Editorial Revised NVIDIA Reviewers NDA Raises Eyebrows: Our Thoughts

[bug]

This is getting very annoying.
Show us any other NDA with "only to our benefit" statement then.
Hell, show us nVidia's older NDA's with such statement!!!

Down boy! Down!

Nothing AMD has at the moment is even remotely as bad as Fermi was.

Except for Polaris that couldn't be scaled to cover the high-end at all.

 

[Assimilator]

It's refreshing and extremely heartening to see such a measured and thoughtful opinion piece from TPU. I know I've been complaining about what I consider clickbait journalism from this site for a while, but this article is the exact opposite of that - and in a climate where every tech "journalist" and their mother seems to be milking the "evil NVIDIA" train after the death of the deservedly-reviled GPP, such an article is both brave and welcome.

Well done @btarunr and @W1zzard - you have restored my faith in TPU. Please, keep this up!

 

[RejZoR]

Down boy! Down!



Except for Polaris that couldn't be scaled to cover the high-end at all.

Polaris was never meant to do that. It was a specifically targeted mid end card for a very specific price bracket. That got fucked up by miners, but AMD had good intentions for the gaming crowd.

 

[TheMailMan78]

This is getting very annoying.
Show us any other NDA with "only to our benefit" statement then.
Hell, show us nVidia's older NDA's with such statement!!!


Nothing AMD has at the moment is even remotely as bad as Fermi was.

Dude Im asking seriously, is english not your first language? If not I fully understand.

Ill quote myself and I hope this helps...

"The way it reads is TPU will not use confidential information thats shows NVIDIA in a bad light. Basically if you "leak" it should only be to show NVIDIA in a good light. I don't see an "attack on journalism" anywhere. Just "Hey if you are going to leak stuff make sure its to make us look good!". Simple solution would be to just not leak anything and give honest reviews after the NDA. That other place sounds full of drama queens."

Nothing in the NDA says to hide anything after the NDA is lifted. NOTHING.

 

[Gasaraki]

This Article is just Sad and Pro NVIDIA

LOL! Make TPU Great Again! /s

I have enjoyed reading Techpowerup for about four years now. I agree with almost every Editorial posted. Unfortunately this means today is a solemn day for me. I cannot support Techpowerup's position on this. I'm sure this also means I cannot read and enjoy other websites like Anandtech.

If this is the kind of legal documents that sites like Techpowerup are signing, then hardware review sites might be irrevocably lost. Not releasing a review before an NDA date has been the case since the beginning but if you guys are being given confidential information at all regardless of talking positive or negative about it then you are absolutely not journalists. Journalist report under their OWN integrity. Not the marching orders of those being reported on.

Now I understand that the ONLY reason you are doing this is to protect what generates the most page views for the site, graphics card reviews. But be up front about that. You HAVE to sign even if the NDA said you had to give away your first born. You have NO choice or you risk losing page views and therefore ad revenue. At least be up front about that before pretending this is acceptable.

Further to the point, I had to check TWO agreements in order to sign into my already created Techpowerup account in order to comment on this editorial. I have to agree about cookies on every website. I have to check agree to legal statements constantly all over the web. We are lost to a constant barrage of legal statements born out of fear and this editorial is just further evidence of this.

The ONLY way back from this is for hardware review sites to stop accepting ANY hardware from manufacturers that ask you to sign anything other than waiting for the official release date.

OMG, people are so out there. If this NDA was really out of the norm, would you think that sites like Anandtech and Tom's would be signing it? Yet they probably are just like TPU. So people need to chill the F out.

 

[OneMoar]

there are two kinds of people in this world
those who understand legalise
and those who don't
Heise does not
most of the people crying fowl in this thread also don't

all that being said this is a symptom of a larger problem

nvidia are bullies and its high time press banded together and refused to cover them until they shape up*
**right after AMD stop making shit graphics cards because this is what you get when there is no competition

 

[Lobolawn]

That AMD cards do not offer a feature thats clearly beneficial to a lot of people, therefore its a con?

It shouldn't be a con thats my point, not when its keyed to nvidia cards.
You are off. And your memory is poor.
I'm just saying i remember TPU being bias. I didn't want you to to forget.
On more than 30+ reviews. Not to say i hate tpu.
Your fanboy is too strong.

Notice how most of the reviews say nothing of the lack of G-sync being a con? Maybe because AMD offers an equivalent of Freesync?

So tpu got a little better. Good for them. I dont hate tpu relax.

So you signed up to TPU to point out what exactly?

