Why Scoble didn’t get a Zune sponsorship

November 12, 2006 By

Oh, now I understand why Microsoft didn’t offer the ScobleShow a Zune sponsorship! Andrew Baron reveals that he was offered such but turned it down because the terms said he wouldn’t be able to say anything disparaging about Microsoft or the Zune. Since I’ve already done both, that leaves me out of the running explicitly.

Lame.

Seagate, for instance, hasn’t told me ANYTHING about what I need to say about them (they are the founding sponsor for my ScobleShow). I could say Seagate sucks. I could say they rock. Or I could say nothing.

That’s why I really appreciate Seagate.

But, while I got Seagate’s CEO listening to see what I WILL say, why don’t you have a go? Got anything to say about Seagate? Anyone have one of their new 750GB drives? I know Thomas Hawk bought two and swears by them. But, here’s the deal. I want to know if their products suck. Why? Cause I can take that feedback to their execs and say “fix this and you’ll increase your brand’s equity.” If you think someone else makes better storage devices, tell the world right here. Even better, link to your blog where we can read why.

Microsoft, I guess, still hasn’t discovered what’s magical about blogs: they let a big company listen in on the word-of-mouth conversation in a way that no one was able to before.

UPDATE: James Robertson says this isn’t the way to turn down a deal cause it blows up all bridges. I don’t agree. You define yourself and your business by the customers you fire. I’m sure that the next sponsorship deal that Andy gets offered will be a lot more like what Seagate gave me than what Microsoft usually offers.

This takes me back to what was so special about Channel 9: that the customers could write “Microsoft sucks” right on the home page and we wouldn’t pull it down.

It’s too bad that Microsoft just doesn’t put Jeff Sandquist in charge of marketing and sponsorships. There’s no way he’d have left that as part of any deal he offered.

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  • http://glasshouse.waggeneredstrom.com frank shaw

    I have nothing to do w/ the zune marketing, but have to say this is an example where I think people should just slow down a bit and wait for all sides to be explained before jumping to conclusions. Maybe and maybe not, as my sainted Pa used to say….

  • http://boony.mollyzine.com/ Phillip Molly Malone

    No Robert, I meant the Zune!
    Not being able to watch mp4 video without conversion on my iRiver h320 (which I absolutely loved apart from this problem (especially when you put Rockbox on it)).
    Call me Microsoft/Frank.
    Molly

  • http://boony.mollyzine.com/ Phillip Molly Malone

    No Robert, I meant the Zune!
    Not being able to watch mp4 video without conversion on my iRiver h320 (which I absolutely loved apart from this problem (especially when you put Rockbox on it)).
    Call me Microsoft/Frank.
    Molly

  • http://boony.mollyzine.com Phillip Molly Malone

    No Robert, I meant the Zune!
    Not being able to watch mp4 video without conversion on my iRiver h320 (which I absolutely loved apart from this problem (especially when you put Rockbox on it)).
    Call me Microsoft/Frank.
    Molly

  • antimicro

    interesting… A Microsoft hired gun, claims nothing to do with zune marketing, just fired a warning shot at Robert :)

  • antimicro

    interesting… A Microsoft hired gun, claims nothing to do with zune marketing, just fired a warning shot at Robert :)

  • antimicro

    interesting… A Microsoft hired gun, claims nothing to do with zune marketing, just fired a warning shot at Robert :)

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    antimicro: Frank Shaw has played it very straight in his many dealings with me (he told me in IM that he doesn’t know the facts in this case, but is looking into them). I trust Andrew, though, too. So, what that’s telling me is that it should be an interesting week!
    If I get a Zune sponsorship offer, I’ll be transparent about what I’m being asked to do.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    antimicro: Frank Shaw has played it very straight in his many dealings with me (he told me in IM that he doesn’t know the facts in this case, but is looking into them). I trust Andrew, though, too. So, what that’s telling me is that it should be an interesting week!
    If I get a Zune sponsorship offer, I’ll be transparent about what I’m being asked to do.

  • http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/ Robert Scoble

    antimicro: Frank Shaw has played it very straight in his many dealings with me (he told me in IM that he doesn’t know the facts in this case, but is looking into them). I trust Andrew, though, too. So, what that’s telling me is that it should be an interesting week!
    If I get a Zune sponsorship offer, I’ll be transparent about what I’m being asked to do.

