Dan's Scans
Who Can You Trust?
By Dan Robinson
Well, you can trust me, of
course. But other than thee and me?
Disturbing news from one of my
favorite/least favorite companies -- Belkin.
Belkin had always been on my
good list. As a Mac consultant, I always felt I could recommend their products.
I've never had a Belkin USB hub that wasn't the best of the bunch.
Until several years ago. When I
wanted to attach my iPod to an in-car FM transmitter. I went to CompUSA and
bought the Belkin. It was so weak, the signal wouldn't reach three feet to the
car's antenna. Returned the same day.
Later, my Linksys 802.11g
wireless router died after long and faithful service. I plunked down around
$130 plus tax for the Belkin N1 Wireless Router (F5D8231-4). At the time, the latest and
greatest (TL&G) -- also about $50 cheaper than the Airport Extreme.
The signal was flaky, weak, and networked Ethernet
printers were not visible to wireless devices. After hours and hours with the
help desk, Belkin sent me a replacement and it not only wouldn't read the
config file created by the original (necessitating manual configuration which
meant Config one thing -- update -- wait for reset -- config next
thing -- repeat.) When I got it configured,
it did exactly the same thing as the original. Maybe it was the latest but it
sure wasn't great. It also went back for a refund and, for more money, I bought
an Airport Extreme which has worked flawlessly ever since.
The Belkin
Sport Arm Band for the iPhone holds your iPhone on your arm while
you run around with no pockets. I mean seriously, now! Sure -- they work; but
just how much can you say about them when there are dozens of products that
also work. Oh yeah! The arm band has a tastefully-designed key holder for
people who really have no
pockets! Give it an extra star for the keyholder? But wait! Let's knock
off a star for the fact that the minimum bicep diameter is nine inches. How
many joggers do you know with a bicep size of ten inches or less? I'm
5'10", Body Fat: 12.5%, Bicep: 10.5" -- so if I were to wear this
product, I would be pulling it up every 20 paces or so. How many smaller people
bought this product just to throw it in the closet after a mile or so?
Even now, several years later,
the trend toward flawed products continues. The Belkin Switch-to-Mac Cable cost me more in
time and credibility with a client than the product cost. It flat didn't work
and gave me no clues as to why it didn't
work. This was a review product, too!
That
was the Sad Part
Here's
the Disturbing Part
Arlen Parsa over at The Daily
Background reported (with screenshots) and later followed up that Michael Bayard, business development representative at Belkin, paid 65
cents a pop for positive reviews on Amazon.com. This is a huge scandal! A
Google search for ["mike bayard" belkin] got 671 results (including Spanish, Polish, Italian, Thai, Greek and
Russian), This is like the Apple "I'm a
Mac" commercial where John Hodgeman divvies up stacks of money,
then decides to move it all to advertising rather than 'fixing' Vista.
Very funny.
Ha Ha.
But it isn't! Not when Belkin
actually proves some companies feel that way in spite of apologies and protestations to the contrary from Belkin president, Mark Reynoso.
They just don't get it! We're
talking about tons of ill will toward a name brand! Apple is making money hand
over fist (See news
report) because of a philosophy of "It Just Works."
They're pulling droves of customers to their products in a less than stellar
economy. Even if there is 10% unemployment, remember, 90% are still
working!
Companies take notice: NEW CUSTOMERS ARE NOT COMING JUST
BECAUSE OF ADS -- THEY'RE COMING TO APPLE BECAUSE THEY'RE TIRED OF CRAPPY
PRODUCTS THAT DON'T WORK!
If I get three or four bad products
in a row from a company, do you think I'm going to recommend that company's
stuff to my clients, my readers, my friends?
As a reviewer, I make zero
dollars. It's a labor of love. And I would dearly love to be able to fill a
column every month about products that work, the first time, as advertised.
Like the Belkin Power Jolt. You plug it in and it recharges your iPhone/iPod.
It worked! Go buy one!
But that's penny poof! Belkin
and other companies, need to put out their main line, high profit, signature
products, secure in the knowledge that they don't need hacks like Michael
Bayard pay for good reviews of bad product. Increase the budget for beta
testing. Have enough engineers on staff who can squash those bugs that beta
testers report. Then put out that __________ (fill in the blank) to rave
reviews from people like me. I even take beta product for the fun of it. I
actually enjoy trying out TL&G.
So
. . . Who Can you Trust?
Again . . . people like me (he
said modestly).
Your key to trustworthy reviews
is to get your information from trustworthy sites. Here at MacCompanion is a
good place, as is MacWorld, MyMac.com, cnet, and the like. You'll get
knowledgeable, honest reviews at these sites.
I recommend Googling search
terms like [reviews printers] or [review
"airport extreme"] or [compare
canon elf], and then reading review sites
you know to be on the up-and-up.
Who NOT to trust!
Amazon for one. Anyplace where
"user reviews" can be found are automatically suspect. All a company
hack needs is a half dozen email addresses to give their piece of crap a
five-star rating. The reverse is also true. Their six selves can badmouth a
competitor's superior product just as easily. So, if you read these reviews,
keep a salt shaker handy for many, many grains of salt. "Cum grano salis".
And while
I'm quoting Latin, "Caveat lector". Let the reader beware!
