Comments on: Comrade customer http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/03/31/comrade-customer/ by Jeff Jarvis Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:29:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: James http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/03/31/comrade-customer/#comment-372427 James Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:46:25 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/03/31/comrade-customer/#comment-372427 The new Russian owners of LiveJournal are having trouble connecting with their English-speaking userbase (in Russian LJ is synonymous with 'blog') including one of their flunkies saying "we won't listen to threats" to the backlash after the ad-free account type was removed. In other news, <a href="http://consumerist.com/373901/creative-sparks-customer-revolt-when-it-tries-to-silence-third+party-programmer" rel="nofollow">Creative sucks</a>, its Vista sound card drivers don't have all the features of its XP drivers. And on Friday it forced the takedown of an enthusiast's patched drivers that were the only way to get the cards to work for some people. Creative have been on the slide for a while, but this was the tipping point - their forums are now full of thousands of posts of people saying "I'll never buy Creative again", including a few who smashed their cards and posted pictures. The new Russian owners of LiveJournal are having trouble connecting with their English-speaking userbase (in Russian LJ is synonymous with ‘blog’) including one of their flunkies saying “we won’t listen to threats” to the backlash after the ad-free account type was removed.

In other news, Creative sucks, its Vista sound card drivers don’t have all the features of its XP drivers. And on Friday it forced the takedown of an enthusiast’s patched drivers that were the only way to get the cards to work for some people. Creative have been on the slide for a while, but this was the tipping point - their forums are now full of thousands of posts of people saying “I’ll never buy Creative again”, including a few who smashed their cards and posted pictures.

]]> By: Adrian Monck http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/03/31/comrade-customer/#comment-372408 Adrian Monck Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:36:41 +0000 http://www.buzzmachine.com/2008/03/31/comrade-customer/#comment-372408 A friend in PR was asked by Russian clients if he could conduct "black operations" in London - needless to say, excuses were made before a rapid exit. I wish I could be as optimistic about the power of the internet to combat what is emerging in Russia. But it's not just information but fear that travels faster online - and when you have unexplained and uninvestigated deaths among journalists, and murder suspects elected to the Russian Parliament, it is a reminder that the pendulum has a long way to swing... A friend in PR was asked by Russian clients if he could conduct “black operations” in London - needless to say, excuses were made before a rapid exit.

I wish I could be as optimistic about the power of the internet to combat what is emerging in Russia.

But it’s not just information but fear that travels faster online - and when you have unexplained and uninvestigated deaths among journalists, and murder suspects elected to the Russian Parliament, it is a reminder that the pendulum has a long way to swing…

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