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Thread: Even a creature from outer space should know you can't buy a good review on HEXUS

  1. #33
    Gordy Gordy's Avatar
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    Very interesting article, doesn't surprise me in the slightest tho

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    The Ego

    I completely agree with the article, the response and the views, my point in posting is not just that, but as I read down I smiled at noticing the name of that Aussie born walking ego, Mat Bettinson.

    The same infamous, self-publicising Mat - one t - Bettinson who's well known from the gaming scene for being universally derided. The same Mat - one t only please, who got himself in hot water for interviewing John Carmack of Id fame and then releasing the mp3's of the interview without permission.

    So to see him stirring up trouble isn't really surprising, and I do feel sorry for Alienware that he's working for them, but lets just hope he goes away again soon.

    With love.

  3. #35
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    And I don't agree with publicising e-mails that should be private between the manufacturer and publisher.
    I do!

    It's possibly the only way that BS like this gets exposed, and until it is, the consumers ( you and me ), are the ones who suffer!

    Keep up the sterling work Hexus

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    Total respect for HEXUS's position

  5. #37
    Moderator chuckskull's Avatar
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    Perhaps if Mr Bettinson had spoken to his legal council before sending those emails he wouldn't be in such hot water

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    i’m of the view that it would be manifest to any right thinking person that you have behaved like a moron, and i would be surprised if at least someone senior in the company you work for wasn’t a right thinking person, and, further, thought - that in the position in which you seem to have managed to manoeuvre yourself into - you are little more than a foolish liability.
    Fair enough, they implied that hardware would be supplied only on the understanding that it was given a favourable review. We all appreciate your exposing this rather unsavoury business practice. Journalistic integrity and impartiality as displayed by such an action are why I had become a part of the Hexus readership.

    However, I have to say the quoted text shows a remarkable lack of professionalism by Mr Dutton. Although the first piece of correspondence from Mr Bettinson was hardly a paragon of corporate virtue, it seems to me that your response to this situation has been highly inflammatory, and unnecessary. I would be interested to know how you can justify a personal attack of this nature, and just what prompted you to engage in such petty behaviour. Quite frankly I have come to expect more from Hexus than that.

    I for one am tired of arrogant journalists wearing a cloak of righteousness to disguise the fact that they are just as bad as the targets of their wrath. Perhaps if you had been a little less vociferous in your condemnation you may have been able to achieve some sort of resolution in this matter. As it stands your actions have alienated at least one company, and most definitely one reader.

  7. #39
    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lloyd84 View Post
    I for one am tired of arrogant journalists wearing a cloak of righteousness to disguise the fact that they are just as bad as the targets of their wrath. Perhaps if you had been a little less vociferous in your condemnation you may have been able to achieve some sort of resolution in this matter. As it stands your actions have alienated at least one company, and most definitely one reader.
    Whilst I agree with part of what you are saying, as a long time Hexus reader, and recent Hexus forum member, I would like to see where you can get the idea of arrogant journalists working amongst the Hexus team? I admit, in other cases, in other press organisations, your point may hold merit. In my reading of Hexus articles, forum posts and editorials, Hexus Journalists have come across as one of the least arrogant, least righteous of the field.

    It also becomes clear, from the course of the emails, that Alienware had no intention of providing a new review sample, and as such, an amicable settlement would be nigh on impossible to achieve.

    Dave

  8. #40
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    Originally Posted by Lloyd84
    I for one am tired of arrogant journalists wearing a cloak of righteousness to disguise the fact that they are just as bad as the targets of their wrath. Perhaps if you had been a little less vociferous in your condemnation you may have been able to achieve some sort of resolution in this matter. As it stands your actions have alienated at least one company, and most definitely one reader.
    You're first post eh?

    I wonder where you sprung from with that attitude? Somewhere in outer space perhaps?
    Last edited by Wiczy; 30-10-2006 at 03:15 PM.

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    "where you can get the idea of arrogant journalists working amongst the Hexus team?"

    The point of my post was to express my disappointment at the arrogance displayed in this particular instance, given the high standards otherwise displayed by Hexus.

    As for amicable settlement... In my experience, expressing negative or overly emotional views when it is unwarranted will only encourage that type of behaviour in others. In short, a more balanced response may have resulted in this matter not becoming so unpleasant.

