Once the marketing guys start to have influence, the thing turns to rubbish. Marketing departments owe their existence to interpreting the lies and half-truths of others, and spewing out tons of their own.

As a faithful user, over the last nearly 40 years, of datasheets, I've seen the increase from a little bit of exaggeration and/or obfuscation on the first page of the datasheet, to a bit of it hidden here and there, and now, to such an extent that one has to guess what's possibly true and what's total fantasy.

Lawyers are so clever, and judges so stupid, that, when the datasheet says "square" the lawyer can weasel around that by saying, "Well, your honor, that term 'square' is relative. What was really meant was that it should be round."

Marketing departments want to say what's "kewl" and care very little about what might be true.

That's why I think a global discussion forum should be kept vendor-neutral, and give no appearance whatsoever of having any connection, real or virtual, to one vendor or another.

There's a fine line between one person or another advocating for a particular vendor's product because of a stated reason why he likes it, and a vendor saying, essentially, "Our stuff is wonderful, and everyone else's is crap."

If a few vendors have their respective discussion groups on 8052.COM, then the obvious independence of 8052.COM is called into question, despite the fact that 8052.COM may still have it. After all, nobody knows when one vendor or another might apply pressure, even if he really has no means with which to do so, to get a particular post or thread suppressed, or promoted, even though Craig would, most likely, see to it that it never comes to that.

RE