4 ms·

Regardless of how one feels about microphones being installed in one's apartment, what makes this a reasonable request in your book? Because a business entity i

by etripe 6y ago

Regardless of how one feels about microphones being installed in one's apartment, what makes this a reasonable request in your book? Because a business entity is just requesting a narrative that is more profitable to it?

Angostura 6y ago
PR people are going to be PR people. Any sensible journalist or editor would say 'No, it's staying like it is'.
- yoz-y 6y ago
  More precisely any journalist or editor knows that such a demand might make a better story than the original article.
  - draugadrotten 6y ago
    and somewhat less precisely any PR person knows that getting your product mentioned in a controversial article will be more viral than anything else compare Ryanair PR pieces on "paying for pee"
    - rob74 6y ago
      Yeah, the old adage that "any PR is good PR"... however Ryanair are already well-known enough, so they don't need that aspect, and at least for me personally, any article like the one you mentioned only solidifies my decision to avoid them if at all possible...
    - yoz-y 6y ago
      So it’s a win-win. We’ll give you a pretext to write crap about us and in turn you write it.
altitudinous 6y ago
It is just a request. You can say No. That is the definition of request. They used the word request. Asking is fine. They could stay silent, or they could request. They chose to request. It is taken out of context, but as this is the only context supplied then it seems quite reasonable.
- bananaface 6y ago
  It's probably a request from the affiliates program. They may have to acquiesce in order to participate. I'm assuming, if this was out of the blue it would be absurd.
- awalton 6y ago
  > It is just a request. You can say No. And when you do, they send their staff of high powered attorneys to shop for an amenable forum and file the SLAPP lawsuit that your org can't possibly afford to defend in a court you've never heard about with a nicely penned note of "Well, we tried to place nice! Now it's going to cost you." They then constructively work behind the scenes to freeze your org out of every future press event and make sure other companies they work with do the same - can't have any reporters not on a leash at these things, after all. So you settle with changing the language and chilling your speech. America, land of the free.
  - natcombs 6y ago
    >> they send their staff of high powered attorneys to shop for an amenable forum and file the SLAPP lawsuit that your org can't possibly afford to defend in a court you've never heard about Do you have an example of Amazon doing this?
    - agustif 6y ago
      > Do you have an example of Amazon doing this? Not exactly the same thing, but going after your VP of Marketing is pretty similar, if they do this to their best employees, what they won't do to a smaller 3rd party that they feel it's on their way to profit. Amazon sues former AWS marketing VP Brian Hall after he takes Google Cloud job https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-sues-former-aws-marketing-vp-brian-hall-accepts-google-cloud-job/ https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-sues-former-aws-marketi...
londons_explore 6y ago
I see it as a totally reasonable request... But that the journal in this case is also completely within their rights to say "no".
fastball 6y ago
1. It's a request – it's almost always reasonable to request such a small change. 2. A smart speaker is much more than a microphone. Replacing "Amazon microphone" with "Amazon Echo" is objectively a better way to communicate what we're talking about. The original wording was used to be inflammatory, not for clarity.
- pwinnski 6y ago
  The context of that particular sentence is not about the overall device, which has already been mentioned by name. It's about the idea of having an Amazon-branded microphone in your private living space. "While it’s natural to be chiefly concerned about privacy when your apartment comes with an Amazon microphone pre-installed, we should also be critical about where the data extracted from us ends up." In no way does replacing "microphone" with "Echo" make that sentence better or more accurate, only worse and less accurate.

by etripe 6y ago

Angostura 6y ago

PR people are going to be PR people. Any sensible journalist or editor would say 'No, it's staying like it is'.

yoz-y 6y ago
More precisely any journalist or editor knows that such a demand might make a better story than the original article.
- draugadrotten 6y ago
  and somewhat less precisely any PR person knows that getting your product mentioned in a controversial article will be more viral than anything else compare Ryanair PR pieces on "paying for pee"
  - rob74 6y ago
    Yeah, the old adage that "any PR is good PR"... however Ryanair are already well-known enough, so they don't need that aspect, and at least for me personally, any article like the one you mentioned only solidifies my decision to avoid them if at all possible...
  - yoz-y 6y ago
    So it’s a win-win. We’ll give you a pretext to write crap about us and in turn you write it.

altitudinous 6y ago

It is just a request. You can say No. That is the definition of request. They used the word request. Asking is fine. They could stay silent, or they could request. They chose to request. It is taken out of context, but as this is the only context supplied then it seems quite reasonable.

bananaface 6y ago
It's probably a request from the affiliates program. They may have to acquiesce in order to participate. I'm assuming, if this was out of the blue it would be absurd.
awalton 6y ago
> It is just a request. You can say No. And when you do, they send their staff of high powered attorneys to shop for an amenable forum and file the SLAPP lawsuit that your org can't possibly afford to defend in a court you've never heard about with a nicely penned note of "Well, we tried to place nice! Now it's going to cost you." They then constructively work behind the scenes to freeze your org out of every future press event and make sure other companies they work with do the same - can't have any reporters not on a leash at these things, after all. So you settle with changing the language and chilling your speech. America, land of the free.
- natcombs 6y ago
  >> they send their staff of high powered attorneys to shop for an amenable forum and file the SLAPP lawsuit that your org can't possibly afford to defend in a court you've never heard about Do you have an example of Amazon doing this?
  - agustif 6y ago
    > Do you have an example of Amazon doing this? Not exactly the same thing, but going after your VP of Marketing is pretty similar, if they do this to their best employees, what they won't do to a smaller 3rd party that they feel it's on their way to profit. Amazon sues former AWS marketing VP Brian Hall after he takes Google Cloud job https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-sues-former-aws-marketing-vp-brian-hall-accepts-google-cloud-job/ https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-sues-former-aws-marketi...

londons_explore 6y ago

I see it as a totally reasonable request... But that the journal in this case is also completely within their rights to say "no".

fastball 6y ago

1. It's a request – it's almost always reasonable to request such a small change. 2. A smart speaker is much more than a microphone. Replacing "Amazon microphone" with "Amazon Echo" is objectively a better way to communicate what we're talking about. The original wording was used to be inflammatory, not for clarity.

pwinnski 6y ago
The context of that particular sentence is not about the overall device, which has already been mentioned by name. It's about the idea of having an Amazon-branded microphone in your private living space. "While it’s natural to be chiefly concerned about privacy when your apartment comes with an Amazon microphone pre-installed, we should also be critical about where the data extracted from us ends up." In no way does replacing "microphone" with "Echo" make that sentence better or more accurate, only worse and less accurate.