to avoid. Why manufacturers? If they can praise your product for an incentive, they can even criticise you in exchange for an incentive you could give or worse if its given by a rival company. I am sure few people know such people. Its best that communication with such samples should be avoided, unless you want a good PR session. You shall reap what you sow!

People? Yeah! They are not going to get anything out of it maybe a chance to get something for 40k- but are you really going to sell out your readers for that? You don’t appreciate such acts by the mainstream media and yet you guys do it. Who is the hypocrite now?

We need to build a system an honest system. We need PR to get access and PR need people like reviewers to promote their product: but at end of the day they want to do it for the good of the people and people refer to your content to search for best stuff money can buy. But if people have completely opposite experience, they’ll not only stop to trust the source, but also the company. Readers are smart people (well most of them), especially if their have the genuine intention to buy.

Edit: Nothing against Samsung- or any manufacturers, as long as things are done in a right way. Whatever criticisms I’ve pointed out I’ve taken care that I don’t bully/troll companies or their people.

Just to make another point clear: No, I got nothing personally against with what Indiblogger does. Yes, I strongly believe that Indiblogger must make a conscious effort to discourge using reviews as a source of PR. Reviews are made for 2 reasons (mostly for 1 reason): To keep people informed how good/bad a product is and hence be a neutral entity so that one he and she can recommend something to the readers for a particular price point. Second is so that certain nitpicks can be highlighted by reviewers (provided they know what they’re doing) and hence if possible manufacturers can improve it ASAP or implement it on newer versions/models. That’s how its always worked- until the point a particular media entity is offering publicity service and now Indiblogger seem to be doing it.

The PR Aunty effect: Gender plays a role in the Tech PR field- or is it just co-incidence?

I did not want to write this because some people might take it in the wrong way. But the reason I am ranting in “Dude, the cake is a lie!!!1″ is because I can vent my frustrations out.

Questions about the community that will never be answered. M-Jeri Vs. ITWares/E-lounge: New and Unheard Terms & Conditions/RMA Policy

• There have been so many things I am questioning about certain people in our community and certain antics done by certain dealers:
• How can a particular group  forum admins and even bloggers brag as being Media guys/”Media PVT LTD“  when they are not?
• Why do these group feel ashamed to be a non-media entity, when its a downright fact that people always refer to non media entity for proper advice/opinions?
• Why are these people trying to convert a community effort to improve something and have mutual/proper 2 way communication into a PR spin/publicity stunt? And behaving like a Page3 Aunty in the process?
• Why do you create communities with an intention to be neutral, only to end up manipulating your fellow members and people’s contribution to pose as a media? For what? Free hardware? Free publicity? Free/exclusive access? Then how are you really different from certain mainstream media who are (in reality) PR Spindoctors?
• How can small business owners brag about being authorised dealers when they are not?
• How can dealers declare a product as EOL when its not (and not having the authority to do so)?
• Why do people expect professionalism and courtest from people when you are not?
• Why do dealer(s) who run business on their own with nothing more than 2-3 staff bragging/posing as distributors? And bring something exclusive and sell a lot of stuff from that brand, then unable to replace/repair defective stuff of that brand and trying to cook up a scene to bash that brand???
• How can you such people call themselves as a company, when in reality its a small store run and owned by an individual with nothing more than “Shop and establishment” license?
• What does warranty really mean?
• Why do I have to read terms and conditions from dealer’s site when I am buying from a forum?
• Why is there so many terms and conditions when its obvious I am buying from a small business owner and not from a franchise stores like Croma?
• How are they deemed as registered dealers for a community if dealers are asking buyers to join their forum/register on their site/email them if they want support?
• Who let the dogs out?

And also..

• How can you say that you’re a part of the team- even though a lot of people from that team don’t even treat you like one? Or blackmailing you to make you stay on the team?

Yes these are questions. Because honestly they are not going to answered. Even if they are, chances are that will have a transparent “conditions apply” star or it will be changed in some point during the future.