  • http://www.steve-lacey.com/ Steve

    I just got four of the 750GB drives in an Infrant RadyNAS+ for over two terabytes of RAID 5 fun.

    Those photos and video take up too much space…

    http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/2006/11/infrant_readyna.shtml

  • http://www.steve-lacey.com/ Steve

    I just got four of the 750GB drives in an Infrant RadyNAS+ for over two terabytes of RAID 5 fun.

    Those photos and video take up too much space…

    http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/2006/11/infrant_readyna.shtml

  • http://www.steve-lacey.com Steve

    I just got four of the 750GB drives in an Infrant RadyNAS+ for over two terabytes of RAID 5 fun.

    Those photos and video take up too much space…

    http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/2006/11/infrant_readyna.shtml

  • Diego

    First they relent and pay the extortion demands of the Music Mafia and now this? It doesn’t say much for how much faith they have in the product. They should just let the product stand on its own and speak for itself. You deal with any punches thrown your way. Part of the conversation, right?

  • Diego

    First they relent and pay the extortion demands of the Music Mafia and now this? It doesn’t say much for how much faith they have in the product. They should just let the product stand on its own and speak for itself. You deal with any punches thrown your way. Part of the conversation, right?

  • Diego

    First they relent and pay the extortion demands of the Music Mafia and now this? It doesn’t say much for how much faith they have in the product. They should just let the product stand on its own and speak for itself. You deal with any punches thrown your way. Part of the conversation, right?

  • http://mickeleh.blogspot.com/ Michael Markman

    Does anybody expect that Microsoft would ban advertising in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or USA Today in response to the “nice try” reviews that Zune got last week from David Pogue, Walt Mossberg, and Ed Baig?

    This non-disparagement clause may just be typical corporate caution or crossed wires between marketing and legal. Could happen anywhere. Apple, for example, offers a “Made on a Mac” web badge. But one of the conditions in their license is this: “You may not use the Badge or any Apple trademark on a Web page which contains subject matter which Apple may deem, at its sole discretion, in poor taste or to be disparaging to Apple or its products or services.”

  • http://mickeleh.blogspot.com/ Michael Markman

    Does anybody expect that Microsoft would ban advertising in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or USA Today in response to the “nice try” reviews that Zune got last week from David Pogue, Walt Mossberg, and Ed Baig?

    This non-disparagement clause may just be typical corporate caution or crossed wires between marketing and legal. Could happen anywhere. Apple, for example, offers a “Made on a Mac” web badge. But one of the conditions in their license is this: “You may not use the Badge or any Apple trademark on a Web page which contains subject matter which Apple may deem, at its sole discretion, in poor taste or to be disparaging to Apple or its products or services.”

  • http://mickeleh.blogspot.com Michael Markman

    Does anybody expect that Microsoft would ban advertising in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or USA Today in response to the “nice try” reviews that Zune got last week from David Pogue, Walt Mossberg, and Ed Baig?

    This non-disparagement clause may just be typical corporate caution or crossed wires between marketing and legal. Could happen anywhere. Apple, for example, offers a “Made on a Mac” web badge. But one of the conditions in their license is this: “You may not use the Badge or any Apple trademark on a Web page which contains subject matter which Apple may deem, at its sole discretion, in poor taste or to be disparaging to Apple or its products or services.”

  • http://www.sutherlandclan.org.uk/ Johnny Sutherland

    After reading a few of the comments here I must just have been unfortunate with Seagate drives. After the third drive failing in 2.5 years I have given Hitachi a go. My first Seagate drive was excellent which is the reason I persevered. However, after three going is such a short time I thought I’d look elsewhere. I was using the basic 60 GB model.

  • http://www.sutherlandclan.org.uk Johnny Sutherland

    After reading a few of the comments here I must just have been unfortunate with Seagate drives. After the third drive failing in 2.5 years I have given Hitachi a go. My first Seagate drive was excellent which is the reason I persevered. However, after three going is such a short time I thought I’d look elsewhere. I was using the basic 60 GB model.

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  • meanguy

    As defined in Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed. 1999), disparagement is “A false and injurious statement that discredits or detracts from the reputation of another’s property, product, or business.”

    In other words — Andrew Baron at Rocketboom put his foot in his mouth yet again.

    And you’ve fallen into the trap of believing his nonsense without investigating it, just like Rolling Stone, Dow Jones MarketWatch, and BusinessWeek did with his viewership claims.

