Rob Enderle is a Microsoft Shill

Story: Microsoft's Apple Mistake, Apple's Artificial Image, Open Source ...Total Replies: 0
Author Content
schestowitz

Dec 26, 2006
1:11 AM EDT
NY Times bans Microsoft analysts from Microsoft stories

,----[ Quote ] | The New York Times continues to perplex with its analyst- quoting | policy. Rather than having analysts declare their ties to clients, | the paper would prefer to quote analysts that have no experience | with a client - a protocol which seems to undermine the very point | of citing analysts. | | The Register this week started pushing the Times to explain its | quoting stance after noticing that Rob Enderle - the most quoted | technology analyst on the planet - had been blocked from commenting | on companies with which he has a financial relationship. The ban | against Enderle appeared odd, given that Times reporters continue | to cite analysts from larger firms who also have financial | relationships with the companies discussed. | | [...] | | Just days after banning Enderle from discussing Microsoft because | he has Microsoft as a client, the Times quoted Gartner analyst | Michael Silver and AMR Research analyst Jim Murphy in a story | about Microsoft's Windows and Office software. | | If the paper would prefer not to quote an analyst who has | experience with a client, it did a poor job. Silver is Gartner's | vice president in charge of client computing. Microsoft happens to | do lots of business with Gartner and also happens to have a | client-software monopoly. We're guessing that Silver knows | Microsoft's products well and has direct involvement with the | company. | | And, sure enough, he appears a number of times on Microsoft's | own site and thousands of times in stories about Microsoft. | | Jim Murphy - wait for it - covers Microsoft too and is even more | prolific than Silver. | | [...] | | Part of the problem stems from the reticence of companies such as | IDC and Gartner to reveal their clients. That should make everyone | nervous, but it doesn't. So called objective technology publications | keep publishing material bought by vendors without telling you this. | They're also too lazy or scared to ignore the likes of Gartner and | IDC until the firms change their disclosure rules. | | As it turns out, there's a cottage industry devoted to Rob | Enderle, where Linux zealots fire off this form letter to editors | whenever Enderle appears talking about Microsoft. Perhaps the Linux | crowd could put its fabled collective mind toward creating letters | for all the major analysts. Lord knows, the Times could use | some help. `----

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/12/15/nytimes_ms_ban/

Shill season

,----[ Quote ] | It's often difficult to figure out the motivation behind a particular | study - until one finds out who has commissioned and paid for it. | The so-called tech consulting companies would love it if the consumer | believes that they have conducted an "independent" study. The worrying | thing is that not many people blow their cover. `----

http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/8109/1090/

NY Times rattles IT industry with analyst ban

,----[ Quote ] | Speaking of which, let's see what triggered the Enderle/Microsoft | ban. | | In a story about Microsoft's XBox, Enderle described the direct | relationship between the game console, download services and the TV. `----

The Register

Microsoft Xbox to Join the Battle for Video Downloading

,----[ Quote ] | Editors' Note: November 10, 2006, Friday An article in Business Day | on Tuesday described a decision by Microsoft to offer movies and | episodes of television shows for downloading through its Xbox Live | online service in the United States. | | The article quoted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle | Group, discussing the features that set Xbox Live service apart | and its position in the market. | | But the article did not note that Mr. Enderle had Microsoft as a client, | a fact later pointed out by a reader. Mr. Enderle does consulting work | for several of Microsoft's product groups, though not for the one | developing the Xbox; still, had The Times known of Mr. Enderle's work | for Microsoft, it would not have sought out his opinion on the product. `----

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50713F83A5B...

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