The Week in Your Words: Big Brother true to Phorm

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 13 Mar 2009 at 18:05

In a week that saw Big Brother snuggle up to Big Brother, Palm give an open-hand slap to a proud executive and the Advertising Standards Authority add yet another proud chapter to its glorious history, we take a look back to see what you've made of it all.

Mr Big Brother leaps to Phorm's defence

Day four in the Big Brother house. Peter Bazalgette is in the kitchen comforting a distraught Phorm: "Nobody understands us. If we didn't exist there'd nobody to pay for the internet, and no internet means we'd all be panda-bothering, bloodthirsty cannibals. We're the only thing standing in the way of an apocalypse. Why can't they see that!"

Bazalgette pats Phorm's head: "I know. All those privacy people are just meanies. On the other hand, Cannibal McKeith's 'You are who you eat' has gold written all over it."

Needless to say our forums were not impressed by this unholy alliance.

"He is basically telling us to shut up and stop moaning because all he is looking at is making a quick buck out of it. How dare we get in the way of him and his money!" Protests scgill.

gavomatic57 wasn't particularly impressed either: "How ironic - the one responsible for the most damaging thing to happen to broadcasting (by proving there is a market for reality TV drivel and thus opening the floodgates), sticking up for what will be the most damaging thing to happen to the internet."

We're not sure about that. Have you ever read the astounding pointlessness that is Paris Hilton's blog?

"I have no problem with advertising raising revenue for the web, there has always been and will continue to be advertising on the web," adds bluecar11. "What I object to is the wholesale spying on unencrypted browsing by the ISP using kit and software supplied by the likes of Phorm."

Palm slaps down board member over iPhone comments

God bless Palm. After ten years of selling uninspiring mobile phones it now has one that would make a mother sell her first born. However, the moment one of its board members begins to praise the Pre, he's immediately shot with a tranquilliser dart and bundled into the back of a waiting van. If the meek shall inherit the earth, then Palm's clearly gunning for a solar system and a nice bit of the milky way to boot.

That was just plain naive to say that," reckons hjlupton. "I mean there's believing in your product and there's living in the land of make believe."

daftfunk wasn't entirely sure the confidence was well placed: "I've never used the Pre so have to go on looks, and personally that is a bigger factor in mobiles than most other devices. You have to be seen in public with it. The Pre is just plain boring, it doesn't seem to have any design consistency."

onegin101 liked the boy's gumption, though: "I think it's quite refreshing to hear an exec brim with confidence in the product, so it was a bit of hot air but it's all about the fight! It's a shame he got smacked down as now it looks like the rest of them aren't so confident."

ASA wavering over "unlimited" speed stance

The Advertising Standards Authority... actually that's the joke right there. Apparently it might redefine its redefinition of unlimited so that it means unlimited again. That would be nice. Over to you.