    In my opinion, the tone of Mr Dutton's correspondence only serves to cast Hexus in a negative light.

  10. #42
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    Wiczy, no I'm not from outer space. I'm from Down Under. (And for what it's worth, we really don't want Mr Bettinson back. You can keep him).

  11. #43
    miw
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    Red face Hmmm......

    Very interesting article and thread.

    First of all, let me state that I think the review was pretty fair. Let's face it, if you can go to the shop and build an equivalent machine for 2/3 the price, then that should definitely be said. If I have any criticism of the review, I'd say the harping on the non-inclusion of a sound card in the SKU was overdone. The Nvidia AC97 sound is pretty jolly good, and unless you are into recording or other high-end audio work, you will never hear the difference on PC speakers. In that sense, the Soundblaster Xi-fi is "emperor's new clothes stuff" and maybe a dispassionate analysis of whether there is any need for Soundblaster cards any more would be useful. But the review was just fine.

    Second, the Alienware communications guy stating that it is their policy to place review equipment in publications that will actually have a positive impact is stating the obvious. It costs serious money to send stuff out for reviews, so it is downright neglect of fiduciary duty to your shareholders to send it to people who will give it a bad review. Personally, I read Hexus because it does good straight-up reviews of component kit. I don't even bother to read system reviews on Hexus. Once you know what's in a system, you know how it will perform, and Hexus is only of value in telling us how something will perform. Alienware's position in the market is mojo-related. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with that. There are a heap of companies out there in all industries that make a quid by selling decent quality product at over-inflated prices to pay for the advertising. Any fashion clothing comes into this category.

    So, while I would say Mat was foolish in saying it in writing and that his turn of phrase was unfortunate, he was simply stating that sending an Alienware box to a mild-hardcore geek site like Hexus was a bad tactical mistake on a par with Prada sending one of their bags to Workwear International" for review. The readership just isn't right. If you make a bad tactical mistake you don't repeat it in a hurry. Still, it is silly to say it in as many words. Just say review kit is especially tight this season, everybody wants one and sorry you can't have one should suffice.

    Third, publishing the email exchange is the sort of trick the press play all the time and a professional PR person should have expected it. Besides, for the last 15 years I have worked on the principle that you should never put something in email that you aren't prepared to have published on a public notice board. There is no such thing as a private email, regardless of how many disclaimers you put on the bottom. (Unless the communication takes place under NDA, of course.)

    The astounding thing is that publishing the email exchange in my opinion did more damage to Hexus than it did to Alienware. While Mat came off as being naiive, foolish and simply not very good at his job, I was astounded to see words such as "purile" (sic) and "moron", which are hardly the stuff of which professional communication is made!

    In the end, I agree with PD that the readers of Hexus are Hexus' customers. (Well, actually the advertisers are Hexus' customers, but they are after the eyeballs of the readership so the nett effect is the same.) The thing is, Hexus' customers are mostly people who are capable of building their own systems and are knowledgeable about what goes into them and care about the economics as well. Alienware customers are none of these. As such, Alienware should never have sent a system (except perhaps a notebook system) to Hexus for review. The US exec was right to want Mat's head for misplacing the product so badly. Isn't he aware of what the product really is?

    I disagree with the assertion that anyone who gives a good review to an Alienware box is somehow corrupt. Different audiences are after different things. If wierd and wonderful boxes surrounding competent kit is your bag, and you aren't price-conscious, then It's a fantastic piece of kit. I could write a review praising its appearance, saying that it performed well, and maybe mention that the price is high, but it's the ride of a lifetime, and I wouldn't have told a single lie. What's more, I expect most of the people who went on to buy the box would be happy with the purchase. (Insert catty comment like "because they don't know any better" here if you wish.)

    But Hexus is totally dependent on the vendor community for its existence. I am sure Hexus can't afford to *buy* the kit it reviews. I really look forward to being able to read more good Hexus reviews of componentry in the future. I hope this little contretemps has not damaged Hexus' ability to attract good kit for review.

    --miw
    Last edited by miw; 30-10-2006 at 03:52 PM. Reason: typos

  12. #44
    Moderator chuckskull's Avatar
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    X-fi compared to AC97 is a world of difference, plus it affects performance. Gaming with AC97 is atrocious because it cant handle the number of sounds required to create an immersing atmosphere. Anyone buying a £3k gaming tower wont be using boring old PC speakers and will be expecting high quality sound.

