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Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

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Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#51

Post by thesausageking »

callmeal wrote: post #37

Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…

That's a pretty sensationalist article. Wirecutter doesn't hide the fact that they make money off of affiliate fees. Almost all content sites do.

Are there better review websites than the Wirecutter? I've found them to be solid and helpful.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#52

Post by crooked-v »

f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #46
solarkraft wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh shit. I used to consider them to be one of the most reputable sources.

Oh no! I did as well. Who is the current honest broker of product reviews?

Seems like it's time to go back to Consumer Reports.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#53

Post by kfreds »

callmeal wrote: post #37

Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…

> I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay.

Let me offer a counterexample - VPN services. They didn’t get a cent from Mullvad, which they declared the winner. Number two was IVPN, which also doesn’t have an affiliate program.

The review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#54

Post by donmcronald »

callmeal wrote: post #37

Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…

The whole affiliate marketing space is a dirty business. Saying affiliate relationship is just softer language for kickback IMO. The incentives are the same. I think all reviews with affiliate links should have to be labeled as paid promotion.

This [1] sleepopolis saga is an amazing read if you’ve never seen it.

1. https://www.fastcompany.com/3065928/sleepopolis-casper-blogg...

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#55

Post by hoppyhoppy2 »

UI_at_80x24 wrote: post #47
callmeal wrote: post #37

Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…

Is there any site that you do use now for recommendations? In the game of capitalism it seems everybody becomes a sell-out.

Consumer Reports has a long history of subscriber-funded independent reviews. They refuse all advertising, free/discounted items, etc. to prevent conflicts of interest. They review everything from cars and lawnmowers to mattresses and electronics, but depending on what niche of electronics you're looking at they may or may not have the kind of reviews you're looking for.

https://www.consumerreports.org

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#56

Post by errantspark »

karaterobot wrote: post #16
bryan0 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve found their recommendations to be pretty good in general. What products were you disappointed by? If both they and CR are in agreement it’s a pretty good bet.

I've gotten good recommendations from Wirecutter, but also very bad ones. I bought their recommended coffee machine, and it's $200, and no better than the $30 Mr. Coffee it replaced (except, I guess, in the referral fee they get). They also recommend an air purifier by Levoit, which performed demonstrably worse than a box fan with a HEPA filter bungee corded on to it[1]. In fairness, Wirecutter recommended a cheaper…

> In any case, it's still not cheaper than a box fan and a HEPA filter, which ought to be the baseline you'd test against if you were providing value to your readers.

Don't dismiss this as a cantankerous rant. This is an extremely good point. The advantages are not only there in terms of cost but in terms of environmental impact and waste as well. It's telling that this sort of DIY solution isn't highlighted as the goto, especially in a publication catering to a crowd that claims to care about not fucking up the planet and wrings it's hands about the harms of capitalism. Instead of an air purifier bungee a HEPA filter to a box fan and donate the difference to some group capitalism shits on, repeat this approach for all things. Problem solved. Welcome to the solarpunk revolution.

Disclaimer: I did in fact buy a Levoit air purifier off Amazon during the wildfires last year so you know, ain't nobody perfect.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#57

Post by _jal »

hogFeast wrote: post #26
dsr_ wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. A strike is a weapon of last resort -- you have to have the ability to use it, but you don't want to use it. Much better is when both sides are negotiating rationally. When a union perceives that the company is not negotiating rationally, that's when they take a vote to authorize a strike. Then, hopefully, the strike doesn't happen... but it's available.

This is typically the case in Europe, where (unsurprisingly) unions are more common. In the US and the UK, you see more militant unions, more wildcat strikes, more picketing, etc. which is why union membership went through the floor (I am in the UK, we also have unions taking positions on climate change, on Israel/Palestine, they own the party in opposition and last year the most well-funded union leader attempted to…

> strikes are very much a first resort

I'm going to guess you don't know any union members.

Strikes are very hard on the strikers. You're suddenly taking no income but still putting in a shift on the picket line. Not only is there the real risk of the whole thing being net-negative, but you could lose your job entirely.

And a lot of time, you only strike because you've been squeezed financially for so long, you may not have much of a buffer for all that.

You make it sound like unions strike for sport. I suspect a conversation with an actual striking union member might provide a different perspective.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#58

Post by donmcronald »

hubraumhugo wrote: post #49

Paywall, strike, declining trustworthiness... I see more and more negative comments about Wirecutter. Could that be an opportunity for a rising competitor?

If your source info is untrustworthy affiliated reviewers, how does that aggregate into something I should trust?

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#59

Post by howinteresting »

kfreds wrote: post #53
callmeal wrote: post #37

Wirecutter is a pay-to-play operation. I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. See https://www.xdesk.com/wirecutter-standing-desk-review-pay-to... for example. Also note that wirecutter in their response do not deny this but try to weasel out by claiming that the word 'kickback' was misleading. https://w…

> I stopped heeding their recommendations after I discovered that they were aggressively persuing kickbacks and refusing to review products that do not pay. Let me offer a counterexample - VPN services. They didn’t get a cent from Mullvad, which they declared the winner. Number two was IVPN, which also doesn’t have an affiliate program. The review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-vpn-service/

While my experience with Wirecutter has been decidedly mixed, Mullvad really does seem to be the best VPN around.

Re: Wirecutter strike and boycott Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday

#60

Post by mbesto »

f0e4c2f7 wrote: post #46
solarkraft wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh shit. I used to consider them to be one of the most reputable sources.

Oh no! I did as well. Who is the current honest broker of product reviews?

How about The Strategist?
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