Update: Apparently Creative has backed down on this particular situation: "we did not make it as clear as we would have liked that we do support driver development by independent third parties". There is some truth in that quote, because Creative has released info in the past for open-source drivers for Linux, etc. although it should be noted that they have not done so with their current X-Fi hardware.

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The latest fiasco with Creative Technology (previously Creative Labs) has some folks screaming boycott, which brings up an interesting point for me personally. It's a whole lot easier to get offended when you don't have a stake.

Take Apple for instance, when they demonstrate obnoxious behaviour I'm the first to exclaim my disbelief that people still buy their products. But I don't depend on Apple for much, my last purchase from them was an iPod Shuffle that failed to impress. It's soooo easy for me to boycott Apple.

With Creative, I'm well aware of their shortsighted idiocy in regards to their overly-protective stance on their drivers. It's directly related to the way their tier their product models, they don't want people getting the full use out of the hardware they've deemed budget. It's ethically corrupt.

I don't mean to pick on Puck, he was right to highlight the situation on his blog and his call for a boycott is perfectly valid too. But I can't help thinking it's an easy thing for him to say if his only tie to Creative is an Audigy (likely 6 years old).

Myself, it's humbling to realize I haven't been so quick to jump down Creative Labs' throats over questionable practices with drivers: I love my Creative Labs X-Fi too much, or at least enough to shrug the nonsense off.

I'm a pretty active guy in the activism sense, at least under certain fields of my expertise. I'm not sure if I should be disappointed in myself, or if I should count myself as being a realist while I cave on this particular issue.