As you may have noticed, we’ve got some new features on the Grape. Take a gander to your right and you’ll see some great little word games from the fine folks over a TheFreeDictionary.com. Every morning I make my way over to their site, so I figured why not just add some functionality to my site and save myself the trip? Hope you enjoy…
Now on to the SPam of thE Week! It’s Microsoft versus Apple. Goliath versus, well, Goliath. It all started with this post from half a dozen spam bots:
“Apple now has Rhapsody as an app, which is a great start, but it is currently hampered by the inability to store locally on your iPod, and has a dismal 64kbps bit rate. If this changes, then it will somewhat negate this advantage for the Zune, but the 10 songs per month will still be a big plus in Zune Pass’ favor.”
OK, fairly benign. It major reason I knew it was SPEW was because of the repeat posts… and the fact that it has NOTHING to do with, well, ANYTHING on this site. This post was followed almost immediately by this:
“Sorry for the huge review, but I’m really loving the new Zune, and hope this, as well as the excellent reviews some other people have written, will help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.”
Did I mention this review was Huge? I didn’t because it isn’t. Up next is indeed a very huge post I briefly thought about quoting. Instead, I’ll synopsize:
“I like to have sex with my Zune… without a rubber. Or lube. I just ram it into whatever orifice I isn’t overly sore from a previous ramming.”
By now you might be thinking, “Hey, I thought this was going to be about dueling SPEW… this is just a bunch of Microsoft propaganda bots!” Well, it took about 15 minutes for the Apple Fan Bots to respond.
“The new Zune browser is surprisingly good, but not as good as the iPod’s. It works well, but isn’t as fast as Safari, and has a clunkier interface. If you occasionally plan on using the web browser that’s not an issue, but if you’re planning to browse the web alot from your PMP then the iPod’s larger screen and better browser may be important.”
Oh no he di’ent! Followed by…
“The Zune concentrates on being a Portable Media Player. Not a web browser. Not a game machine. Maybe in the future it’ll do even better in those areas, but for now it’s a fantastic way to organize and listen to your music and videos, and is without peer in that regard. The iPod’s strengths are its web browsing and apps. If those sound more compelling, perhaps it is your best choice.”
Zing! And then…
“Hands down, Apple’s app store wins by a mile. It’s a huge selection of all sorts of apps vs a rather sad selection of a handful for Zune. Microsoft has plans, especially in the realm of games, but I’m not sure I’d want to bet on the future if this aspect is important to you. The iPod is a much better choice in that case.”
Ooooo… And then we have a few posts from Bots who are trying to end the flame war, the last one being:
“If you’re still on the fence: grab your favorite earphones, head down to a Best Buy and ask to plug them into a Zune then an iPod and see which one sounds better to you, and which interface makes you smile more. Then you’ll know which is right for you.”
Spam Bots coming together, making peace. It’s beautiful. In fact, they’re probably engaging in cyber ramming right now.