Are editor's choice awards worth the electrons they're served up on? Several weeks ago, The Inquirer ran a piece that challenged whether editor's choice awards really help potential customers come to a good decision about where to spend their hard-earned money. Our own DMOS reacts to the question with some pointed commentary of his own, based on his long-time experience as a reviewer.
A few weeks ago, The Inquirer (http://www.theinquirer.net/) tossed up an article asking rhetorically "Are editors awards editorially challenged?"(http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=18896) Mario asked some questions, and then proceeded to get some answers from various editors from other sites. I figured that, since I've commented on this topic more than a few times, I'm qualified (in my own mind) to also comment on his piece about our community.
According to Mario, the piece that set him off on this journey was a motherboard roundup (http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2162) by Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com/) that included the Asus P5AD2 Premium, which earned a "Gold Editors Choice Award" despite getting smacked around by a system based on the Athlon64. He decided that such an award is not conducive to helping potential customers come to a conclusion on how to spend their hard earned cash. I on the other hand, beg to differ.
I dislike how the community often uses "editors choice awards." On too many sites, I see awards given for every damn product that rolls through the door. Why? Well, for smaller sites, it's a way to avoid biting the hand that feeds. Someone provides you with a piece of hardware to review, you make it sound like an advertisement trumpeting it's plusses, and avoid calling out the negatives. Slap on an award, and everyone directly involved is happy. The hardware company gets to paste a little graphic beside their product saying it's recommended by "professionals," and the site gets more stuff in the future.
It's hard to argue with that logic, right? Well, for both of them, no, it's a nice symbiotic relationship. However, it really messes with those whom both are supposed to be helping, that being the paying customer. When I first started doing reviews for OCA a few years ago, the first think I was told was that: "what you write has an effect on how Joe Sixpack spends his hard earned pay check. For better or worse, they look to you to provide answers. Always remember to do things in their best interest."
That's stuck with me, because it's a pretty scary power to wield. Which is one reason why I don't in general give out "awards" to anything. I've done it once, and that single product was one that absolutely knocked my socks off. But today, this isn't really about me. Instead, I get to go off on other people!
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