I adore the Internet. I also quite passionately hate it (for reasons why, see my recent article here). The sheer strength of these feelings usually stops me from writing anything that isn't a froth-at-the-mouth rant or oversweetened praise. Unfortunately, ironic and funny pieces are the best read.
How luckily then that other people write about it too.
Here's a piece from The Salmon of Doubt by Douglas Adams, the book I'm reading at the moment (and I don't need to tell you that it gives me heaps of pleasure. I mean it. It's not a sales-sarcastic bit, it's a really, really tasty, funny book. Go to a library if you have to, but read it). It wonderfully corresponds with my recent rants on marketing bullshit.
"...Well, first of all its [i.e. a brochure's, or an e-brochure to be precise] job is to persuade people to buy what you have to sell, and do it by being as glossy and seductive as possible and only telling people what you want them to know. You can't interrogate a brochure. Most corporate websites are like that. Take BMW, for instance. Its Web site is gorgeous and whizzy and it won't answer your questions. It won't let you find out what other people's experience of owning BMWs is like, what shortcomings any particular model might or might not have, how reliable they are, what they cost to run, what they're like in the wet, or anything like that. In other words, anything you might actually want to know. You can e-mail them, but your question or their answer - or anybody else's answer - will not appear on the site. Of course, there are plenty of Web sites where people do share exactly that kind of information, and they're only a few clicks away, but you won't find a word about them on BMW's site. In fact, if you want proper, grown-up information about BMW's, the last place you'll find it is at http://www.bmw.com/. ..."
Isn't it brilliant?
And so bloody true?
