Comments for Who should I believe?

Comment from Josh on 2011-05-18

2011-05-18T23:56:15Z

There is another problem when researching a problem on the Internet. Hundreds of sites with the correct keywords appear on Google, but when you go there, you find that they are trying to entice you to download a huge trial program, often a registry cleaner or antivirus program you never heard of and which does not list your specific problem, but promises that it will fix any problem in general. Alternatively you land on a page dated 6 years ago, where someone else asked a question about the same problem, but never received an answer. Why is the latter site still there? - if they could not come up with an answer in 6 years, the chances are slim that it will happen now, or ever. Sifting through this useless list wastes valuable time. Restricting searches to specific, historically reliable sites, often comes up with no answer to your query. I'm afraid that search engines have become bloated with shady vendors pushing their wares and outdated sites with no solutions. Can't sites like Google offer an option to list sites within a specific time period and to include only technical advice, i.e. exclude shady vendors who exploit technical questions?

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Comment from Tom Higgins on 2011-05-18

2011-05-18T16:44:16Z

I echo the "appropriate to your needs" criteria.
My long standing (may I say 30 year) gripe with programers, is the "more is better" philosophy. Every ad and every upgrade touts its "added features". Heck, I still haven't used everything that was in Word Perfect 20 years ago.
The words missing in "best" discussions are often "clean" and "uncomplicated". Which is exactly what mainstream users usually need.
Not that I expect programers to reduce the number of available features. I just wish, as I have for years, that unwanted features could be hidden in application menus. Many user errors and hours of support could be saved.

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Comment from GREG JACKSON on 2011-05-17

2011-05-18T00:55:10Z

Wow! A tough topic handled properly. I love research, so digging down and sorting things out is a pure joy. After a while you notice trends. In short, Ask Leo site has value to anyone that uses a computer.

Re:Post by JTH "These principles apply to other area of life also." My brother refuses to use Wikipedia because "people can alter or change it's contents" as if it's a blog or "anything goes" website. What a shame.

Re:Post by Steve Burgess: Example- Acronis. I find so many bad reviews (cnet). Some are real horror stories and I sympathize with them. Based on these comments anyone could determine not to approach this product at all. But... considering that more complaints are posted than positive results, and that Acronis is a big seller - it is not a bad product at all. Just one example.

It's tough out there. So it is nice to eventually find a few sites that are trustworthy. I find peace in knowing that. May everyone find their sites. You know youv'e found it when a search begins with "I wonder what xxxxx says about this"

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Comment from Steve Silagi on 2011-05-17

2011-05-17T20:00:24Z

I just clicked on Steve Burgess' link to DataRecoveryWorldwide.com and came up with a 404NotFound as if to highlight your heading. Even tried pasting the link: no dice.

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Comment from Glenn P. on 2011-05-17

2011-05-17T19:57:53Z

I will add that you should cultivate four or five "trusted sources" of information. Mine include Windows Secrets, Ask Bob Rankin and Internet Tourbus, Kim Komando's newsletter, Neat Net Tricks, and of course (need I say it?) Ask Leo!.

In developing a "trusted source", you take at least one question out of the equation right at the outset -- whether you consider that particular source of information to be trustworthy -- and can proceed from there.

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Comment from JTH on 2011-05-17

2011-05-17T17:29:01Z

These principles apply to other area of life also.

Wikipedia is great because you can read the discussion of how the article was created and make your decision from there rather than trust some unseen editor. The discussion tab on most Wikipedia articles will expose biases and show more detailed information about disputed information. I consider the discussion on an article just as important as the main article and qualifies the articles authority. Critics of Wikipedia don't understand this concept and think everyone should trust the unseen editor.

I hope this is not too far off topic.

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Comment from Ron on 2011-05-17

2011-05-17T17:24:28Z

I agree with what you say. In answer to that question I always suggest people read as many opinions as they can and then make their own informed decision. The best way I've found is to look for someone with as similar tastes and experience as you can find.

In one place you mention "ease of use". I lump that with "intuitive". People find what they have past history "intuitive" and "easy to use". So someone with Windows will often find Mac or the various other *Nix's "unintuitive" (and visa versa).

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Comment from Steve Burgess on 2008-05-15

2008-05-15T15:44:47Z

Leo,

I agree with everything you�ve said & would like to add one or two more: It depends on your application and it depends on your perspective (much like your personal experience, as you mentioned). In the data recovery business (23 years for me so far) there are often dominant vendors. For many years, Seagate sold half of all disk drives in the resale market. As a result, more Seagate drives than any other single brand failed and came into data recovery and computer repair shops. As a percentage of the drives they sold, they were no worse than most other brands, but as a percentage of failed drives seen overall, they were quite overrepresented. A lot of tecchies considered their drives to be crap as a result. For years, my favorite laptops were IBM ThinkPads and Mac Powerbooks because it was easiest to remove disk drives from them, and Quantum hard disks were my favorite because it was easiest to do head replacements on them � not necessarily the average user�s concerns! Another common example of perspective is whether to leave a computer running overnight, or turn it off every time you get up and of course, it depends! Here�s my six bits worth on the subject {dead link removed} I�m always impressed with your accurate and valuable advice, Leo.

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Comment from Lynn Beeler on 2008-05-13

2008-05-13T19:39:53Z

Very insightful answer. These concepts are extremely useful when trying to make a decision about different products. Two additional thoughts along this line: Before making a decision I will try to ask knowledgeable friends or relatives if they have a recommendation. A conversation on the item in question can reveal a lot. Second, consider those products that offer a free trial period when trying to decide the use of one software item over another. Hands on usage in a trial period is often the determining factor for me.

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A comment on: Who should I believe?

Tech Questions? Get Answers! - Ask Leo! ... by Leo Notenboom
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