Bonum Certa Men Certa

Apple: When 'Fans' Are Simply Bribed, Too



Summary: Another good example of paid-for Apple 'fans'

THE CULT of Apple is not as organic as one might be led to believe. In the past we covered examples of Apple AstroTurfing and this new example shows us paid queue standers -- people who are paid to hype up products:

Airtasker paying man to queue to buy the very first new iPad



STEPHEN Parkes is first in line for a new iPad at the Apple store in Sydney but it's not because he actually wants one.

Instead jobs site Airtasker is keen to cash in on Apple’s cachet has paid the former truck driver $950 to wait there until Friday’s launch wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with its logo.

Airtasker.com is an online marketplace where people can bid for the right to earn cash for running day errands and completing everyday chores.


This is ridiculous. Sometimes celebrities are used like this too -- a form of deceitful endorsement. Apple also gives the illusion/delusion of its products being the most wanted by providing 'i' Prizes in all sorts of competitions and raffles. It's effective PR.

Now, consider the fact that Novell keeps losing its free (voluntary) fans despite pretending to be "open" and soon enough it's realised that a lot of this is plain marketing for Microsoft-taxed GNU/Linux like this SP2, which oddly enough was picked for review:

SLES 11 SP2 adds a new kernel, support for Btrfs and LXC, and Snapper to manage snapshots and rollbacks. Koen Vervloesem explains all…


Was the author contacted by Novell/SUSE to write this review? We saw Novell doing this before and even offering gifts for it. This is a subject for another day. ⬆

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

libera.chat is an Agenda-Peddling Platform Run by Agenda-Peddling Individuals
The volunteers of libera.chat ("staff") aren't working for free, they work towards an agenda
Secret Microsoft Layoffs and Maybe Another "Voluntary Exit Program at Microsoft in October"
there's a morale crisis at Microsoft
Many Topics to Cover
Drops in a big ocean
Gemini Links 04/10/2026: Peace in Outage, Pen Pals, and deGoogling
Links for the day
 
Links 05/10/2026: "Congress Must Investigate War Profiteers Once Again" and Update on Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence
Links for the day
Nobel Season is Plutocracy Week
Later this week the billionaires will give a fake "Nobel" (in "Economics") to someone who parrots their preferred narrative and those same billionaires will use "Nobel" to bless the promoter of their latest pyramid scheme/buzzword
GNU/Linux Market Share in North America 13% This Past Weekend
It is perhaps not shocking that adoption of GNU/Linux is very high there
When Did Europe Begin to Side With White-Collar Criminals (or Participate in Suppressing People Who Oppose Them)?
How much corruption can we tolerate before the European Union becomes another Russian Federation?
Libera Chat's "Level of Control Might Make Sense for a Corporate Platform"
IRC is not centralised
Brigading Against Women - Part XVIII - Turning Censorship Attempts (Articles About Matthew Garrett) Into Mild Redactions
What Lozza did two years ago
Greenland Needs Digital Sovereignty
the large icy island isn't moving to GNU/Linux as quickly as the rest of Europe
Tracker of Internet Relay Chat Networks Out of Service (But Not Down) Since Thursday
We should note that the number of unique networks they track has grown since we last checked
Gemini Links 05/10/2026: NixOS, Guix, Codeberg Banning Slop, and "Gopher Apps on Android"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 04, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, October 04, 2026
MIT Technology Review (MTR) Reinforces MIT's Role in Promoting Slop (Pyramid Scheme) in Exchange for Money
MIT is a poster boy (or child) of institutional corruption, perverts, and corporate takeover
Proving Wrong Those Slop Maximalists and Boosters, GAFAM Says Slop is a Nuisance and Bans/Hides the Slop Submissions
People who say slop in projects is inevitable or even desirable are usually cheaters with self-guilt
Links 04/10/2026: “AI Torture Chamber” and "Aggressive Push to Integrate Hey Hi (AI) Slop Into Schools Is Turning Into a Disaster"
Links for the day
How Microsoft Hides Massive Layoffs From the Media (as Explained by Microsofters)
"rewards" are not exactly rewarding
Brigading Against Women - Part XVII - The Appeal
more to be known towards the end of the year
Links 04/10/2026: Fires Rage in Borneo and Mass Layoffs at Disney
Links for the day
Garrett's Litigation Partner is Unemployed Again
losing one's job
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 03, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, October 03, 2026
Teaser/Taster
Tomorrow morning we'll have an important story regarding "GGG"
Gemini Links 03/10/2026: Book Swaps and Book Crossing, Hidden Figures (2016), Apps and Tools for Research and Writing
Links for the day
Michael Catanzaro Seems to be Missing the Point
Calling people you disagree with "Ostriches" is lazy name-calling
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 41
People who want humans and communities to maintain their software chains (and by extension their digital life) will back GNU
Links 03/10/2026: "Banned Books Week 2026" and "American Journalist Imprisoned as a Spy in Russia"
Links for the day
In Case Anybody Still Believes Microsoft Lunduke Cares About GNU/Linux...
GNU/Linux users aren't bots
Gemini Links 03/10/2026: Speculative Realism, Paper2SlopBot, Joplin, and Offline Experiment
Links for the day
Union Syndicale Fédérale (USF) Tries to Compel the European Patent Office (EPO) to Actually Function Properly
We'll be covering the EPO a lot more soon
Brigading Against Women - Part XVI - When Your Own Colleagues Complain About You Maybe the Problem is You
"if 2 people tell you that you're drunk, you go to sleep"
Links 03/10/2026: Slop-Generated War Songs and "Privatisation Has Failed"
Links for the day
Proprietary Software Giant Microsoft is Quietly Laying Off Lots of Employees, Insider Explains How It's Done
about Microsoft exits
United States: More Than One in Ten Using GNU/Linux on Laptop/Desktop
Clownflare Radar seems to show a similar trend
Brigading Against Women - Part XV - Trying to Put Women in Prisons
We'll soon get to the 'meat' or the 'beef', showing how "Gas The Jews" Lozza helped Garrett a few days after we had sued him in September 2024
A Leap in GNU/Linux Usage, Japan's Share in Particular
One thing that merits attention right now is Japan. It looks like it's adopting GNU/Linux instead of GAFAM.
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 02, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, October 02, 2026