This website has gone downhill because of poor news articles, way down.

[Japlabot]

You see; this is why I hardly visit this website anymore, because of stupid articles like this.

http://www.neowin.ne...idest-rule-ever

Title of the article: Eric Schmidt: Google's 'Don't Be Evil' motto is "the stupidest rule ever"

Quote in the article:

...the idea was that we don't quite know what evil is, but if we have a rule that says don't be evil, then employees can say, I think that's evil.

So what happens is, I'm sitting in this meeting, and we're having this debate about an advertising product. And one of the engineers pounds his fists on the table and says, that's evil. And then the whole conversation stops, everyone goes into conniptions, and eventually we stopped the project. So it did work.

Go to Source;

Actual Quote:

Well, it was invented by Larry and Sergey. And the idea was that we don't quite know what evil is, but if we have a rule that says don't be evil, then employees can say, I think that's evil. Now, when I showed up, I thought this was the stupidest rule ever, because there's no book about evil except maybe, you know, the Bible or something.

So what happens is, I'm sitting in this meeting, and we're having this debate about an advertising product. And one of the engineers pounds his fists on the table and says, that's evil. And then the whole conversation stops, everyone goes into conniptions, and eventually we stopped the project. So it did work.

I have put bold on the line that Neowin conveniently omitted from the quote, and then butchered into: stating that it's "the stupidest rule ever" as "there's no book about evil except maybe, you know, the Bible or something" as part of the main text.

They key text which Neowin has removed is Now, when I showed up, I thought this was. This completely changes the meaning of what he said.

He did not say Google's 'Don't Be Evil' motto is "the stupidest rule ever"

He said "when I showed up, I thought this was the stupidest rule ever". The operative word is WAS, and that is BEFORE he actually started working for he company.

It amazes me that Neowin treats their readership with such discontent and it has dwindled from a flourishing community that had 1,000+ registered members & 10,000+ guests online on the forums at any time of the day or night to now just 74 registered members online & 1578 guests (Probably came from Google searches to old topics) currently.

The news articles have gone from finding the best technology news articles aggregated to the front page, to stupid stunts like this which are even worse than the likes of the Daily Mail all to appease a core group of fanatics who love nothing more than to worship a particular company rather than to have a look at the full spectrum of technology from all companies. And Neowin don't pretend that it isn't headline grabbing for advertising revenue, because we know it is.

[spy beef]

I disagree

[javagreen]

Not this again.

[Nashy]

You still came back.

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

:laugh:

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Another day, another complaint...

Rewrite the article. Or if you disagree with an article, write an opposing piece. It may get picked up and put on the front page. Failing that, show your support (or lack thereof) for the site by leaving.

These, "I'm out of here" and "this site has really let itself go" threads are getting tiresome. The number of times that someone has complained and then done nothing to provide an example of the quality they expect are silly.

[V-Tech]

I learned from life experience (and specially from work) - "Dont show me problems, show me solutions".

Everyone can come up with tons of problems but it's much harder to come up with solutions. If you wanted to leave the website we wouldnt have seen this comment from you. If you think that someone wrote something wrong or brought up wrong facts you can always counter with your own opinion or bring a better proof/fact.

Staff here are reasonable and i believe that if someone had a mistake they can fix it.

[Steven P. Administrators]

It must really hurt coming up against an article that you felt missed an important point among thousands. This is why I created the Moderating is a thankless task thread, people just don't appreciate the amount of effort and cost that goes into keeping this website current, one article (in your opinion) fudges up and all of a sudden "we're going downhill" :rofl:

Edit: I see someone took the correct action and reported the issue, don't let this stop you next time Simon- We appreciate constructive criticism and feedback, but not beatings ;)

[Scorpus Veteran]

Actually I'll take the blame for this one, it wasn't my intention to change the meaning of what he said, I shortened the quote for length reasons - I thought I already included the rest of the sentence in the article body. I completely overlooked the fact that removing that portion changed the context.

My bad

[Haggis Veteran]

BAD TIM!!! lol

dont know why people find it so hard to just click the report button and make the staff aware

[MikeChipshop Member]

BAD TIM!!! lol

dont know why people find it so hard to just click the report button and make the staff aware

That's what i do, and often if it was something the original author overlooked, they'll correct as necessary. Job done!

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

BAD TIM!!! lol

dont know why people find it so hard to just click the report button and make the staff aware

It's easier and more hip to complain instead of communicating with the staff I reckon.

[Haggis Veteran]

It's easier and more hip to complain instead of communicating with the staff I reckon.

I have reported you for being different...lol :p

[Steven P. Administrators]

I have reported you for being different...lol :p

Added warn for abusing report system.

not really.

[Arachno 1D]

To berate such a site for an error of making a misquote is going a tad far don't ya think given the main broadsheets will intentionally twist major political statements to their editorial needs.Post a correction and pat yourself on the back for being so observant, just don't lose the plot over it and don't be confusing Neowin with The Daily Planet.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

...just don't lose the plot over it and don't be confusing Neowin with The Daily Planet.

[game_over]

Most forums traffic has dropped due to social networking, back in the day people would use forums as a way to communicate and keep in touch with online friends, this isn't needed anymore, it's not a reflection of the website, people eventually move on but the rate of registrations naturally slows down.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Most forums traffic has dropped due to social networking, back in the day people would use forums as a way to communicate and keep in touch with online friends, this isn't needed anymore, it's not a reflection of the website, people eventually move on but the rate of registrations naturally slows down.

This. If it wasn't for our news traffic, we'd be doing a lot worse. News views is more than double that of the forum topic views.

[+DonC Subscriber²]

For what it's worth, I've submitted corrections via the feature provided on several occasions and the staff have always acted appropriately and without drama.

[Dick Montage]

For what it's worth, I've submitted corrections via the feature provided on several occasions and the staff have always acted appropriately and without drama.

But where's the inflammatory thread headline in that? ;)

[Growled Member]

For what it's worth, I've submitted corrections via the feature provided on several occasions and the staff have always acted appropriately and without drama.

Sounds like it all ended well. :)

[Anthony Tosie Veteran]

I'll tell you right now that pretty much any writer for Neowin appreciates corrections; we don't want to look stupid, so if you see an error, let us know. We're human, so we make them just like everyone else. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to say. We listen to our readers, and if you disagree with us we're glad to hear it, unlike plenty of other sites out there. Doesn't mean we'll always agree, but if there is a factual or grammatical error, we'll correct it -- typically right away.

[webeagle12]

Not this again.

THIS

[bdsams Veteran]

For what it's worth, I've submitted corrections via the feature provided on several occasions and the staff have always acted appropriately and without drama.

Happy to hear that, when you submit a correction, the editors and the writer get an email of the correction/suggestion...it makes our life much easier and will 99% of the time allow us to address the issue.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I agree with the criticism, as the title misrepresents the context of the quote. A more appropriate title would be "Google's Eric Schmidt considered the "Don't Be Evil" motto "the stupidest rule ever". The updated article is no better.

I appreciate that articles do better with sensational headlines but it's unacceptable to change the context in this manner, even for amateur journalism / fan sites.