    Instead of taking pictures of pumpkins, how about a video chat with a lawyer who explains Disparagement, Slander, Libel and Public Defamation? That’d be a nice service to the blogging community and it seems like you’ll learn from it, too.

  • meanguy

    As defined in Black’s Law Dictionary (7th ed. 1999), disparagement is “A false and injurious statement that discredits or detracts from the reputation of another’s property, product, or business.”

    In other words — Andrew Baron at Rocketboom put his foot in his mouth yet again.

    And you’ve fallen into the trap of believing his nonsense without investigating it, just like Rolling Stone, Dow Jones MarketWatch, and BusinessWeek did with his viewership claims.

    Instead of taking pictures of pumpkins, how about a video chat with a lawyer who explains Disparagement, Slander, Libel and Public Defamation? That’d be a nice service to the blogging community and it seems like you’ll learn from it, too.

  • -gary

    Maxtor = Budget low end
    Western Digital = Cutting edge and performance
    Seagate = Good reliable drives

    I haven’t bought a drive since Maxtor was purchased, so we’ll have to see how that pans out.

    In my experience, WD has always lead the way in performance. While Seagate has great offerings, they’ve just never had that luster of a top shelf brand. As far as I know, they don’t have an answer to the WD Raptors in production or any time soon. Putting something like that out could change my mind.

  • -gary

    Maxtor = Budget low end
    Western Digital = Cutting edge and performance
    Seagate = Good reliable drives

    I haven’t bought a drive since Maxtor was purchased, so we’ll have to see how that pans out.

    In my experience, WD has always lead the way in performance. While Seagate has great offerings, they’ve just never had that luster of a top shelf brand. As far as I know, they don’t have an answer to the WD Raptors in production or any time soon. Putting something like that out could change my mind.

  • -gary

    Maxtor = Budget low end
    Western Digital = Cutting edge and performance
    Seagate = Good reliable drives

    I haven’t bought a drive since Maxtor was purchased, so we’ll have to see how that pans out.

    In my experience, WD has always lead the way in performance. While Seagate has great offerings, they’ve just never had that luster of a top shelf brand. As far as I know, they don’t have an answer to the WD Raptors in production or any time soon. Putting something like that out could change my mind.

  • http://skypejournal.com/ Phil Wolff

    You could have trashed the policy without naming Microsoft. That would have left your partner room to correct/renegotiate the terms in private without anyone at Microsoft losing face in public. So you’d have accomplished two missions: a new sponsor and educating future sponsors. Now you’ve done just the one at the expense of the other (unless someone at Microsoft has an extraordinarily thick skin).

    All the best and have a great Thanksgiving if I don’t run into you before then.

  • http://skypejournal.com/ Phil Wolff

    You could have trashed the policy without naming Microsoft. That would have left your partner room to correct/renegotiate the terms in private without anyone at Microsoft losing face in public. So you’d have accomplished two missions: a new sponsor and educating future sponsors. Now you’ve done just the one at the expense of the other (unless someone at Microsoft has an extraordinarily thick skin).

    All the best and have a great Thanksgiving if I don’t run into you before then.

  • http://skypejournal.com Phil Wolff

    You could have trashed the policy without naming Microsoft. That would have left your partner room to correct/renegotiate the terms in private without anyone at Microsoft losing face in public. So you’d have accomplished two missions: a new sponsor and educating future sponsors. Now you’ve done just the one at the expense of the other (unless someone at Microsoft has an extraordinarily thick skin).

    All the best and have a great Thanksgiving if I don’t run into you before then.

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  • http://www.livedigitally.com/ Jeremy Toeman

    Robert,
    While I agree that this isn’t the *best* approach for dealing with bloggers, it’s important to keep in mind that no matter how large MS is, the Zune group has a marketing budget. Their charter is to spend that money in such a way that they believe will get them the most sales. So let’s say, hypothetically, that you yourself were to get a Zune and you HATED it – we all know you’d blog exactly that. At which point the banners/logos/etc that would be running on your site (hypothetically again) would almost become a mockery of the product when viewed in conjunction with a post entitled “MS Blows it with Zune, I’m sticking with my Nano” (or anything of that nature).

