Joel on Software has a post regarding the corporate wooing of bloggers. It seems that Microsoft has offered a number of bloggers free laptops running their new Vista operating system. The expectation is that these bloggers will review Vista, and no doubt Microsoft is hoping that they’ll review it positively. Whether they review Vista or not, positively or otherwise, the bloggers get to keep the laptops.

In Joel’s view, the real virtue of the blogosphere is its independence. Bloggers write what they write because they want too, not because they are paid. Joel suggests that gifts like this amount to a massive bribe, and causes these bloggers to lose credibility. Worse, it causes all bloggers everywhere to lose credibility, even if the gift is disclosed. Blogger A, in the midst of a positive review, discloses that he has received a free laptop; but Blogger B, who also gives a positive review, does not. Did B receive a laptop as well, and fail to disclose it? Was B bought? How can you tell? Joel’s come to the conclusion that bloggers simply shouldn’t accept such gifts. (I’ll note that Joel was offered one of these laptops, and turned it down.)

Me, I think it’s a matter of scale. As a book reviewer, I occasionally get review copies from one publisher or another. Sometimes I like the book, sometimes I don’t; and my reviews reflect this. I admit, I don’t like giving a negative review for a book I’ve received for free–but long-time readers will be aware that that doesn’t stop me. And because review copies are typically for books I’d not have read otherwise, I’m much more likely to give a negative review than for a book I chose myself. Regardless of how I review the book, no one expects me to return it to the publisher. The cost is simply part of the publicity budget for the book.

I note that a number of pro photographers with blogs, notably Michael Reichman, frequently receive cameras for review; and the fine folks over at Engadget receive a wide variety of gear. But it’s clear from their reviews that they don’t get to keep any of it–if they like something and want one for their very own, they must buy one, as Reichman recently bought one of the new Leica M8 digital rangefinder cameras. Everything goes back to the vendor.

Thinking about it, I think Joel’s on the right track, but he goes a bit too far. I don’t think it’s necessary for bloggers to eschew all gifts; it’d be silly for me to send my review copies back to the publisher, for example. It would be perfectly reasonable for Microsoft to give out free review copies of Vista to appropriate bloggers, just as Simon & Schuster sent Pamela Aidan’s books to me–nobody’s going to stick with an operating system they dislike just because they got it for free. Free laptops, though, strike me as rather over the top–especially when it’s not the laptop that’s being reviewed.

I can see Microsoft’s point–they want to spare the reviewers the pain of installing Vista as an upgrade, and they want to be sure that Vista is running on a system on which it can shine. And it’s really hard to judge an operating system unless you make a real commitment to it and use it for real work, which is psychologically tough to do if you know the machine you’re using is going to go back to Microsoft at the end of the month.

So I don’t feel as strongly about it as Joel does. But he certainly has a point.