Part of the problem is that the snake oil salesmen are helped along by those who we would normally expect to trust. In most defined vertical market segments there are "journalists" who seek out the truth and then print it - in reputable publications. We've had this discussion a few months back in another thread on magazines / publications.

The problem is that with but a few notable exceptions (and I'm thinking specifically about Sound & Vision's David Ranada, Ken Pohlmann, and Ian Masters) the trade pub editors / writers do nothing to dispel the myths. In fact, it's often the opposite.

I need cite nothing other than Jerry Kindela's article "Fourteen El Cheapo Tweaks That Really Work" in the current (January 2004) issue of Home Theatre magazine to prove my point.

To take boblinds' example of the 500 mpg GM car, I doubt that either Road & Track or Car & Driver would let a claim like that go untested and unchallenged!

Jeff Mackwood