I think I did it. You are mad enough.
Also no one here is a journalist.

 

[OneMoar]

It shouldn't be a con thats my point, not when its keyed to nvidia cards.
You are off. And your memory is poor.
I'm just saying i remember TPU being bias. I didn't want you to to forget.
On more than 30+ reviews. Not to say i hate tpu.
Your fanboy is too strong.



So tpu got a little better. Good for them. I dont hate tpu relax.



I think I did it. You are mad enough.
Also no one here is a journalist.

this isn't reddit kiddo
be gone you won't be missed

 

[R-T-B]

and they also broke this NDA by releasing it.

Um no. You can't violate something you haven't agreed to yet. That's not how the world works. Furthermore, if the details of the agreement weren't public, it wouldn't even be legally enforceable. That whole idea is silly.

I can't take that statement seriously, we all know that's not what happens and oddly enough this article and what Heise says is proof of that.

Oh it's certainly what happens.

If anything the press today is too sensationalist for my taste, not too cautious by any means.

Show us any other NDA with "only to our benefit" statement then.

I assure you, it's more common than not

I think the only moral thing to do for people that think TPU sold out is to leave. I mean people surely that have such phenomenal reading comprehension as they do, should leave immediately. Just click that lil "x" in the corner of your browser and BOOM JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY SAVED!

I believe we agree. Oh my god that's scary.

This planet needs a solid plague. People cry about the dumbest things.

Oh good god yes, I feel vehement disagreement with you again! Was getting scary there for a moment.

 

[xkm1948]

No just no. Thats not what TPU did and thats not the way this works. Thats not how any of this works.

Don’t scare the snowflakes with facts man, you are gonna hurt their precious feelings. Pff who cares how real world works right?

 

[Lobolawn]

this isn't reddit kiddo
be gone you won't be missed

You should be banned for flaming? No?
Gang mentality I cant post the truth?

 

[R-T-B]

Also no one here is a journalist.

You going by the college credential criteria? Even then we have a few.

If not, I'd still argue that's a very dated definition. The 21st century has made everyone a journalist... of course not everyone is a good journalist. Those are rare.

 

[TheMailMan78]

It shouldn't be a con thats my point, not when its keyed to nvidia cards.
You are off. And your memory is poor.
I'm just saying i remember TPU being bias. I didn't want you to to forget.
On more than 30+ reviews. Not to say i hate tpu.
Your fanboy is too strong.



So tpu got a little better. Good for them. I dont hate tpu relax.



I think I did it. You are mad enough.
Also no one here is a journalist.

Your response seems incoherent. Do you feel your left arm? Are you having a stroke?

Or are you trying to be all 4chan "Be me. Be 14. Bitch about TPU because thats what you do? Get caught wearing sisters underwear."

 

[Captain_Tom]

"the NDA cannot be interpreted as a directive to only post positive reviews (lest NVIDIA ends up killing the credibility of every launch-day review, and jeopardizing its own product launch)."

I am sorry, is the writer suggesting that Nvidia would never push for positive reviews because it would immediately jeopardize Nvidia's credibility? That's cute.

Yeah lol, Nvidia would never be silly enough to try to receive universal praise guys!

 

[ajc9988]

Now, look at how Nvidia came to the press on GPP and gave what is covered as Confidential Information on the program. By doing so, the derivative information of rumors and speculation on the GPP can no longer happen because of the speculation being prohibited. That means that the GPP would have survived and this NDA acts as a gag order on you reporting on it. That is a simple example of how Nvidia will use this NDA.

 

[the54thvoid]

Don’t scare the snowflakes with facts man, you are gonna hurt their precious feelings. Pff who cares how real world works right?

It's got bugger all to do with snowflakes you melonhead. It's about people bandwagoning the anti-Nvidia train without checking the facts first. Also, it's being done by the usual anti TPU, pro AMD minority.

AMD had a kick-back some time ago with a formal review guide that was unfairly weighted against Nvidia. Someone find it quick, to put the AMD chappies to rest.

 

[Captain_Tom]

It's got bugger all to do with snowflakes you melonhead. It's about people bandwagoning the anti-Nvidia train without checking the facts first. Also, it's being done by the usual anti TPU, pro AMD minority.

AMD had a kick-back some time ago with a formal review guide that was unfairly weighted against Nvidia. Someone find it quick, to put the AMD chappies to rest.

And that makes this ok? That was crappy of AMD, and this is crappy of Nvidia. Duh.

