__/ [ Bobbie ] on Thursday 28 December 2006 15:03 \__
> While taking a break from performing an interpretive dance of 'Flight of
> the Bumble Bee', OK wrote:
>
>> http://www.thecounter.com/stats/2006/December/os.php
>> http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=2
>>
>> ..and XP still climbing...
>>
>> http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=5
>
> So good to see you quoting stats from JupiterMedia.
> You do know that JupiterMedia does press releases for Micrososft didn't
> you?
> You didn't, hmmmm. Check this out
>
http://whitepapers.zdnet.com/whitepaper.aspx?&scname=Accounting+Applications&docid=258515
>
> But you knew that already didn't you?
Oops. I was referring to Jupiter Research which is probably a separate entity
altogether. Apart from the obvious proof that there are ties, here's an item
on the uselessness of stats:
Why Webbrowser statistics lie and just don't say anything
,----[ Quote ]
| What do we conclude from all this? The number of hits in a log file
| doesn't say anything, it says nothing about how many people are
| using a certain browser. Ready made statistics published by so
| called "analysts" say even less - they lie. To get statistics which
| are just a little bit near reality it's not enough to have a
| program which analyzes a log file, it needs some mathematical
| background and a good understanding of what is going on there at all.
`----
http://j3e.de/statistics_lie.html
Also consider:
Squid
"Unknown" due to diversity (usually thrown out of stats, but accounts for
~10%)
user-agent forging (for MSIE-only sites)...
Many more factors...
As for biased stats (can easily make site selection that targets a niche, as
Microsoft did to make it seem that UNIX houses don't favour GNU/Linux)...
based on one of my sites, only 9% use Internet Explorer and 44% use Linux
(based on about 17,000 UIP's per month).
More on baised 'studies' from Microsoft and its secret,
under-the-table-payola partners:
NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories
,----[ Quote ]
| The New York Times continues to perplex with its analyst- quoting
| policy. Rather than having analysts declare their ties to clients,
| the paper would prefer to quote analysts that have no experience
| with a client - a protocol which seems to undermine the very point
| of citing analysts.
|
| The Register this week started pushing the Times to explain its
| quoting stance after noticing that Rob Enderle - the most quoted
| technology analyst on the planet - had been blocked from commenting
| on companies with which he has a financial relationship. The ban
| against Enderle appeared odd, given that Times reporters continue
| to cite analysts from larger firms who also have financial
| relationships with the companies discussed.
|
| [...]
|
| Just days after banning Enderle from discussing Microsoft because
| he has Microsoft as a client, the Times quoted Gartner analyst
| Michael Silver and AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy in a story
| about Microsoft's Windows and Office software.
|
| If the paper would prefer not to quote an analyst who has
| experience with a client, it did a poor job. Silver is Gartner's
| vice president in charge of client computing. Microsoft happens to
| do lots of business with Gartner and also happens to have a
| client-software monopoly. We're guessing that Silver knows
| Microsoft's products well and has direct involvement with the
| company.
|
| And, sure enough, he appears a number of times on Microsoft's
| own site and thousands of times in stories about Microsoft.
|
| Jim Murphy - wait for it - covers Microsoft too and is even more
| prolific than Silver.
|
| [...]
|
| Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as
| IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone
| nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications
| keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this.
| They're also too lazy or scared to ignore the likes of Gartner and
| IDC until the firms change their disclosure rules.
|
| As it turns out, there's a cottage industry devoted to Rob
| Enderle, where Linux zealots fire off this form letter to editors
| whenever Enderle appears talking about Microsoft. Perhaps the Linux
| crowd could put its fabled collective mind toward creating letters
| for all the major analysts. Lord knows, the Times could use
| some help.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/
Shill season
,----[ Quote ]
| It's often difficult to figure out the motivation behind a particular
| study - until one finds out who has commissioned and paid for it.
| The so-called tech consulting companies would love it if the consumer
| believes that they have conducted an "independent" study. The worrying
| thing is that not many people blow their cover.
`----
http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8109/1090/
Microsoft Press Releases: Read Between the Lines
,----[ Quote ]
| We have a game we play around the office here with Microsoft press
| releases. The game is called Find the words that make the headline
| true. It's not always easy.
|
| [...]
|
| Our point: Microsoft has a long history of using press releases top
| romote their product momentum in shall we say interesting ways,
| using words like "fastest growing" (meaning, the number we started
| with was really really small) to redefining words such as "sold."
| It's not good marketing practice. Why? Because once consumers and
| press people figure out you are playing lawyer, they stop believing
| you and your brand. And that's more likely to do you harm than good.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/061211/22190_id.html?.v=1
A new Microsoft-commissioned anti-Linux study debuts
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft seemingly has backed off from trumpeting its "Get the
| Facts" studies, as of late. But that doesn't mean the company has
| ceased commissioning research outfits to perform its anti-Linux dirty
| work.
|
| On September 25, Mercer Management Consulting released a new
| Microsoft-backed study. The study is entitled "Driving Lower TCO and
| Rapid ROI through UNIX Migrations." The synopsis: "Microsoft Windows
| the preferred choice for UNIX migration when IT organizations migrate
| servers as part of a focused effort to improve business processes,
| deploy critical applications or restructure their IT architecture."
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/index.php?p=12
IDC pronounces Linux unimportant to European economy
,----[ Quote ]
| A recent IDC white paper on the economic impact of Microsoft's super
| soaraway new Vista operating system seems to be lacking one crucial
| ingredient -- other operating systems.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34542
--
~~ Kind greetings and happy holidays!
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Double your drive space - delete Windows"
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy pts/4 Thu Dec 28 15:01 - 15:02 (00:01)
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
|
|
