Summary: Microsoft appears to be using its propaganda partners to paint a deceiving picture of itself

OUR contributor iophk has warned about what he called "product placement", linking to some new puff piece titled "Microsoft on the ascent – it is cool to be a nerd".

Looking at what it actually cites as a source, it is the Microsoft-funded (bribed) Forrester, a longtime propaganda tool (instrument of mass deception in exchange for money). The puff piece says: "Microsoft is the “most trusted and essential tech brand,” according to 4,551 US adults recently surveyed by Forrester Research. The survey gauges customer preference of one brand over others, their willingness to pay a premium, and other factors. Forrester called it a “surprise upset.”"

This is probably yet another bogus survey, like the surveys Microsoft pays IDC to conduct (asking only circles of people who are already close to or affiliated with Microsoft). Microsoft must be very, very desperate for good publicity, especially with all those NSA scandals.

But it's not just Forrester though. We previous showed all sorts of shady "think tanks" doing the same thing, calling Microsoft "most ethical company" or something along those lines. It's objectively false; it's propaganda. We sometimes see it coming even from Microsoft-funded publications and writers, who were all along technically wrong based on what we're seeing now (Microsoft is on the decline).

Andrew Binstock, Dr. Dobb's Executive Editor, is another example of it. Three years ago he and his publication were rebutted as follows: "I’ve subscribed to Dr Dobbs journal off and on for decades, probably for ten to 15 years in total. Wherever I turn in this house, I encounter stacks of old issues of DDJ, even though I’ve thrown away quite a number. A couple of years ago I stopped subscribing, since the main focus of DDJ was drifting away from my main focus, or vice versa, or both. Since Microsoft started buying up all the people central to the C++ evolution, then riddling their version of it with proprietary “extensions” (or rather limitations), that language has become more and more of a dead end and both I, and DDJ moved away from it. But during the years, I’ve often read parts of DDJ on the web and I do get the “Dr Dobbs Update” through email every now and then. The most recent arrived two days ago and had the weirdest “Editor’s Note” ever, at least as far as one would expect from DDJ."

"The gist of the editor’s note is that Microsoft isn’t as bad as it’s often made out to be. Andrew Binstock, DDJ’s executive editor, takes great pains in the note to show that he is definitely not a classic Microsoft apologist..."

It has been noted (for years) by our readers that something changed in Dr. Dobb's when it changed hands and suddenly become Microsoft-friendly, FOSS-hostile, and generally non-factual.

It's not uncommon to see companies, publications, think tanks etc. receiving bribes (soft bribes) to produce propaganda for the payer, but with Microsoft it has become systematic, widespread, and overt. People cannot believe what they read anymore; it's all lobbying and placements, like those which the network of climate change denial is behind. ⬆