    And leaving a £50 sound card out of a 3 grand SKU is a bit shoddy.

  13. #45
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    What is hexus' relationship to the manufacturers and retailers who host their forums here?

    Seems that a mesh system was recommended as being better than the Alienware, fair enough, but why Mesh rather than another?

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    First post for me although I've read Hexus for a number of years. The reason I put finger to keyboard is that I know Mat Bettinson on a personal basis. First off I didn't ask his permission to write this this but I have read your article several times and I actually think you are really bang out of order at Hexus for the way you've handled this. Whatever this guy did or didn't do that you think, in your opinion, wasn't up to scratch, what you have done is very significantly worse.

    The guy writes plainly that 'executives' have instructed him that he should not spend company money submitting equipment to you at their cost. What exactly IS the problem with that? Could everybody actually stop a second and consider that? No really, exactly what is the problem with that?

    An analogy would be a band's agent not being willing to give an interview to a music paper where that paper had been giving unfavourable reviews about that band. That's up to THEM if they want to do that - they do not have a moral or legal obligation to send you kit at their expense. You seem to have got worked up so fast that you've actually fundamentally missed the point. They don't have to do it if they don't want to. But much further than that, you seem to have fundamentally missed the point that he doesn't say in his email "give us a rosy review and you can have some kit" instead he says "I can't send you any following the last review". There is a BIG difference between those things and you've crossed the line and impugned his character at the same time. Read that again and understand the difference. You are treating him like he said the latter where in fact he's saying "sorry it's all over and it's a done deal".

    You are particularly out of order in publishing his emails without permission when the email explicitly states that they may not be published without permission. Its called breach of copyright and you know all about that if you write for a living.

    Now that you managed to flame away and get this off your chest perhaps you could take a step back and see that what YOU have done in this episode is clearly much much worse on your part. You have no regard for the individual involved who several posters seem to think you've put his job at risk. He has written frankly and CLEARLY privately to you including an apology for his first email IF it wound you up and also admitted to 'failings' on his company's part and trying to bat for Hexus with the US management team. So with an apology which I don't think was necessary but is obviously given to try and calm things down - also referred to - I think that approach is honest and straight forward. If I was at Alienware I would think that this is a marketing manager doing his job and being straight and open to try to establish an honest relationship.

    The irony is that as you probably know, Bettinson was a games journalist for a number of years and has worked in the industry for years. I have personally seen him involved in disputes with people defending journalistic integrity - stand up rows! He is passionate about computing and knowledgeable but he is a clear guy who calls it like he sees it and actually is more principalled about the world and the way you conduct your life in it than 90% of the people I know. Calling him 'corrupt' and saying that you think that his conduct should be 'illegal' is naive but its also libel. I believe you may also have crossed the line into criminal libel.

    So libel, possibly criminal libel and clear breach of copyright. You'll probably take this the wrong way but as someone who trained in law and understands these issues, you really better get some fast legal advice because you've stepped over a number of boundaries and in my opinion you are definitely exposed if they want to take this further. And although I know the person involved here, I honestly would have called that the same way regardless...

  15. #47
    Senior Member just_laze's Avatar
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    Paul, you over reacted in your initial response, you came across rude and unprofessional, in fact, both you and Mr Bettinson do throughout.

    Poor show chaps! A behind the scene scandal that i agree needed exposing, but not in this manner.

    laze.
    Last edited by just_laze; 30-10-2006 at 04:19 PM.
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  16. #48
    HEXUS.social member 99Flake's Avatar
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    This isn't the first time something like this has happened. Just look at when a certain Jeremy Clarkson reviewed the original Vectra on Top Gear. Vauxhall complained and wouldn't allow him to review any other cars stating that his attack on the car had severely damaged their sales. Products need to be reviewed honestly, otherwise what is the point in a review? We may as well live in a Stalinist regime where freedom of speach is unheard of.

    On the otherhand I do find some of the petty squabbling very unprofessional with regards to both parties but I still agree with what is trying to be uncovered and the emails NEED to shown as proof otherwise who is to say Hexus aren't making it up?

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