    Having spent the better part of the past 18 months running viral marketing and “blogosphere relations” for a consumer electronics manufacturer (Sling Media), trust me when I say it’s not just a new playing field for companies – it’s a whole new ballgame. And making adjustments to long-standing policies isn’t easy to do, and more than that – it’s not always easy to see *why* it should be done.

    Even now as I am consulting with various companies addressing exactly this topic, many of them don’t get it. Yet. Give em a little time.

    And yeah, Sandquist would be a great guy for this! :)

    -jt

  • http://www.livedigitally.com Jeremy Toeman

    Robert,
    While I agree that this isn’t the *best* approach for dealing with bloggers, it’s important to keep in mind that no matter how large MS is, the Zune group has a marketing budget. Their charter is to spend that money in such a way that they believe will get them the most sales. So let’s say, hypothetically, that you yourself were to get a Zune and you HATED it – we all know you’d blog exactly that. At which point the banners/logos/etc that would be running on your site (hypothetically again) would almost become a mockery of the product when viewed in conjunction with a post entitled “MS Blows it with Zune, I’m sticking with my Nano” (or anything of that nature).

    Having spent the better part of the past 18 months running viral marketing and “blogosphere relations” for a consumer electronics manufacturer (Sling Media), trust me when I say it’s not just a new playing field for companies – it’s a whole new ballgame. And making adjustments to long-standing policies isn’t easy to do, and more than that – it’s not always easy to see *why* it should be done.

    Even now as I am consulting with various companies addressing exactly this topic, many of them don’t get it. Yet. Give em a little time.

    And yeah, Sandquist would be a great guy for this! :)

    -jt

  • http://williamk.vox.com/library/post/scoble-asks-for-seagate-feedback-and-why-drives-matter.html williamk

    Robert, tell em to beef up their low end Network Attached Storage (NAS) offerings. I always use Seagate for internals but more and more, especially with laptops, I’m installing small NAS in homes. A little NAS box, a router, and a dsl/cable modem, and you have a kick-ass back end for a sweet home network.

  • http://williamk.vox.com/library/post/scoble-asks-for-seagate-feedback-and-why-drives-matter.html williamk

    Robert, tell em to beef up their low end Network Attached Storage (NAS) offerings. I always use Seagate for internals but more and more, especially with laptops, I’m installing small NAS in homes. A little NAS box, a router, and a dsl/cable modem, and you have a kick-ass back end for a sweet home network.

  • jdmonroe

    When are we going to see a non-moving part HDD technology?

  • jdmonroe

    When are we going to see a non-moving part HDD technology?

  • jdmonroe

    When are we going to see a non-moving part HDD technology?

  • http://ben-ward.co.uk/ Ben Ward

    I used to have a Seagate in my PC. Always got on quite well with it and never had any issues, but I then I was given a recommendation of performance/reliability for Western Digital (when they first their 8MB cache discs, I think). I’ve kinda stuck with them ever since.

    I’m not very motivated when it comes to picking hard disc brands, so long as there’re no problems with what I’ve got. Since WD have been very reliable for me so far, I’m happily ambling along. They also seem to have developed an eye for aesthetic. I bought one of their 500GB MyBook Firewire discs last month and as well as being amble for my storage needs, it also looks rather swish on my desk next to the MacBook Pro. I didn’t have the same reaction to the last external Seagate disc I saw.

    We’re in a world where certain companies are getting the hang of producing extremely high quality hardware and making it look beautiful. Which is nice.

  • http://ben-ward.co.uk/ Ben Ward

    I used to have a Seagate in my PC. Always got on quite well with it and never had any issues, but I then I was given a recommendation of performance/reliability for Western Digital (when they first their 8MB cache discs, I think). I’ve kinda stuck with them ever since.

    I’m not very motivated when it comes to picking hard disc brands, so long as there’re no problems with what I’ve got. Since WD have been very reliable for me so far, I’m happily ambling along. They also seem to have developed an eye for aesthetic. I bought one of their 500GB MyBook Firewire discs last month and as well as being amble for my storage needs, it also looks rather swish on my desk next to the MacBook Pro. I didn’t have the same reaction to the last external Seagate disc I saw.

    We’re in a world where certain companies are getting the hang of producing extremely high quality hardware and making it look beautiful. Which is nice.

  • http://ben-ward.co.uk Ben Ward

    I used to have a Seagate in my PC. Always got on quite well with it and never had any issues, but I then I was given a recommendation of performance/reliability for Western Digital (when they first their 8MB cache discs, I think). I’ve kinda stuck with them ever since.

