Good morning, everyone. I hope you’re all well. I’d like to take a few paragraphs this morning to talk about bias. Following my somewhat positive review of Iwill’s KK266Plus, I received an email essentially accusing Hardware Analysis of being a sell out, and biased toward Iwill products.
First of all, I think it’s important to describe what bias actually means, and how the term should and shouldn’t be used. Frankly I don’t like the word, or rather I don’t like the way many use it. It’s very easy to call someone biased. It's a very easy and convenient way to cast doubt on someone, without having to actually execute any reasonable higher thought process. The individual from whom I received the email used the word as precisely that, a substitute for actual thought. Even worse, it sounds intelligent. It’s really exactly the same as calling someone a big dummy, only somehow, ‘biased’ sounds more educated or sophisticated, as if there were real substance behind it. It’s not, and there isn’t. Don’t be fooled by it. Without explanation or justification (which there usually isn’t), calling someone biased is no different than me calling you a big meanie ... and how seriously would you take that? Next time someone calls you biased, instead of saying ‘no, you are!’, try asking him or her why they think that. Don’t be surprised if they either back out of the discussion, or make an ass of themselves rather quickly.
Using the term ‘biased’ in the literal sense, yes, of course Hardware Analysis is biased. Everyone is. Ourselves, we’re biased toward high-quality, high-performance products, low prices, and in general, items that will best serve us and our readers. Not all biases are bad. In fact, I think that’s a pretty decent bias for us to have. If a company continues to offer products that fit into those categories, then you’ll probably see us talk about them a lot. I don’t see that as unreasonable. I think most of you realize that, and you realize that Iwill is really on the ball right now, and that’s why we’ve been talking so favorably about its products recently.
We know a good product when we see it, and we’re going to make sure you know about it too. We’ll be the first to congratulate that company for a job well done. We’ll also be the first to point out problems, as we see them.
As a brief aside, when I posted a review of Iwill’s DVD266-R motherboard some months ago, I criticized Iwill for some problems with its User’s Manual. No less than five days after posting it, we were contacted by Iwill Taiwan, informing us that it was looking into the issue, and asking what more we thought could be done to improve its manuals. I can tell you that usually when I criticize a company in public, that’s hardly the reaction received. Take that for what you will.
So am I biased toward a company who caters almost exclusively to our audience? Am I biased toward a company that goes beyond most any other in order to ensure customer satisfaction? Toward a company who not only listens, but takes action when I offer suggestions as to how it can improve upon its products? You better believe I am.
What’s important here is that I’m biased, and always will be biased, toward that company, not toward Iwill specifically. There’s a big difference. Right now Iwill happens to be that company, but that could always change. If it does, we will remain loyal to that company, whoever it becomes, and that certainly will not change.
