PCMag reviews FeedDemon 2.0: Yawn

All fluff and no substance:

The only reason that I’ve mentioned this article is because others have linked to it, and it is a good example of why I don’t pay much attention to reviews by the major mags anymore. To me it amounts to little more than an online brochure. It’s mostly fluff and little substance.

I’m not just picking on FeedDemon which is a good news reader for what it does. But if I really want to get the lowdown on a product, one of the first places that I will go to is download.com’s user ratings.

Even still, I take what I read with a critical eye knowing that some opinions can be flawed by newbies out of ignorance of the technology. Alternatively, in some cases the developers will pad the comments with bogus ratings. You have to train your eye to learn to read between the lines. But at least I find it has more value than biased reviews from editors of the major mags.

I also find it humorous to see the difference from the editor’s rating, which is usually better than the users’ experience. Many times you will find an excellent rating by the editor that is panned by the users. It’s a clear example of bias by the magazine editors who probably haven’t even used the product themselves.

But I have to admit they do write a nice press release don’t they (rhetorical question with tongue held firmly in cheek). So call me a cynic. Caveat Emptor!

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