Craig.Carlen[Online].com

I’m a big proponent of truth in advertising - especially when those ads are related to technology. Advertisers will invariably push the limits on what defines ‘truth‘. For example, when DirecTV ads come on it’s only in the smallest of print that appears on the screen for maybe 5 seconds do they mention that every additional receiver you install requires a $5.00 fee. They’re by no means lying about it, but to hide that fact in the legalese the FCC and FTC requires for promotional and sales ads is arguably holding back part of the truth.

But when it comes to cable and satellite providers, Comcast is by far the biggest abuser of the Truth in Advertising laws I’ve seen in a long time. Truth in Advertising is fairly straight forward - an ad must be truthful and non-deceptive, there must be evidence to substantiate the claims of the ad, and the advertisements cannot be unfair. Comcast stretches those guidelines to the nth degree - at least with their ads here in Michigan.

I’ve never been a big fan of Microsoft’s consumer connectivity products: Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and Outlook. Maybe it’s because they are Microsoft products and I don’t want to be tied too closely to one software provider or maybe it’s because I don’t find them as usable as other similar products. In any event, I use Mozilla’s Firefox to browse, Mozilla’s Thunderbird for e-mail and contacts, and Google Calendar for well, a calendar.

I have to admit, today I really wanted to thrash Apple. Specifically the Apple Store in nearby Woodland Mall. A week or so ago my wife and I were just walking around the mall with nothing specific in mind. Being that I love technologies of any kind I generally gravitate to the Apple Store knowing full well my IQ will slowly be sucked through my right ear in their attempts at assimilation. When were were there I started to play around with the new iPod Touch -and I have to admit, it’s a nice little device. The touchscreen keyboard left a lot to be desired - I don’t care how intuitive it is, my fingers just aren’t that small. Anyway, while I was playing around with the iPod Touch, my wife was listening in on a sales pitch from one of their borg drones and I overheard a interesting tidbit: “Nope. You don’t have to worry about viruses. They don’t exist for the Mac.” Interesting. Granted, there aren’t many but there are viruses specifically written to attack Apple’s OSX - LeapA being the first. And it’s not as if OSX is the most secure Operating System on the market, it’s not if the recent security update from Apple is any indication.