Microsoft in the media: Unfair and unbalanced

I’ve noticed an unfair, ongoing trend: If Microsoft does something a little off, it gets bashed into the ground for it. But if Google, Facebook, or Apple (all three of which can be categorized, like Microsoft, as The Man in their own rights) missteps, it generally gets mild reprimands and even support from the media and those drinking the Kool-Aid.

The parade of unfair criticism Case in point is the famous iPhone 4 antenna issue (affectionately termed “antennagate”), where holding the iPhone 4 in a certain way would interfere with the cellular signal. Then-CEO Steve Jobs said, “Hold it differently,” and everyone said, “Oh, it’s not a design flaw, we are simply not holding it properly.”

[ There’s plenty of criticism to go around: Galen Gruman shows how Apple’s growing power could have a dark side. And Eric Knorr asks why Google stopped doing no evil. | Stay abreast of key Microsoft technologies in InfoWorld’s Technology: Microsoft newsletter. ]

We also see a ton of false reporting regarding certain products. One example is when Chrome was crowned the most-used Web browser, according to numbers from the online metrics firm StatCounter. The report tried to show that the browser users preferred on the weekend was the one they love the most: Chrome. This story went viral, but did the true facts reach the same audience? Of course not, even though Microsoft columnist Paul Thurrott gave a full explanation of the situation and helped expose it as false. Unfortunately, the lie was already in people’s heads and most likely still is.

Take the brouhaha over the “Smoked by Windows Phone” controversy as another example where a very tiny thing is blown up to huge proportions simply because it is connected to Microsoft. In that case, Microsoft has been challenging folks to beat the Windows Phone OS in a variety of tests. It’s been described as more of a “carnival attraction” and deemed unfair, but people lined up to give it a shot and came away impressed with the Windows Phone speed. Ultimately, it served its purpose.

Still, what people remember is the controversy: One guy at one store won the challenge using his Galaxy Nexus by displaying the weather of two different cities faster than the Windows Phone did. The store claimed he had to show two different cities in two different states, and he and the blogosphere cried foul. The guy was eventually offered a new laptop and smartphone as an apology.

This is a simple case of store employees not knowing what to do and making a bad call — and the press feasting on Microsoft. That story got a ton of (negative) attention for Microsoft.

It’s bigger issues as well, all drawn from mistaken perceptions and media slant. If Microsoft bids to buy patents, it’s a patent troll, but if Google does it, it’s protecting the great open source Android OS. Or take Google’s new privacy rules — ZDnet’s Networking blog says get over it already, with a summary that makes me cringe: “Do you really think that Google, along with everyone else on the Web, hasn’t been collecting your data for years now? Deal with it already.” Seriously? Deal with it?

Why Microsoft is such a target for bashing Microsoft is bashed so often (unfairly, in my opinion) because of past issues and the perceptions surrounding those issues, including:

• Microsoft was embroiled in antitrust matters. That’s old news for Microsoft, but it may be novel for Apple, which is coming under government scrutiny, not that you hear much about it.
• Microsoft products are criticized for security holes — that Vista filled in. Thanks to 10 years of its Trustworthy Computing effort, Microsoft is a leader in teaching the Secure Development Life Cycle methodology to other companies.
• Microsoft was criticized for not being innovative — although the Xbox and the Kinect are two of the many areas showing just the opposite.
• Microsoft was criticized for being closed and guarded, and for not playing nice with other ecosystems — despite, in recent years, the amazing amount of open information through MSDN blogs and an open source forum called Codeplex. The fact that Microsoft releases software for other platforms like Mac OS X and iOS should dispel this critique.

You hear the negative but typically never see the positive. Microsoft is constantly questioned about its ethics over decades-old disputes. But just last month, Microsoft won Ethisphere’s “most ethical” award — Google, Facebook, and Apple weren’t even on the nominees’ list!

I’m not saying you’re mistaken to praise other companies about their products. But when it comes to product flaws or any wrongdoing (including privacy issues that should worry us all), they should be treated equally. Microsoft is not treated equally.

This article, “Microsoft in the media: Unfair and unbalanced,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more of J. Peter Bruzzese’s Enterprise Windows blog and follow the latest developments in Windows at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.