Rumor sites are bad for the tech business

[peter2002]

When you think about it, rumor sites are really bad for the technology business. In particular, Apple because it gives their competition an easy source of insider information which in many cases is illegal. The competition can then use this info to quickly incorporate a new gee whiz feature in their products more quickly. So when the product does come out, everybody just says, "Big deal, I already heard about." It is like going to a movie site and reading the entire plot to a movie. Why would you want to go see it unless you're a child going to see a computer generated cartoon like Leo and Stitch, or Spiderman?

Worst, it creates a mindset in consumers that nothing available now is worth buying, the "next thing" coming out in 3 months will be the better, faster, and cheaper. It is the classic "grass is always greener on the other side" syndrom. These tech rumors tend to depress sales and give rise to those who just want to bash Apple.

Similar insights can be said about rumor sites that talk about upcoming AMD and Intel products, especially the ones from the UK which basically trash our USA companys because the Brits are jealous of the USA. The Brits haven't invented anything important since the steam engine or the first computer in WWII. That was over 60 years ago.

It is no wonder the tech companys get so p-oed when they see a leaked pic of an upcoming product and threaten legal action like Sun and Apple have done recently. How would you like to spend a billion dollars on a new product and somebody leaks and bashes it before it is finished and out in the market place?

It is one thing to review a product that is out, but it is quite another to engage in gossip or rumors like the tabloids. Rumor mongers tend to go for just the sensational, negative angle of the story like their counterparts at the Star, Sun, or Enquirer. Bad news sells, not good news.

By the way, who is the cute girl on page 6 in the N.Y. Post?

Peter :)

[iJon]

personally i dont think apples rumors are like movies. most people here about these rumors for new products and then want to go buy it even more. and most of the rumors ive read about apple upcoming products never make people mad. i really dont see anybody on these sites bashing new mac products before they come out. and on other sites like cnet and stuff, if they hear rumors they just usually state the facts, they dont bash or praise anythign till it comes out.

iJon

[cubist]

... they're a lot of fun, because a lot of stuff in the computing world NEEDS to be bashed. Microsoft's "software assurance" program, for example: When this first came up, the Inquirer did calculations and showed that nobody would save any money.

IMHO, the US press is completely compromised by their dependence on Microsoft advertising. They keep drumming in people's ears how wonderful .Net is, when in fact it's just a pile of garbage - the same old ASP/COM pile of garbage, in fact.

As for the cute girl on page 6... you neglected to attach the picture to your post, I'm afraid. :)

[Mr. Anderson]

I'm thinking the page 6 girl is actually the page 3 girl of the Sun - which you can go and find for yourself - this came up in another thread in Current Events forum when someone posted a link to a Sun article. I'm not linking it since its not appropriate.

And rumors are great - this whole site is basically here because members want to here about what might be happening. As for corporate espionage, well that's laughable really. No matter how much 'proof' you have, there is still doubt about submissions here. Remember the pics of the new G4 enclosure that was passed around? In most cases its a 'I'll believe it when I see it'.

D

[jefhatfield]

peter2002,

i think you are giving macrumors and other rumor sites too much credit

we take up a tiny piece of real estate on the internet or high tech in general

none of my techie friends, even the mac ones, come here and most of them have never heard of this site or any rumor sites...they simply do not care

they happily compute away on the wonderful macs and thank god they are not using windows

as for pc rumor sites, they don't care in the way the the apple rumor people do...and of course, the pc is much more predictable in many ways

[beez7777]

although you do make a valid point, i think it is a little different. rumor sites don't hurt tech companies, especially apple for a few reasons. most of the people on this site already have a mac, or are planning to buy one in the near future, its just a matter of when. also, the technology increase is for the most part predictable in terms of speed, so the rumor sites help buyers get the best deal for their money, thus making them happy, which leads to future purchases. and of course as jefhatfield said, most people just don't care, so they wont bother to spend their time on a rumor site, or others could just not know about rumor sites and just buy the computer, completely unaware that an update is due the next day

[Bregalad]

Originally posted by jefhatfield
peter2002,

i think you are giving macrumors and other rumor sites too much credit
...
as for pc rumor sites, they don't care in the way the the apple rumor people do...and of course, the pc is much more predictable in many ways

Rumors have been making their way into the non-rumor press like E-Week of late. At that point they can delay purchases and potentially cost Apple money. However there is a significant flipside that I believe more than makes up for it. People who buy a Mac and then see a new model appear shortly thereafter at the same or lower price are likely to be angry. Talk to a former Mac IIvx owner ( probably using a Sony Vaio now) if you want to witness rage and fury directed at our favorite fruit company. If a person is warned (by a rumor site or any other source) not to buy a new computer right before a new model appears, there is a much greater chance that they'll be a happy and loyal Apple customer.

Apple seriously needs to think about discounting their old models before they have new ones ready. That way purchasers of the old one don't feel ripped off when they see how much farther their money would have gone had they waited.

As for PC rumor sites, I didn't think they existed. PC enthusiasts are too busy playing games, overclocking every component to the brink of failure and doing bizarre case mods to engage in rumor exchange. They know that Intel, AMD, VIA, SiS, ATI, nVidia, etc. have something new out every month of the year and the only thing worth talking about is having it before your friends do.

[scem0]

I don't think they are that bad for the tech business, and if they
are, they aren't that bad. They are not correct a lot of the
time, and there is so much more speculation then rumor.

I haven't seen any PC rumors sites.

[vniow]

Originally posted by scem0


I haven't seen any PC rumors sites.


www.pcrumors.com

[Nipsy]

Originally posted by edvniow



www.pcrumors.com

That's hilarious...go arn.

[ChicagoMac]

That's it! Shut down the site Arn! What were we thinking?

Tomorrow's headline at Spy Mac: MacRumors Shutting Down!?!? The rumormongors have repented and now all is well in Apple Land.