    I’m not very motivated when it comes to picking hard disc brands, so long as there’re no problems with what I’ve got. Since WD have been very reliable for me so far, I’m happily ambling along. They also seem to have developed an eye for aesthetic. I bought one of their 500GB MyBook Firewire discs last month and as well as being amble for my storage needs, it also looks rather swish on my desk next to the MacBook Pro. I didn’t have the same reaction to the last external Seagate disc I saw.

    We’re in a world where certain companies are getting the hang of producing extremely high quality hardware and making it look beautiful. Which is nice.

  • http://blog.tokash.org/ John Tokash

    I have a 100 GB Seagate HD in my laptop and a 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 (Perpendicular Recording) HD in my new gaming pc. No problems at all with these drives or any Seagate I’ve had in the past!

    I’ve had 2 hard drive failures at home in the last several years and neither have been Seagate.

  • http://blog.tokash.org/ John Tokash

    I have a 100 GB Seagate HD in my laptop and a 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 (Perpendicular Recording) HD in my new gaming pc. No problems at all with these drives or any Seagate I’ve had in the past!

    I’ve had 2 hard drive failures at home in the last several years and neither have been Seagate.

  • http://blog.tokash.org/ John Tokash

    I have a 100 GB Seagate HD in my laptop and a 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200 (Perpendicular Recording) HD in my new gaming pc. No problems at all with these drives or any Seagate I’ve had in the past!

    I’ve had 2 hard drive failures at home in the last several years and neither have been Seagate.

  • http://thomashawk.com/ Thomas Hawk

    Actually I just bought a third Seagate external 750 gig drive (from Fry’s in Mountain View) and we also just bought four additional internal 750 gig drives for some servers that we built for Zooomr.

    The drives are some of the most reliable out there. And work really well.

    I go through storage like crazy when I shoot 12+ gigs of RAW photos every day and imagine I’ll keep buying more in the future.

  • http://thomashawk.com/ Thomas Hawk

    Actually I just bought a third Seagate external 750 gig drive (from Fry’s in Mountain View) and we also just bought four additional internal 750 gig drives for some servers that we built for Zooomr.

    The drives are some of the most reliable out there. And work really well.

    I go through storage like crazy when I shoot 12+ gigs of RAW photos every day and imagine I’ll keep buying more in the future.

  • http://thomashawk.com Thomas Hawk

    Actually I just bought a third Seagate external 750 gig drive (from Fry’s in Mountain View) and we also just bought four additional internal 750 gig drives for some servers that we built for Zooomr.

    The drives are some of the most reliable out there. And work really well.

    I go through storage like crazy when I shoot 12+ gigs of RAW photos every day and imagine I’ll keep buying more in the future.

  • http://mthddirector.spaces.live.com/ Matthew

    I’d like to see Seagate’s website a little EASIER to navigate?

    For example, I’m in the market for 500gb-1tb of RAID 1 storage. I’d like to go external, firewire. How do I find that solution on their website in less than 15 seconds?

    Hmmm…. how to find that solution in less than 5 minutes was my problem the other day!

    External, portable RAIDs are in high demand for video profs like myself – I think Seagate would be smart to cater to this crowd.

    Just my 2 cents free of charge :)

  • http://mthddirector.spaces.live.com/ Matthew

    I’d like to see Seagate’s website a little EASIER to navigate?

    For example, I’m in the market for 500gb-1tb of RAID 1 storage. I’d like to go external, firewire. How do I find that solution on their website in less than 15 seconds?

    Hmmm…. how to find that solution in less than 5 minutes was my problem the other day!

    External, portable RAIDs are in high demand for video profs like myself – I think Seagate would be smart to cater to this crowd.

    Just my 2 cents free of charge :)

  • http://mthddirector.spaces.live.com Matthew

    I’d like to see Seagate’s website a little EASIER to navigate?

    For example, I’m in the market for 500gb-1tb of RAID 1 storage. I’d like to go external, firewire. How do I find that solution on their website in less than 15 seconds?

    Hmmm…. how to find that solution in less than 5 minutes was my problem the other day!

    External, portable RAIDs are in high demand for video profs like myself – I think Seagate would be smart to cater to this crowd.

    Just my 2 cents free of charge :)

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