"Let them eat SharePoint..."

Summary: SharePoint marketing through sentimental blackmail at Microsoft's official blog, courtesy of suffering children in Haiti

EXPLOITATION of the earthquake in Haiti is a subject we covered in reference to Microsoft and also the Gates Foundation. "Disaster capitalism" -- where a chilling disaster is being used to create dependence (e.g. lock-in) on "heroic leader" or "corporate saviour" -- is something we have all learned from Katrina too (there is good literature on the subject). Rather than return to old stories about it we wish to show Microsoft's latest Haiti exploitation, which it disguises as a PR effort. Watch this thing sceptically (critical skills required) as they even use a photo for sentimental blackmail. It's the obligatory script and it says:

OneResponse, an online platform based on Microsoft SharePoint, contains vital pieces of data such as contact lists, meeting schedules and results of needs assessments to assist with the humanitarian response.

What a lovely advert. It is utterly disgusting when someone's pain is being used not only to create a dependency on SharePoint, which itself can be quaky at times, but also to advertise oneself. As Razvan Sandu put it over at Identica, "Can you image people affected by an earthquake clicking in Microsoft Sharepoint? Commercial propaganda has no limits?" ⬆