Media Embargoes Obsoleted?

Steve Rubel: However, by soft launching it over the weekend, Microsoft put Virtual Earth (which rocks by the way) out there for all of us to blog about, basically jeopardizing any embargo that may exist. Scobleizer: So, why do we have embargoes? I think it's one of those last things that survive from old-school PR. They are trying to give everyone in the media an equal shot at being out at the gate. I personally think we need to reevaluate our rules here. The word-of-mouth network is just getting too efficient to try to live by these rules anymore. Rick Segal: Seems to me that’s the new way the messages are getting out and having PR departments control things with media embargoes, etc, is the surest way to lose control. James Robertson: There are still plenty of PR people who think you can hold back information until a critical point, and then open the flood gates. That may have been true once, but it isn't true any longer. - especially for the large outfits like MS, IBM, Oracle (et. al.). There are simply too many people watching their every move, ready to pounce out with information. A decade ago, that didn't matter too much - an early leak meant that information hit the printed page a day (or a week) later. Now, early information leaks immediately. Also on /.