Regarding WPCentral staff, Google, and article commenters

[MichaelBanning]

I'll preface this post by saying the following:

--I'm a HUGE WPCentral fan, have been for several years (before the name change), and always will be. You guys are awesome and have even responded to a few of my personal emails asking random (and probably annoying) questions. So please don't take this personally.

--I love Windows Phone and my LG Quantum.

--I'm not a fan of Google, though I like their calendar and their email services.

That all being said, I've been reading the 3 recent google articles on the main site as well as the comments on the google sync/multiple calendars article, and I just wanted to make the following 2 points based on some of the dialogue in the comments. Perhaps I'm wrong, but I just wanted to get this out there:

Person: "Why would I?"

WPCentral: "Apart from all the (security/privacy-whatever, not the point I'm making here) concerns surrounding Gmail at the moment, you get further integration such as Live Messenger on your Windows Phone."

Person: "What Integration am I missing as a Gmail User on Windows phone? I've set up my live account for the marketplace."

WPCentral: "Besides Live Messenger, which is a great free IM client built in, you're getting away from the ad monolith that is Google."

POINT 1: You already mentioned the ad monolith thing….soooo…...there is no other integration feature….? If there is, what is it?

*****

Person: "and I stated the obvious, your trying to promote MS products"

WPCentral: "Yet the top post on the site is about Gmail's multiple calendars. Are we promoting them too?"

POINT 2: Maybe it's just me, but it seems that your argument for some sort of quasi-journalistic-objectivity is somewhat marred by the anti-Google comments made by you guys earlier in the comments, not to mention the two very anti-google articles immediately preceding this article, one of which was quite frankly disappointing since it was little more than saying AndriodCentral is a "bubble" that's blinded from seeing the "evil" of Google (so does that make WPCentral a bubble or no?) and a link to a kinda-funny radio song about Google. Plus, what do you mean by "top post" - top visited or top of the page because it at the time you wrote the comment it was the most recently posted article? And if it is a top post, why isn't it included in the rotating image graphic box at the top of the main page?

****

I don't know. Something about these comments and article in particular set off my inner b.s. radar when reading all of it. Again, I still love WPCentral and always will, and don't necessarily even like Google anyway (as if they need or deserve any defense). I just wanted to get this out there.

 

[CAVX]

Based on other comments from the same story, it seems clear that WPCentral authors consider their comments to not be considered part of WPCentral's views as a whole. It seems like we should treat them as the comments and views of the individual, not of WPCentral itself. I disagree with a lot of the premise behind the comments in question, but I also think it's just one person's opinion.

As for the articles, one was just a repost from the Windows Phone Blog. While, once again, I don't think Google's new privacy policy is a big deal, I also wasn't surprised. Privacy policy changes spark a lot of controversy if big companies release them - regardless of what was changed. Only natural for them to cover it, although the tone and viewpoint of the article could be subject for complaint.

Either way, while I like Google, especially Gmail, I don't think this is too big of an issue.

 

[Dave Blake]

To the OP why are you quoting comments as WPCentral? WPCentral is a website not an individual making a comment. Please post links to the article and the comments you are quoting so the complete context and be read by me. Your quoted comments were someone comments at WPCentral we are a team we support each other but we have our own opinions no one on this website has ever stated different. Are you against us (WPCentral staff) having an opinion or are you just against us giving our opinion?

 

[cgk]

It's is the nature of fansites, they post stuff that plays to the converted - they are not the place for clear critical analysis.

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

[Dave Blake]

It's is the nature of fansites, they post stuff that plays to the converted - they are not the place for clear critical analysis.

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

I strongly disagree. If I can find these comments I would bet that they are supported by facts. Whenever our writers comment on something they are commenting from an informed position supported by the facts of the matter. That doesn't necessarily include my comments I'm just the forums guy so I try to keep my statement to a minimum because I don't have the facts I just know what we are discussing here in the forums. I think Daniel, Rich, George and the others are very level headed when it comes to all the OS's they are far from fan boys.

 

[VernonEL]

I would consider George, Daniel, and Rich to be rather objective in their reporting. This is not to say that they have their "leanings".
We all know that George is more critical of cameras, and he has admitted that himself.
Dan I believe to be more concerned with privacy, which is supported by the fact that, until very recently, one would have been hard-pressed to produce a true likeness of him on the internet.
These are not things that I discovered during Thanksgiving dinner with them. Their personalities bleed through their work, as can be expected.
As Daniel often says, "There is no such thing as 'non-biased' in journalism."
I gladly agree.

Sent from my Focus S using Board Express

 

[cgk]

Oh rubbish - are people really trying to claim this isn't a partisan side in the same way that webosnation, android and crackberry are? Really?

There is nothing wrong with that but to suggest it is anything but is frankly a little silly.

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

 

[palandri]

One thing for sure, the writers do a great job keeping the site updated with the latest mobile news.

 

[freestaterocker]

While journalists on this site are fans of WP they don't come off as fanboys, imo. By which I mean, they don't gloss over flaws/shortcomings. They present pros and cons fairly. A ****** doesn't do this. Want proof of this? Head over to android central and say "fragmentation", then duck and cover in preparation for the ensuing sh!t-storm.

 

[Rich Edmonds]

I thought this would creep up on us at some point (it always seems to do so when we cover Google news), but should a story of this magnitude crop up we do like to spin it a bit. Why? Because it's Google. It's the exact opposite at other enthusiast websites/blogs that cover other platforms. I constantly see Microsoft referred to as "M$" among other negative comments, which aren't required nor based on anything other than a deep dislike of the company itself.

While we report stories as best we can in a non-biased format, it's simply not going to be the case. We have our own views. When we reply in comments, these comments are our views, just like readers publish their opinions - we post ours. These aren't reflections on the WPCentral team (as we can even disagree on topics within the group), and should only be taken as the view of that author.

We do have a loving relationship with all other websites within the Mobile Nations network, but we're Windows Phone fans at heart, just as other staff are with Android, webOS, iPhones etc. Even if we're all pretty level-headed (which I take pride in believing we all are), we do have our compassion for the platform we cover. The Google posts covered not only the privacy concerns, which we feel our readers who have Google accounts would be interested in, but how one could change from Gmail to Hotmail in three easy steps. As mentioned in the article, this was published on the Windows Live blog, which we then subsequently covered. It was seen to be effective should some readers take note of the concerns and wish to make the leap from Google's system to Microsoft.

We do take into account all feedback, whether it be on the site/forums or of the team itself. Should you wish to discus this further, feel free to fire me a PM with your email address. At the end of the day; we're human. We can't get everything right, and sometimes opinion will overlap factual consideration.

It's is the nature of fansites, they post stuff that plays to the converted - they are not the place for clear critical analysis.

Sent from my Lumia 800 using Board Express

I have to disagree with you here.