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Wired is the online remnant of a once-popular computer magazine. Like any industry mag, it makes most of its money from ads, so its reviews should always be viewed with this in mind.




From TFA last paragraph

> Ultimately, if you already have the second-generation Scribe, I don't think you need to upgrade.... you might as well upgrade to a reMarkable tablet.... a pretty big investment for a still-limited device.... neither of them would be my go-to pick.

Don't think reviewers are getting paid to shill for Amazon.


If you look at the query parameters of the Amazon links you can see that they are affiliate links. It might be more or less an honest review but they do earn money from it.

We’ve discovered the review that says the thing is bad, is actually an ad for the thing, because the buy link has an affiliate code.

Am I understanding you right?

I feel like we have stumbled into a classic HN tarpit, where people try justifying something obviously wrong by adding one observation and implying it can be twisted into one segment of the obviously wrong thing.

It’s a tarpit, because as soon as I point out this doesn’t change anything, you can either point out you were just observing or claim some other claim was what was being implied


I don't think magazines using affiliate links necessarily makes a review unbiased. Recommended or not, if someone buys it from them they may as well make a cut.

That said, many of these type of articles are just thinly veiled paid advertorials.


Nothing wrong with ads in the correct context, a good part of why we bought print computer magazines was to look at them as well as the articles.

That's not correct; Wired still produces a print edition every other month.



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