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| Date: | Fri, 11 Sep 1998 16:03:35 EST |
| From: | SBT Information Systems <sbtaus@ibm.net > |
| Reply-To: | |
| To: | 32bits@sbt.net.au |
| Subject: | OS/2 News, Views and PRs 7-4-97 |
OS/2 News, Views and PRs 7-4-97
Has anyone heard/not heard of Infoworld's Readers' Choice survey ?
IW conducts an annual readers' poll to determine readers' choices and
preferences.
Four years ago , OS/2 won as the best operating system .
Three years ago , OS/2 won again as the best operating system .
Prior to last year's poll , Stewart Alsop, the editor, who has been known
as a rabid anti - OS/2 fanatic wrote a forward to the poll saying how
OS/2 has one for two years running but as OS/2 is now long finished with
the advent of windows 95 , and just as well.
Despite - or maybe inspite of it, when the results came back , OS/2 has won
once again , for the third consecutive time, as the best operating system .
Alsop then devoted another editorial admitting he might have been
wrong , but you will never hear again about OS/2 again . He also went on
how the readers of IW are really dumb and stupid to use OS/2 . Well ,
maybe he didn't say that exactly , but that was the gist of his editorial .
Last week OS/2 won for the fourth consecutive time , and IW declared the
poll null and void as "OS/2 zealots have tampered with the ballot box" . in
another insulting editorial the new editor, Sandy Reed, obviously a devout
trainee of Alsop went on ranting on.
***************************
STOP PRESS
***************************
as we go to press, we undertand Sandy Reed has issued the following:
This forum will end at midnight
tonight so this seems like an appropriate time for me to sum up my
thoughts.
First, the response overwhelmed my ability to keep up with everything
that was being posted. I've also received hundreds of e-mail messages, most
of which I haven't yet been able to respond to.
Next, I got the message that my original column was as offensive to
some people as the decision to invalidate the Readers Choice voting without
revealing the underlying numbers.
I also heard the comments about the possible impact on InfoWorld's
journalistic credibility.
And I got the message that Readers Choice awards should continue as
just that -- readers choosing their favorite products. As a result of this
forum, we decided to conduct a new, statistically valid poll of InfoWorld
readers using the same ballot we posted on the Web.
I will write a follow-up column about this forum in the April 21 print
issue. It will include apologies.
Sandy Reed
****************************
end stop press
****************************
for more information please check :
InfoWorld http://www.infoworld.com
NEWS BULLETIN:
OS/2 SWEEPS INFOWORLD READERS' CHOICE POLL
==========================================
In the March 31, 1997 issue of InfoWorld, a controlled-circulation weekly
which calls itself "The Voice of Client/Server in the Enterprise,"
editor-in-chief Sandy Reed announced that OS/2 had won its annual "Readers'
Choice" poll which was conducted in January and February of this year. Reed
reported that OS/2 had garnered an overwhelming majority of votes cast in
the Client, Server and Product of the Year categories, eclipsing its
nearest competitors by a margin of more than 6-to-1, and its victory in the
Product of the Year category was the fourth in succession.
Editor-in-chief Reed expressed surprise at the results of its poll, and
alleged -- without offering any corroborating evidence -- that OS/2's
victories in this and preceding years were due to "ballot stuffing" by
"OS/2 zealots." This allegation has been greeted with some skepticism,
however, which has intensified in the days since her announcement as she
has steadfastly and explicitly rejected numerous demands that she provide
evidence to support her allegations.
Indeed some observers have begun to compare Reed's performance as
editor-in-chief of InfoWorld with that of Slobodan Milosovic, President of
Serbia, who recently generated controversy by throwing out the results of
more than 20 municipal elections in Serbia, based on unspecified
allegations of voting irregularities, after preliminary results indicated
that opposition candidates had won in most cities. In what appeared to some
to be a similar strategy, Reed announced that InfoWorld has decided to
discard the results of this year's Readers' Choice poll and will conduct a
new poll based on significantly different procedures from those used either
in this year's poll or in previous years.
Both in this year and in previous years, InfoWorld's poll was based on
self-selected responses, a polling procedure which is known to be
unscientific in that it is biased by factors which differentially affect
participation, such as motivation and accessibility. It has been noted,
however, that differences in level of enthusiasm and satisfaction -- which
may affect motivation to participate in a Readers' Choice poll -- may be
factors that _should_ play a roll in determining the "product of the year"
and, therefore, a sampling procedure which fails to register such
differences may not be more accurate or informative than one which does.
With respect to the issue of differential access, some OS/2 users have
noted that in past years users of OS/2's Web Explorer browser were unable
to cast their votes at InfoWorld's website, and their participation in the
Readers' Choice poll was consequently limited, while this year, with the
release of Netscape for OS/2, a significantly larger number of OS/2 users
had unrestricted access to the poll.
