Why do the electronics manufacturers have to spam me?

I give my email address in order to get support and Xilinx feels the need to send me spam. I know it is through the support channels because I create a different address every time I use support. Every time I end up getting spam.

It's not just Xilinx, I once contacted Altera because I was getting spam from a third party at an address I only gave to Altera.

I don't recall using this address, snipped-for-privacy@arius.com, but I don't know why I would be receiving spam from Analog Devices using it.

The list goes on and on. Don't these companies realize the ill will it creates?

Beacuse that is how marketing works these days?

Sometimes it's spam, sometimes it's not. For example, I might not have known about an errata from Altera regarding Cyclone II parts and their M4K blocks if they hadn't sent me an unsolicited warning and link to the errata sheet. As it happens, I had an affected die - and needed to use the workaround. That email saved me a lot of pointless debugging.

On the other hand, sometimes I get emails that are clearly "marketroid" output. However, at least they aren't hawking herbal v1@gr@ or anything. As an engineer, particularly one working with FPGA's and CPLD's, I would think that "spam" from a programmable logic vendor would at least be a little interesting.

Maybe I've been fortunate, but so far the only spam I've gotten as a result of registering with Xilinx and Altera is a few emails from other component companies.

Partly, they believe they're dispensing something useful. (Yes, really).

It's like the confidence of missionaries and evangelists who spread like cancer through the world, sure that they have the one true message and that they're doing "good" to the "less fortunate", even when they can't deal adequately with their own lives. (I'll leave contemporary examples in the Middle East to your imagination). I always find it cheering to read of missionaries hacked to death by the people they're so keen to "improve"!

Anyone who subscribes to the Microchip technical newsletter "microSolutions" was treated this month to the CEO's 2-page article on "Personality-Driven Culture versus Consciously Designed Culture" and an advert for his book. None of us signed up for this self-congratulating sewage. We just wanted to learn techniques for using the company's products. How many of us concerned with technical matters are even in a position to exploit this guy's "pearls of wisdom"?

But they send it anyway. As you say, it generates ill-will. I'd like to read Microchip's technical information, but I won't do that if it's used as a vehicle for irrelevant stuff. I'll give them another chance, but it will take only 30s to add them to our spam list.

I got 4 reminders about Xilinx's coolrunner seminar, but I thought that was because they valued my comments so much ;)

You should have a look at the "Microchip sues Zilog" patent nonsense, ( and also poor, tiny startup, Luminary Micro )

- More sign of how Steve S. has simply lost the plot. Too much listening to those fawning around him, I guess.

I voted by moving Microchip off our supplier list, so if enough designers do the same, perhaps Microchip will return their focus to engineering...

-jg

Rick, It's because everyone on this newsgroup knows how good you are at dealing with stress, we all make up an email address ending @arius.com when we have to fill in the boxes. ;-) Many thanks, Syms. p.s. Just kidding mate, I still swear by my hotmail account, the spam filter features are quite good. I like your different email address idea though, I might start using that. (But with my own domain name, of course!)

rickman wrote: > I give my email address in order to get support and Xilinx feels the > need to send me spam.

That's why I love Spamex.com because I can create an almost infinite number of different email addresses and disable or delete (or re-enable) any of them with a single click. I give each of my correspondents a unique email address and as soon as I get a single Spam email from that address I disable or delete it with a single click, and can also automatically create a different replacement email address if desired. Note: I am not affiliated with Spamex.com in any way.

Doesn't matter anymore because since you have posted that address to Usenet, it's toast and will be spammed mercilessly forever. ;-)

Ron