Which of course is just stupid. As everyone has been pointing out, nothing says 1990's like Seinfeld and Gates. And the previous decade is not where you want your leading, cutting-edge tech company to be heading.
But this is what gets me: it would be so easy for Microsoft to create a current, amazing ad campaign. Windows is everywhere - and I do mean everywhere. The tech company I work for doesn't write Mac software for our products, quite simply because it will never get used. Nobody in science and industry uses Macs. They're great for media and personal computing, but if you want to control a robot or play a sophisticated game (remember - Photoshop is not a game), forget it.
I can imagine the ad now. A scientist is in a chemistry lab is running a complex algorithm to find some information out about a strand of DNA - on a PC. A group of friends are getting together on a Friday night to play Counterstrike on a home network - of PC's. An astronaut is programming the robotic arm on the space shuttle - on a PC. A stock broker on Wall Street is doing calculations on an enormous spreadsheet, attempting to predict the next big thing - on a PC. A MIT student is creating a robot to play ping pong - using an embedded PC. An architect is using AutoCAD to plan New York's next skyscraper - on a PC. Cut to a grungy college snob sitting in Starbucks in his hoodie, listening to iTunes and composing his next blog post - on a Mac.
Now don't get me wrong, I love Macs (and iTunes and iPods, etc) and hate Windows just as much as the next guy. But the truth remains that much of the world's most important computing is done in Windows, and it would be so very easy to communicate this in effective ad campaign that didn't use 90's sitcom stars. How do you spend $300M without realizing this?
http://i33.tinypic.com/9titmx.jpg
ReplyDeleteand as a link!
ReplyDeleteWOW.
ReplyDeleteHaha, okay--that picture is amazing, and I hope that it's real.
ReplyDeleteBut--I think I may disagree with a little bit of this post.
When I got to my senior year in computer engineering, I realized that there wasn't really anything I could do on Windows for my assignments. That's when I essentially stopped using my R31 completely (I could have put Linux on it, but it was easier to just use my Mac--Mac OS is also UNIX-based).
You have to remember that there are a significant number of people doing these high-tech things who, yes, are using PCs, but they're using Linux. A lot of these embedded PCs run light, modifiable versions of it (which is what we installed on our embedded PCs), and to compile anything you basically need a UNIX operating system or a simulation of one.
If I remember correctly, we tried to put a light version of Windows on the embedded PCs we used for the robots for our senior project, and it was an absolute disaster.
The problem with all this, in short, is that Microsoft isn't selling PCs--they're selling Windows.
Which isn't to say that they couldn't make a pretty hilarious marketing campaign poking fun at the elitism of owning a Mac. But, you know.
Drew, as usual, is absolutely right. But, that's exactly what makes Justin's ad idea even more brilliant! Very few know the stuff Drew was talking about and the people who do hate Windows and are too smart to need it most of the time anyway! The rest of us uninformed members of the masses would soak it in like sun. Sort of in reference to Justin's 4th screen post, the best ads either convince us of something new or reinforce a convenient misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteDrew's right about UNIX-based systems. I was in the 'Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences' at UT and we were set up with a Linux network (Macs for admin), and you literally got laughed at if you brought your Windows machine in to do computational work.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you have to consider the market. I would think Microsoft will be targeting the home user, not the institutions use computers for most of the examples you mention. I think the important things to the average home user are internet browsing, music and picture management, and user friendliness.
I understand and appreciate the prevalence of Linux and Unix. However, from an industry standpoint, I don't think it's as widely used as you might think. Of course this is just my company, but our Linux software development is dwarfed by our Windows development. Sure some customers use Linux, but it's the exception, not the rule. Drew's senior project aside, I can personally attest that there are a LOT of people out there using Windows XP Embedded and Windows CE for embedded applications. The whole .NET world is getting bigger all the time.
ReplyDeleteAs to the market, I realize that a home user doesn't want what an MIT student wants. However, I think an ad like the one I described would reinforce in the customers mind that first, Windows is widely used by a lot of smart people, and second, that it is absolutely cutting-edge. These are facts I the Apple people have done a great job at undermining.
Have you seen the new ad that debuted last night?
ReplyDeleteI think Microsoft is reading your blog.
Haha that's much better. Still not what I would call "good," but getting there.
ReplyDelete