Date: 10/28/2004 11:56 AM
From: Anonymous (anonymous@anonymous.com)
Subject: Sex Is Out, Consuming Is In
Unfortunately it would appear that this study completely ignores the rise of P2P technologies ("Sex Is Out, Consuming Is In," Oct. 27, 2004). People are still using the internet to obtain pornographic material, but they're getting it from their fellow P2P users instead, where the quality and quantity of porn is much higher.
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Date: 10/28/2004 10:05 AM
From: Maxim Weinstein (max@virtualmax.com)
Subject: Internet Users Want a Voice
I think it's interesting that the study looked at how many people contributed to ratings but not how many people used ratings in their purchasing decisions ("Internet Users Want a Voice," Oct. 28, 2004). The idea that this study shows; consumers "are willing to put their money where their mouths are," is just wrong. It shows that people are interested in sharing their opinions, not that they use others' opinions in their purchasing decisions.
My suspicion is that far more people use this type of information if it's handy (e.g., on Amazon.com) than if it requires additional research (e.g., on CNet.com or Epinions.com). Of course, the number is almost certainly growing, given the increased internet literacy and connectivity of the population, but I'll bet the number of people who use ratings aren't as high as the number who do the rating.
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Date: 10/28/2004 03:12 AM
From: Donna Maindrault (donna@maindrault.com)
Subject: Internet Users Want a Voice
We selected a local cleaning service based on positive online reviews, and were very disappointed ("Internet Users Want a Voice," Oct. 28, 2004). After submitting our review, we received a response stating, "You seem to be reporting an unusually negative experience. We will contact the service provider to clarify the situation." Our review has not yet been posted, over one month later, and the online rating remains high. I guess the cleaning service is paying for the review service, so they're the customer and get to control the content.
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Date: 10/28/2004 07:55 PM
From: Dave (shevaberg@sasktel.net)
Subject: You Broke It, You Fix It
great article, I've been fixing and building my own computers for 15 years now and wouldn't have it any other way ("You Broke It, You Fix It," Oct. 28, 2004).
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