Are the Hitslink gods crazy? The problem with data
The numbers don't lie...but they sure can stretch the truth, and not through any malevolent intent of those compiling it. It's simply very hard to capture accurate data.
When I checked Hitslink yesterday, it showed Apple's Mac jumping 52 percent. Now the number has retreated to a more reasonable number. People thought I was making up the Hitslink number - I wasn't. It's what I found when I visited the site, as captured in the graphic I show.
O'Reilly takes a stab at measuring Mac adoption. Undoubtedly, its data is flawed, too, as it admits.
Hitlink also had Firefox market share declining, though not by an unreasonable amount. Still, Mozilla says the Hitslink data is flawed.
The numbers don't lie...but they sure can stretch the truth, and not through any malevolent intent of those compiling it. It's simply very hard to capture accurate data. The best way to measure adoption is by your own: Anything more than that is just guesswork.
