Apple Media Embargo On New Macbook Pro Reviews?

[ballyhoos]

I'd be interested to find out if anyone knows if there was a media embargo on these reviews of the new macbook pro touch bar machines, by some of the leading tech websites. As the Verge has stated that they had one for a week and the timestamp of all the videos being uploaded are relatively the same, 7 hours ago.

http://imgur.com/a/9ohTB

 

[chrfr]

I'd be interested to find out if anyone knows if there was a media embargo on these reviews of the new macbook pro touch bar machines

Yes, there was an embargo, which is why all the reviews came out today.

 

[ballyhoos]

Yes, there was an embargo, which is why all the reviews came out today.

Do we know what the agreements were? A copy of the stated document?

This may explain why the early French review was "deleted" off youtube, and why the "professional" in London was vague and didn't state machine specs. I believe that Apple maybe worried about the sales figures for these machines.

#ControllingTheNarrative

 

[sunapple]

Do we know what the agreements were? A copy of the stated document?

Curious to hear why this matters to you.

 

[chrfr]

Do we know what the agreements were? A copy of the stated document?

It's very likely that the loan agreements which include the embargo terms are themselves under non-disclosure agreements. Review embargoes are routine amongst product reviewers and are not unique to Apple.

 

[Howard2k]

Mine says "Not to be disclosed in whole or in part to Macforum user 'ballyhoos'" on it.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

NDA's are very standard and not something you should worry about...

There was an 'embargo' in place, likely because they were making sure all preferred reviewers had a device, and so there was no preference in who got to go first. Also it's possible the devices were still having a few small bugs ironed out, and so had to have time to patch them.

 

[ballyhoos]

Curious to hear why this matters to you.

I believe that Apple maybe worried about the sales figures for these machines.

I'll also add, by doing this, it's really not the "free market" in action. Apple trying to control the narrative is manipulating the market. These tech. companies rely on traffic for income and what better way to do so to have a new review of a new apple product. A win/win for both corporate entities. However, give a poor review and Apple will be restrict your access. DeBeers do the same with diamonds.

Doesn't help the consumer too much however.

 

[jackoatmon]

pretty sure it's a big conspiracy and everyone's out to get you

 

[chrfr]

I believe that Apple maybe worried about the sales figures for these machines.

Sales figures have nothing to do with product review embargoes. It's not as if a manufacturer sends reviewers any information about sales numbers.

 

[Lobwedgephil]

There is an embargo on every product Apple releases, not sure the issue here.

 

[ballyhoos]

Sales figures have nothing to do with product review embargoes.

Of course it does. And why not allow the reviews to be released directly after the keynote, so the consumer can make an informed decision before purchasing if that wasn't the case?

As they still allowed people to "pre-order" them also.

 

[jackoatmon]

dude look out, these guys are paid apple thugs coming to de-truth your mind

it's definitely a bigger deal than just run of the mill PR strategy

this is about mind control for real

huuuuge conspiracy. terrific. fantastic.

 

[New_Mac_Smell]

I'll also add, by doing this, it's really not the "free market" in action. Apple trying to control the narrative is manipulating the market. These tech. companies rely on traffic for income and what better way to do so to have a new review of a new apple product. A win/win for both corporate entities. However, give a poor review and Apple will be restrict your access. DeBeers do the same with diamonds.

Doesn't help the consumer too much however.

Okay okay, I think what you're implying here is some form of paid review, whereby if they say bad things, they don't get paid. And so are encouraged to say nice things. Which you refer to as Apple "Controlling the narrative.".

Apple as far as I know don't do paid reviews, because they really don't have to. There are plenty of reviews from "Pros" criticising things that should really know more about. There's plenty of reviews from people who clearly know nothing about the computing world. And there's a few reviews from people who go super in-depth. Basically, a lot of the reviews at the moment are from people trying to drive traffic to their own sites/videos, as a lot of people will be searching for them. And given that a lot of people are skeptical over things like the new TouchBar, I'm seeing a lot of videos that make light of this. This is 'Clickbait'.

So, nobody is controlling any narrative apart from dumb reviewers criticising things just to drive traffic. If you look at time stamps, you'll notice a lot of videos from people slamming the new MBP on things such as the TouchBar, without ever actually using the device. Now there's a conspiracy you can open up, why would someone dislike something they've never actually used?

 

[oneMadRssn]

Of course it does. And why not allow the reviews to be released directly after the keynote, so the consumer can make an informed decision before purchasing if that wasn't the case? As they still allowed people to "pre-order" them.

All consumer electronics companies have agreements with media regarding the timing of reviews. Generally, in exchange for early access to the product, the reviewer must agree to not disclose anything about the product prior to a certain date.

This is good for the reviewer, as they get early access to the product and they get more time to actually test it prior to writing a review. Without this, there would be a mad dash to get the review finished as early as possible, and we would see a lot of reviews of products that were used for only a few minutes and that were not actually tested.

This is good for the company, as they get to dictate when the reviews all publish, thereby concentrating the discussion surrounding their product. This usually has the effect of having the products trend on social media, and gain more attention from consumers. Usually they want all the reviews to publish on the day the product is actually available for sale (not pre-sale).

Of course reviewers that write terribly unfavorable reviews are not offered early access for the next product, so there is some incentive to write a favorable review.

Of course, this has nothing to do with reviewers that just buy the product like the rest of us. Some companies, notably consumer reports, refuse free preview units per policy and only review units they purchase themselves. They cannot have a review ready as early as the rest for this reason. However, this makes their review less biased.

My point is there is nothing nefarious about this. You just have to keep it in mind when reading the review. If the review published the day a product launched, then it's probably a free early access sample. If the review published weeks after the product launched, then the reviewer probably bought the product. There is pros and cons to both.

 

[jackoatmon]

[queue evil music]

 

[997440]

I'll also add, by doing this, it's really not the "free market" in action. Apple trying to control the narrative is manipulating the market. These tech. companies rely on traffic for income and what better way to do so to have a new review of a new apple product. A win/win for both corporate entities. However, give a poor review and Apple will be restrict your access. DeBeers do the same with diamonds.

Doesn't help the consumer too much however.

Of course it does. And why not allow the reviews to be released directly after the keynote, so the consumer can make an informed decision before purchasing if that wasn't the case?

As they still allowed people to "pre-order" them also.

The embargo and the NDA are part of the free market. It's a voluntary exchange between the participants. Buyers, including early adopters, determine whether (and when) to buy or not using their own judgement. Making oneself informed and buying are voluntary acts.