As far as Richard 'parroting' his employee's talking points, and Hunt 'parroting' BD's talking pointsit, it looks like a draw to me. Except for the fact that Richard holds the MS flag up for all to see whill Bill hides behind BD's. I see one considerably more honest than the other, because one sides agenda is out in the open for all to see, and the other.....
By the way, the article and rebuttal had nothing to do with MS's business stances, but rather it was about someone being mis-quoted and/or taken out of context, a whole different issue.
Bill Hunt stated: "Don't talk to me about bias. At least I'm not getting paid for my opinions." Have you discovered facts to the contrary? :rolleyes I see HD DVD ads, as well as Blu-ray ads on "The Bits".
"By the way, the article and rebuttal had nothing to do with MS's business stances, but rather it was about someone being mis-quoted and/or taken out of context, a whole different issue."
It appears Tom didn't have a problem understanding this.
I am starting to believe there are comprehension problems on this board. This is the ONLY reason why I felt the thread title should be changed. It has nothing to do with "spin" but common decency. Someone was MISQUOTED and his words were used to imply something he did NOT SAY. If someone has proof to the contrary that he said otherwise AT THIS CONFERENCE, then by all means present the evidence.
A question mark was added to the "Title" to promote opinions of Bill Hunt's claim. Did I miss a retraction? Could it be, or not be a Freudian slip on Doherty's part?
There is a difference between being misquoted and taken out of context. He claims he was taken out of context. Being that Microsoft is currently backing one of the 2 formats, there is no way he was going to admit that Microsoft wants both of these formats to go away. I don't really see any way for Microsoft to respond other then they did. Now it's just up to the readers to decide at which point they were speaking the truth.
That's what an official spokesman does. So we'll know that it's indeed the opinion of the party paying the check and not some personal blah, blah creeping in.
So we can agree now that he spoke for MS? And that the opinion he stated was MS's?
Bill Hunt makes the classical mistake that he seems to think that an opinion expressed on behalf of a company may not be the personal opinion of the spokesman for that company - and thus can be challenged as not being a true opinion of the company.
At the same time, he's suggesting that the opinion expressed is ... merely the opinion of that company. Which we were after in the first place.
It's basically a nonsense argument, therefore, I'm afraid.
So it's not possible that he genuinely decided to change his support just as others have done? Personally, I was a huge Blu-ray fan before getting into HD DVD. Now I love both!
If Mr. Doherty truly believed Blu-ray was superior then changing careers to work for the competition would be suicide, because (and this is the theory part) when HD DVD eventually failed the Blu-ray camp would have him black listed. He'd have a hell of a time finding another job in this industry.
That is unless (and I put this in here for all the conspiracy lovers) his contract grants him sole control over the MS monopoly of VOB should HD DVD fail.
I find it unlikely that he would be blacklisted by the Blu-ray camp. Executives move from corporation to corporation all the time. Thats the nature of these companies.
As Michael Corleone said: "it's just business, it's not personal."
Oh my Lord. Of course he's going to speak for whoever's paying the check. That's his job. He's a professional. What, do you think everyone who speaks on behalf of Blu-Ray for Sony, Disney, et al., does so on principle?
These are business ventures, people, carried out by people who are paid to do their jobs. None of these people are righteous.
Blacklisted is probably a little strong of a term, I agree. It's a mute point to debate the fact that he previously worked for Blu-ray and that was really my main point. We have no knowledge of the events that lead him to Microsoft and to question his character based on his previous jobs is nonsensical. Especially since it's his job to say what he said.
Until someone proves that Bill has a vested interest in Blu-Ray winning, calling him a shill is unfounded and slander. Being that he is a forum member here, the staff should be cracking down on those personally attacking him by calling him names, but for some reason they are allowing it? Even this forum is going down the toilet as far as politeness and respect are concerned.
To be fair to Bill Hunt I don't think anyone is paying him to be a blu-ray supporter. I think that is honestly his personal choice and one that he is passionate about. I just don't think that his arguments are particularly valid.