Is Pitney Bowes treading on Tom's Hardware's name

Or is it much worse?

I just got a spam email from "Tom's Hardware and Pitney Bowes" talking about the recent change in postage here in the US and, of course, how PB's products would make me warm and fuzzy inside.

I sure hope this is not a new trend of ads from Tom's - a site that I USED to trust, way back in they sysdoc.pair.com days, but who keeps becoming more and more difficult to take at face value as the commercial nature of the site matures.

Did anyone else get this? Did anyone else *agree* to get this kind of email from this site? Is anyone else as hopping mad (and dissapointed in this site) as I am???

I don't get mail from TG's.....I wish I did though....I'd have a purpose to my life then....


and quit talking trash about TG's....I mean sure it's not perfect, but you're talking about some ppl's home here!

Shoo. You're annoying the qoop too.

You've pissed the Cheez off now too.

My god.. just what we need.. two pissed off fems in this forum!

What's your avatar from btw?

see? you guys are hitting it off so nicely!.....you even dress your avitars similar......

hai!

I'm sorry, but I think you're trying to create a controversy or scandal where there is none.

Even if they did send the emai, who cares? THG is a frigin business. They're in this to make money. Is that so evil and horrible?

Sheesh.

-mpjesse

Haven't seen it yet.. Hmm..

I'm watching Naratu right now.. I'm a big fan of Samuri X/Kenshin and Dragonball Z haha

Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebob.. can't go wrong with either of those!

I took Japanese in High School for a year.

It's hard enough learning how to write it, in which language, and speaking it is hard as hell.

One little symbol can change "Ko" to "Kyo" .. and there is another little symbol that makes it a different sound.

It's hard to learn..

the similarities are multiplying!

I would go with Oruchuban Ebichu as my favorite anime. Ever.

Cheezy-poof = riser with boobs

it's amazing that you guys aren't hooking up.....you're the same person!

It is a marketing partner, and there is an opt out for everyone for this, and future marketing messages.

While I sympathize with people about getting marketing messages, I tend to believe that as long as an opt out is available, it is a legitimate business issue.

We have done this before, with Xerox, and there was no adverse impact, and people did get out of it.

If offense was caused this time, I apologize. None was intended, and it was done legitimately and above board, as all such marketing packages are delivered.

As for the issue of commercialization and trust: as far as I can tell we have sponsorships, advertising, and subscriptions in the media business without end. In some cases, as in a subscription to PC Magazine, for example, you pay for the magazine, AND you get ads.

In politics you get lobbyists, fund raisers, and PACs.

On enthusiast sites, and blogs, you get everything from ads, to Google AdSense, to comparison shopping links. I think the front page of Anandtech is about as busy an ad surface as any out there. HardOCP thanked Monarch for sponsoring the site in an editorial, and Monarch is a commercial enterprise. I have been to numerous meetings at Computex, a place where many so-called independent site editors go, with media kits in hand. None of our editors are looking for ad sales.

Hey, if your boss paid you for a week's work, how would you like it if someone said, You have got to be having sex with him, too?

Sorry, am I allowed to rant here, too?

Omid Rahmat
CEO
TG Publishing

I grew up on old school Dragonball and Voltron. I guess that's why the admittedly weird Japaneses cartoons don't really faze me.

Exactly what I was wondering. Perhaps when you criticize Tom's that post doesn't count. Or maybe he comes from The Negative Dimension where you can never rise above being a zero.

And as we all know, once a zero, always a zero.

It's funny, your initial article pissed me off. I must admit I had the typical fanboy reaction.

Then I grew up.

You were absolutely right- and I'm not trying to kiss ass here. Jerry Sanders (i think) catered and even encouraged AMD fanboys. In a way he was AMD's biggest fanboy. All he could ever talk about was sticking it to Intel. Fortune did an article on AMD about this time last year... the focus of the article was primarily Hector Ruiz, however they did a short interview Jerry. And what did Jerry talk about? "We've got Intel by the balls right now..." was one of the more colorful statements he made. All Hector could talk about was making money and attacting big name clients to the Opteron. He could care less what about Intel was doing.

Jerry was really AMD's own worst enemy. Don't get me wrong- he played a major part in making the Sledgehammer happen... which has been the key in making AMD profitable. But I don't think Jerry really ever cared about making money. To him it was about competing with intel.

Hector Ruiz is the best thing to happen to AMD since they purchased NextGen.

-mpjesse

I'd be disappointed if you didn't.

That's quote of the week stuff right there!!!!!

*fiddles with pen*



Yes.




Yes indeed.





Anyway, fanboydom... I think nowadays it's ATI and NVIDIA who get under my skin about that. Fan boys on forums I can understand, but their PR is just about the same. Every time they get a minor edge on the other, or they want to moan about something you get a knock on the door. (ATI was moaning about 3DMark 06 last I saw them... *checks email*... wait, no, now they're taking quotes about how "ATI is the clear video winner". NVIDIA is no better... it's like trying to keep children apart with graphics cards...)

Thanks for your response. As I told Wolfgang, I absolutely understand the importance of advertising to support your efforts here.

The ad was quite a surprise as I'd never seen one, in fact, more of a surprise because the newsletter has never had an ad in it (that I can remember anyway).

If it was my preference, I'd have ads in the newsletter, without receiving an email that is solely an ad. An ad that pays for content at time of content seems to be generally more accepted than an ad by itself. I believe that's a fairly common opinion. Certainly it's mine.

To use your magazine example, few people complain about the ads in a magazine (provided there is a sufficient balance of content to advertisement). However, even fewer people appreciate when their name is sold to advertisers for the sole purpose of receiving ads and unwanted offers.

It's not a perfect comparison but I think it does help illustrate the point. You know your revenue numbers, if that's what it takes then perhaps that's what it takes.

If you don't mind my asking, the opt-in opt-out process. Has that always been an option or was the process added at some point after newsletter sign ups had occurred?

Thanks again Omid.

I've been here for years and never gotten an email.

I simply don't understand the anime thing at all....seems so lame to me it's not even funny.

I played this x-rated anime game once. I can't remember the name of it right now, but it was pretty raunchy. The plot went something like this:

you're the new (japanese) kid in town. mom & dad throw you in a private school. (not sure if it was H.S. or college, they didn't make the distinction). Anyways basically your goal was to sleep with every chic in school and turn them into whores. I won't go into details regarding the sex scenes, but they were pretty damn nasty.

Anyways... it was... interesting. Japan definitely has a unique take on porno. BUKAKKE!!!!! lol

-mpjesse

Well, this is most unfortunate. I totally understand the need for advertising to support the site, as there is no other feasible way to do it, but I draw the line at the email. Here's the thing - I provided my email to this site years ago in order to receive some of the newsletters - and the myriad advertisments it contains. However, this is an unacceptable use of my personal information. If I had received an email from your site including a review of the Pitney Bowes machine, conducted with the same even hand with which most of your reviews are conducted, and maybe even pointing out how such a device could legitimately help my company, that's one thing. But no, the only thing "Tom's Hardware" about this email was the site's name in the subject. Not cool. This is a cheap sell-out to make a quick buck and has done nothing but damage the reputation of this site. I am now forced to include the phrase "Tom's Hardware" in my spam filter - which will also eliminate all the newsletters I receive from the site which, in turn, eliminates the only thing that actually gets me to visit this site regularly.

And by the way, when I originally signed up to receive the newsletters, I specifically opted out of any partner advertising or marketing. So much for honoring that.

I miss the Tom's of old.