Used by NASA?

I currently work for NASA and have for about 4 years now. I had never heard of Rosetta Stone until I started seeing their commercials, and I became incredibly puzzled when it said on there that Rosetta Stone is in use by NASA. I took a look at the library on the Space Center where I work, but they had no Rosetta Stone. I just went on believing this company was full of it because even in my online searches of the libraries at other centers, I couldn't find this software. Just a few months ago, however, after seeing the commercials that make this claim for months, if not longer, I received an email from our training coordinator. In this email, our training coordinator said that the center is considering a purchase of some Rosetta Stone software and they were trying to get some input from the workforce as to which languages we'd like to learn. Now this really struck me as odd...here this company has been advertising for who-knows-how-long about their product being in use by NASA, and now NASA is considering a purchase of the software. Something just doesn't jive.


Months have gone by and still no word as to whether or not we'll be getting this software, although it could come in handy for a lot of NASA employees as we work with a lot of foreign space agencies.

I'm guessing if the advertisement was an all-out lie, someone would have said something by now and they wouldn't make the claim in their commercials anymore. This leads me to believe that somewhere in NASA, someone has this software. I keep hoping we can get it here so I can check it out. I'd love to learn Japanese, but I haven't got the desire to spend my own money on software that I may or may not use.

Comments for Used by NASA?

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You Can't Believe Ads, Reviews, or News Articles-- Anywhere. Anymore.
by: Anonymous

Unfortunately, it is not unusual for a software company to advertise that their software is used by NASA, the CIA, the FBI, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, as well as Marines on patrol in Bananastan.

You just can't trust ads, reviews, or even news articles. Not anymore. Not anywhere. Not on the Internet. Not even news articles in the Wall Street Journal.

Before you or NASA spends any money on Rosetta Stone, read a long winded review by WizardOfQwerty, at ePinions.com.
http://www0.epinions.com/review/Rosetta_Stone_V3_French_Level_1_2_3_Personal_Edition_Win_Mac_1580229069/content_442970181252
If that link broken, search for WizardOfQwerty, at http://www.epinions.com/search/mem_search_~1/search_string_~

His long review is worth read for links to other reviews, bath those who like Rosetta Stone and those who hate it. He points out that this Rosetta Stone thing has more than just false ads, but also a bunch of shills who are spreading a hype wave.It's like you can't believe internet reviews anymore. But mags and newspapers like Wall Street Journal and New York Times print news that makes this Rosetta Stone seem like the next killer app.

On the other hand, if NASA bought you guys at NASA ONE copy of Rosetta Stone it might be a good way to spend some tax bucks in like a public service. You guys could try to use your copy, and see how silly it is. But I ask you to buy just ONE copy. Don't go nuts! You probably won't spend much time on Rosetta Stone. You can share Rosetta Stone, like on a laptop you can pass around. None of the reviewers seem to finish Rosetta Stone, either! They just play with beginner lessons, and say that it looks good. Even the writers at the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

I worked at an Army post next to you NASA people, for many years. I got that ad hype dumped in my lap all the time, with lotsa software. I got the job of finding out what was up. The librarians and training people got sick of seeing me show up. The conversation went something like-- "yes, I here to ask about some software, used by our government agency. My boss and the rest of his bosses are demanding to talk with whoever is using that software. What? No one knows a thing about it? Well, another surprise, surprise..."

Perhaps the publisher's weasel worded equivocation is that someone who works at NASA, somewhere, has purchased a copy of Rosetta Stone with their own personal money like out of their own paycheck.

It seems that the U.S. gov has its hands full with real problems. No one is policing false advertising in late-night dumb ads or ads in honest looking mags like Scientific American & New Yorker.

And no one is policing news articles. What is going on at the Wall Street Journal? I can't figure it out.They are not publishing ads, but NEWS ARTICLES that are full of hype. Look at this, not an ad--
http://solution.allthingsd.com/20050907/natural-language-learning/
They are not lying
by: Rob E.

I worked for the government as a summer hire. All US government workers, at least NASA and DOD workers, have access to every single Rosetta stone course online, they have an unlimited license to my knowledge. You just have to talk to one of your human resource people to figure out what you need to do to take advantage of it.
All out lie???
by: Anonymous

Did you ever think to call RS to find out if they know how they provide it currently to NASA? My husband is in the military and he has access to RS languages, so it's not a lie that RS is endorsed by gov't agencies. You should talk to someone who would know about this sorta thing (probably your HR dept)since you've had no luck with your personal searching. Also, perhaps NASA used it before and has switched to some other language learner since? You've only been there for 4 years and RS has been around a lot longer...
NASA
by: Anonymous

I work at NASA. Not all center's have it. But NASA JSC has it at JLEC - since most interaction with russian counterparts occurs at JSC.
In use "by NASA"
by: Anonymous

When a company says their product is "used by NASA", it doesn't mean that a NASA-wide decision was taken to use the software. Merely that some schlub somewhere in the named organization has ordered the software for business purposes, or at least has ordered it through the organization so that the invoice goes to "NASA" or "Department of the Interior" or whoever. Unless they're looking at buying thousands of copies or a site license, no large organization bothers to standardize on a piece of software; they just let individuals or departments order what works best for them.

I have worked for companies that used precisely this technique to sell their software.

Patrick B.
Nasa
by: Anonymous

Worked for NASA for quite a while now, and have had access to RS, so get your facts straight.

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