 

[W1zzard]

is the writer suggesting that Nvidia would never push for positive reviews

Not a single western company has ever tried to influence the outcome of my reviews in any way (including NVIDIA). Some Asia companies have tried (a little bit), but of course without success.

Why would you want to screw with reviewer results, and then get burnt by actual customers who encounter product flaws. Nowadays everybody can post their experience online. Results of hardware reviews can easily be reproduced, or are immediately noticed when comparing with other reviewers.

 

[R-T-B]

It's got bugger all to do with snowflakes you melonhead.

I think I love this comment.

We should start a "Society for the Appreciation of Snowflakes" with the goal of ending the use of "snowflake" as a derogatory term. You can be president.

Not a single western company has ever tried to influence the outcome of my reviews in any way (including NVIDIA). Some Asia companies have tried (a little bit), but of course without success.

Why would you want to screw with reviewer results, and then get burnt by actual customers who encounter product flaws. Nowadays everybody can post their experience online. Results of hardware reviews can easily be reproduced, or are immediately noticed when comparing with other reviewers.

The only reason I can think is if you have confidence you can spam common review sites with "fake reviews" but even this is unlikely to work 100%.

Or are you trying to be all 4chan "Be me. Be 14. Bitch about TPU because thats what you do? Get caught wearing sisters underwear."

Be TPU.

People say you bias towards nvidia. People say you biased towards AMD/ATI. Be bias towards nobody.

Cancel out.

PS: I become 4chan.

Kill me.

 

[ajc9988]

Not a single western company has ever tried to influence the outcome of my reviews in any way (including NVIDIA). Some Asia companies have tried (a little bit), but of course without success.

Why would you want to screw with reviewer results, and then get burnt by actual customers who encounter product flaws. Nowadays everybody can post their experience online. Results of hardware reviews can easily be reproduced, or are immediately noticed when comparing with other reviewers.

Look into the videos by AdoredTV. I think they cover Nvidia's activities well over the years, including influencing press coverage.

 

[cadaveca]

Look into the videos by AdoredTV. I think they cover Nvidia's activities well over the years, including influencing press coverage.

We ARE that press. Your source of information is highly flawed, based on my own experiences, and what W1zz says is his experience. So the idea that NVidia tries to manipulate the press is proven wrong by our experience. Only the weak give in to such demands. That weakness might be financial, mental, whatever... but probably financial. That's all that NVidia can do, understand, is slightly affect a site's income, by various means. You make it seem like they have more power over things than they actually do. It's rather entertaining, to be honest.

 

[R-T-B]

We ARE that press. Your source of information is highly flawed, based on my own experiences, and what W1zz says is his experience. So the idea that NVidia tries to manipulate the press is proven wrong by our experience. Only the weak give in to such demands.

I feel like shouting "I am the senate!"

Are we that cool yet?

Can I be emperor?

Sorry, I must need more coffeee, it's becoming hard to entertain myself....

 

[ajc9988]

We ARE that press. Your source of information is highly flawed, based on my own experiences, and what W1zz says is his experience.

You two are two data points. It is the same as anecdotal evidence. It has been proven to have occurred at other outlets. Just because your personal experience has not yet been of the type DOES NOT mean that it will not be so in the future. There is an error related to your sample size, thereby making your statements experiential, but not necessarily that of the entirety of the tech press.

 

[R-T-B]

You two are two data points. It is the same as anecdotal evidence. It has been proven to have occurred at other outlets. Just because your personal experience has not yet been of the type DOES NOT mean that it will not be so in the future. There is an error related to your sample size, thereby making your statements experiential, but not necessarily that of the entirety of the tech press.

Seriously, you are correct if we can assume all data is gathered impartially and without bias, ie all data points are equal.

Unfortunately, you know as well as I do that nothing could be further from the truth in the online journalism world.

Take it from me, this place is better than most at reporting the true facts of matters. And honestly, me backing up Dave is seriously not my style... so this isn't something I say/do lightly. He said something about my testosterone not too long ago, or something...

 

[cadaveca]

You two are two data points. It is the same as anecdotal evidence. It has been proven to have occurred at other outlets. Just because your personal experience has not yet been of the type DOES NOT mean that it will not be so in the future. There is an error related to your sample size, thereby making your statements experiential, but not necessarily that of the entirety of the tech press.

We and another website trade 3rd place for traffic for hardware reviews and news and such. Our sample size is much larger than you give us credit for.

but then, you need to look at that objectively. Maybe NVidia DOES try to manipulate smaller sites. But if they are, those sites are the ones you should be after for listening and being swayed, not NVidia.