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The other day one of the guys on our Bulletin Board asked
a simple question regarding the "Product Review" section.
Within a few hours the excrement was in the agitator. It
seems there are many ways to do one, and the suggestions
rolled in, and in and in. For days.
I suppose I may be wrong, maybe I should not be calling them
'Product Reviews.' I am not sure what the right name might be,
but, I guess many are all upset with the name as it is. It seems
that by that name most expect and are dismayed that on any given
article 'reviewed' that a comparison test against a certain
and accepted number of the same things in and about the same
size, price, quality, color, taste, smell, length, weight and
anything else they can think of, is not included. That would
be nice. I think 'Consumers Report' does things like that, me
and my doxie have better things to do with our time, like
throw balls and go fishing.
I believe I have heard of some guys on the web who do reports
like that for pay. Sometimes the stuff gets written up in
magazines and stuck on a web-site too, package deal. All kinds
of comparisons are done and usually a fine job of it. Let's say
they are 'objective,' no emotion, just the facts Mam, just the
facts.
When we do one on here it is more 'subjective.' That is, we
get carried away, like we were playing 'show-and-tell' and you
were right here with us. If we like something we say so in as
many ways as possible. The intent is more of a 'tip-off' of
some neat thing we have found in our travels and want to share
with you guys. We do not make it known that we will accept
unsolicited goods, and for the most part we do not. We are
in contact with nearly all of the major and minor manufacturers
on a rather regular basis. Often we are given the opportunity
to 'launch' a new product even before the 'reps' get to see it.
These guys know the power of the web and use us when they can.
This gives them a nice place to announce a new product and you
get to see it here first. We like it that way. If the thing
looks good, seems to work as advertised, and we like it, we
write about it. If not, we get back to the manufacturer and
offer any ideas we may have come up with.
Here is an example. We came across a fly rod and thought they
may be good enough to be a sponsor on here. I called them and
explained how it works and requested they ship me a rod to at
least cast, not go fish with and see how much it took to blow
it up, just to get a realistic idea of. They sent it and I cast
it here. It performed well, in fact, very well, but I was not
too happy with the reel seat. We had another sponsor who makes
reel seats. Duh! We put them together and now both are very
happy.
Did we get paid for this? Of course not, not what we do. Do
both of these guys think we did the right thing? Yup, and so
do we. Have we done a 'Product Review' on either of these?
Yes, one was done three years ago by one of the guys who writes
for us. The other? Someday they may become a sponsor, either
way I will do a 'Product Review' on the rod.
How much money is involved in the above? Well, I have several
long distance phone calls, a few hours of time, several pictures
taken with my digital camera and about $60 to ship the rod back.
What do I get out of it? I get to bring the information to you
for free. Enjoy.
Right or wrong, that is how we do things and I hope that not
too many are offended by our methods. They are simply to bring
you information on stuff. Maybe a bit like when you go into a
fly shop. You may ask about which rod the guy likes best, or
what is new and he gives you his opinion. Not a full 'Comparative
Analysis,' just his opinion. For what it's worth, I guess that's
all we give you too, just an opinion. An honest opinion.
~ James Castwell
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