http://www.istartedsomething.com.nyud.net:8080/20061227/microsoft-free-ferrari/ [Alas, for 2006 there's over 1000 mentions of Microsoft in InfoSec News, but there was no e-mail from either Microsoft or Edelman PR on where to ship a shiny new laptop. Honestly, I would have been ecstatic with the refurbished Thinkpad T41 my local VAR was trying to sell me... - WK] By Long Zheng December 27th, 2006 Microsoft together with AMD gave out some really nice Christmas presents to a bunch of bloggers this year. Brandon LeBlanc [1] got one, Scott Beale [2] got one, Barb Bowman [3] got one, Mauricio Freitas [4] got one, Mitch Denny [5] got one, Zen.Heavengames [6] got one, plus many other bloggers who did not even write about it (shame on them). They seem to have covered everyone from A-list to Z-list, a first in the industry with such a valuable gift, kudos for thinking about the little guys. Update: Some people got Ferrari 1000s, others got 5000s. The following specs are from the 5000. The machine looks just as good as it specs. As part of Acers Ferrari designer computing range, the carbon-fiber case is styled with a slick threaded finish with genuine Ferrari badging and color strips. Just like the racing counterpart, this machine has grunt. It sports an AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core 2ghz CPU, 2GB of DDR2-667 RAM, AMD-ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 on a 15.4? widescreen. It also has a 160GB SATA drive, HD-DVD reader and burner as well as a 1.3mp camera. Full specifications available at the Acer website. Assuming it doesnt use Sony batteries, this laptop blows everything out of the water. It retails for a hot $2,299. But if you write about Microsoft, they might even give you one for free. Is it ethical? Probably not. Is it worth something to hard-working sweat and tears bloggers? Hell yeah. I dont see the Free Software Foundation handing out any Ferraris. :P Update: Robert Scoble also picked up the story, comparing this to PayPerPost. Although I think PayPerPost is about profiting, whilst this is about rewarding. Even though the outcome might be the same. Update 2: Dan Warne from APCMag has a different perspective on this issue, he thinks this is highly inappropriate and immoral. Could this act of generosity turn upside-down into a PR disaster? Update 3: Just something for everyone to keep in mind. Remember bloggers are given a choice which includes giving the machine back when theyre done with it. Keeping the unit is a decision made solely by the bloggers receiving the computers. [1] http://www.mstechtoday.com/2006/12/23/my-new-laptop-acer-ferrari-5000/ [2] http://laughingsquid.com/microsoft-sent-a-free-laptop-with-windows-vista/ [3] http://blogs.digitalmediaphile.com/barb/2006/12/16/Driving+The+Ferrari+5000+Turion+64+X2+On+Vista+X64.aspx [4] http://www.geekzone.co.nz/freitasm/1849 [5] http://notgartner.wordpress.com/2006/12/27/acer-ferrari-1000-the-unboxing/ [6] http://zen.heavengames.com/blog/articles/2006/12/27/my-ferrari-is-here [...] _____________________________ Subscribe to InfoSec News http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Wed Dec 27 2006 - 22:53:44 PST