It’s a slow day today, so TechCrunch asked “Scroogled: Why So Negative, Microsoft?” with a post trying to bash MS for its rather un-Microsoft-like way of competition against Google. I mean everybody is used to everyone bashing Microsoft, while they happily turn their other cheeks. So where is this new aggressive Microsoft coming from?

The question that TechCrunch should have asked is “Scroogled: Why Not?”. There was a time Journalism was established as the public Third Arm of Democracy, in which Journalist were the Sentinels of Truth in the society, to tell the story the way it is after an investigative effort. They are supposed to keep the Government and businesses realms healthy by exposing what we’ve all commonly agreed to be against social norms being practiced by these entities. The World Financial Collapse is an attestation to the failure of Journalists in their role.

Today, journalism is a joke, the line between a journalist and a fanboy has merged. Journalist are now rather opinion shapers instead of harbingers of truth. Where was TechCrunch when Apple was raiding anything Microsoft with the Switcher Ads? Every soul that knows its salt in IT and Computing knows all the claims of Apple in the Ads were just one big crock. The claim of Apple that its devices don’t get viruses prompting massive run for Macs have been proven to be an illusion. Where where all the Tech journalists then that should have called Apple to its senses and exposed the fraud in the Ads. No, they where all cheering Apple on and empowering the Distortion Field further. Now Apple has removed virus-efficacy claim from its sites. MacOS is just another susceptible OS as any other.

And this brings me back to the question in focus. “Scroogled. Why Not?” The question is whether MS assertion is true or not. If the Journalist are failing to warn the masses about the dangers of using Google’s products, who is going to do it. Yes, there is inherent danger in using Google’s product. You mum has told you when you were small, nothing comes free in life; something has to give. You just don’t think Google as a commercial company is working for Santa Claus did you? Where do you think they are making those billions they declared recently as profit? Have you ever seen a Non-Profit organization declare billions in profit?

Yes, you are all paying for it by using Google’s products. Those Android Phones, Chrome Browsers and Chrome OS all phone home by using them. They are telling Google everything you’re doing. That is how they get to know you more than your mother does. To sell you things you don’t need. If you pitch your tent with an Ad company, you need to be aware of the consequences. That is what Tech Journalists are failing to do. They are failing to educate the masses about the dangers of exposure. Privacy Advocacy is not there for nothing, there are people that have been bitten by having their lives exposed online to all and sundry. You may think you are safe for now, but the incessant attack we are witnessing against big American companies these past weeks attest to the fact that security is an illusion. You can say you don’t mind Google knowing everything about you, but what happens when Google is hacked and brought to its knees by enemies, what is going to happen to you? These are the questions that Tech Journalists should have been asking, but almost all of them are fanboys in this age and time. Most of them have vested financial interests in these companies that they’ve lost their objectivity.

So, is it right for Google to be reading your mail, scouring you HDD and looking at everything you type on your computer. If a Virus does this, we are all up in arms, but it is OK for Google to be doing it. Just think about that for a while. The masses need to be aware of these issues and they need to be educated to be able to make informed choices. But how can the masses be educated when the Journalists are busy making money and cheering and hating at the same time. There was a time Journalism was devoid of emotion so as to maintain factual integrity, but these days we all read our news from fallible and raging fanboys. Obviously you’re doing one right now, but I don’t pretend to be a journalist. I just ask you to stop drinking that Cool-aid for a while and think; for Pete’s sake!