The way this story is written, it feels like the author was almost gleeful at the opportunity to trash both Microsoft and the Zune. Maybe this story is better categorized as an opinion piece.

An interesting, but ultimately problematic piece. The introduction fails at explaining the point/thesis. There is little to no opposing evidence. Most critically, however, I don't see this as an important news story what-so-ever. There's a naivete in accusing a big corporation of astroturfing. Corporations will do what it takes to sell their product. nothing new here.

Unfortunately Daniel Eran or whatever fake name hes now using, has decided to start spamming newstrust with his little moneymaking blog. It will be interesting to see how long it takes him to assert that XP costs 5 times as much as 4 releases of OSX.

It brings in lots of reviewers in the article. I don't own an iPod but have been amazed at how quickly it reached a tipping point. Zune will never get close.

This article is a thinly- to not-at-all- veiled attack on Microsoft. The headline really ought to be flipped around its semicolon to emphasise its true priorities: while it does talk about Zune's competition with the iPod, it is hardly the focus. Instead we get a diatribe of alleged shilling and astroturfing by MS, most of it in the past and significant chunks of it unsourced (particularly in 'Sloppy Is As Sloppy Does' - ironic!). Things really fall off the bottom of the chart when Steve Balmer's head is photoshopped onto the body of a supervillian. It's informative regardless, but you would be mad to draw any form of judgement from it.

While he admists to being no fan of Microsoft, Eran has been consistently fair about his reporting. Microsoft fans have been flogging his work for a while, so one must wonder if their hatred stems from the old "methinks they doth protest o'er much." I, for one, find much truth in his work, and his opinions seem to stem from logic, rather than pure passion.

Ridiculously biased as usual. There is nothing factual about anything Daniel writes. Case in point, his assertion that a Windows PC costs 5X as much as a MAc over its lifetime. He calimed that the avrage PC user spends $150+ on Geek Squad every year. If you want to consier that factual, well then there is no reason to consider you a credible source of information either.

Daniel Eran publishes his highly opinionated articles in the form of RoughlyDrafted Magazine. Often pro-apple in it position, RDM offers something other than the rehashed press releases from the more mainstream tech news outlets. I don't agree with all of Daniel's options, but I do enjoy his arguments that are always rational and thought provoking. Most of all, I respect Daniel’s ability to see the big picture and not get stuck on the small details most people get caught up on.