Among other reasons offered for discounting Reed's allegation are the
following:
1. InfoWorld's ballot asked readers to indicate what they considered to be
the best product of the year in each of several different categories. It is
likely that most readers interpreted that to mean the best product released
to the market during that year. Since IBM released a new version of OS/2 --
Warp 4 -- during 1996, while Microsoft did not release a new version of
Windows 95 during 1996, many readers may have concluded that the only
relevant competition for OS/2 Warp 4 was version 4 of NT, which so far
still has far fewer users than OS/2. In that case, a victory for OS/2 is
not so surprising.
2. A commonly expressed opinion about OS/2 is that it is technically
superior to Windows 95 but has been defeated in the marketplace due to
inadequate marketing and the lesser availability of applications.
InfoWorld, however, is a specialized publication addressed to IS
professionals, and OS/2's users are disproportionately concentrated among
IS professionals, especially in large corporations. Consequently it is to
be expected that the typical reader of InfoWorld would be more sensitive to
the technical excellence of OS/2 than the average computer user, and also
would be more likely than the average user to have direct experience with
OS/2.
3. InfoWorld has earned a reputation for giving fuller and fairer coverage
to OS/2 than other computer-oriented publications. As a result, it probably
has a far larger concentration of OS/2 enthusiasts among its active
readership than other computer publications. For this reason it is
important to distinguish between a poll of readers and a poll of
subscribers, since the print version of the magazine is sent free of charge
to people who are selected, for the most part, based on their titles and
corporate positions, not on whether or not they are interested in reading
the magazine. The results of InfoWorld's poll may not reflect the opinions
of a random sample of their subscribers, but may not be that far off when
it comes to actual readers (something which may be of some concern to
InfoWorld's advertisers when they reflect on the insulting, and even
defamatory, nature of Reed's comments about OS/2 users).
4. Many observers have commented that "ballot stuffing" on a significant
scale would have required a significant organizing effort, which, if it
occurred, would probably have been visible in some way in the various
public forums for conversation among OS/2 enthusiasts. Since nobody has
reported any such organizing effort, and a considerable number of
well-informed people have reported that they did not see any evidence of
such an effort, the claim of ballot stuffing is given little credence by
those whose opinions in the matter seem well-informed.
In conclusion, OS/2 enthusiasts are now happily celebrating another
demonstration of popular support for their operating system of choice --
and reconsidering their opinion as to the editorial fairness of InfoWorld.
Lance Fletcher Chief Correspondent and Editor-in-Chief Freelance News
=========================================================================
To All users of CryptStream:
There is an update/fix now available, version 120E, that corrects a
possible problem using the Warp ver4 suspend feature with (E)IDE drives.
Registered users of CryptStream should receive direct email with the update
instructions. If you do not receive email by 4/5/97, there may be a problem
with the email address contained in your registration information. In that
case, please email:
support@carbonbased.com
and request instructions on obtaining the update/fix.
Thankx for using CryptStream!
An update to ZipStream, ver 120E has been uploaded to Library 1 as
ZS120E.ZIP. Look for the SYSOP's announcement when the file is available.
This file can be used as a demo for those who want to try ZipStream, or,
for registered users as an update to their current registered version.
The update contains a fix for a possible problem with the OS/2 Warp ver 4
suspend feature using (E)IDE drives.
IT IS _NOT!_ FOR USERS OF ZIPSTREAM SECURE OR CRYPTSTREAM.
Users of ZipStream Secure and CryptStream will receive update instructions
directly via email.
If you are a registered user of ZipStream Secure or CryptStream, and you do
not receive a notice containing update instructions by 4/05/97, please
email:
support@carbonbased.com
To All users of ZipStream Secure:
There is an update/fix now available, version 120E, that corrects a
possible problem using the Warp ver4 suspend feature with (E)IDE drives.
Registered users of ZipStream Secure should receive direct email with
update instructions. If you do not receive email by 4/5/97, there may be a
problem with the email address contained in your registration information.
In that case, please email:
support@carbonbased.com
and request instructions on obtaining the update/fix.
===========================================================================
Can you help - reader's queries
From: Greg Nash
I saw a mention of a utility somewhere that monitors win-os2 sessions,
Do you know where / what it is?
Regards, Greg
--
Voytek Eymont
Return to [ 11 |
September |
1998 ]
Reply-To: GregNash@pastornet.net.au
A request, if you don't mind...
and reduces their priority afer a while if they don't appear to be doing
much.
______
,----/ \----, Greg Nash
\ | | / Namoi Cotton, PO Box 58, Wee Waa 2388
\ \ o o / / phone 067 903011 fax 067 903087
\/|\ /|\/ mobile 0417 253742
| \ / |
| \ \_| Friends call me GregNash@pastornet.net.au
| |\_/| I also receive for NewLifeNi@pastornet.net.au
oooooooo
===========================================================================
SBT Information Systems Pty Ltd - Distributor of OS/2 software
fax 61-2 9310-1118 ph 61-2 9310-1214
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~sbt
sbtaus@ibm.net
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