I came from a different product. Great pics, tethering, offline navigation, the ability to impress your friends by having any song you want come out on any radio you have access to, expandable memory, usb plug and play, no dropped calls, being able to survive several accidental drops without damage, being able to hear who I’m talking to incoming or outgoing and not cutting out for some inexplicable reason like the stars being out of alignment (looking at you, iphone 4!)? I know its sooo not cool. It’s so not cool, that I sold my (then latest and greatest) apple product and went back.

Microsoft aims their presentations on professionals, IT managers, those that do this stuff for a living and how they can use Microsoft tools to make their business run smoothly, and be more productive. For them, it’s less about the image and more about what you can do. They aren’t catering to the hipster, but to the families and everyday Joe.

Microsoft aims their presentations on professionals, IT managers, those that do this stuff for a living and how they can use Microsoft tools to make their business run smoothly, and be more productive. For them, it’s less about the image and more about what you can do. They aren’t catering to the hipster, but to the families and everyday Joe.

Mr Ballmer has tarnished MSFT’s reputation, not just with his words and antics, but also with massive product fails under his watch: Kin, Zune, Bing, Win Vista, WP7.

Be honest: Steve Ballmer still has his job because he’s Bill Gates’ buddy. I’m not going to say it’s cronyism… but it is pretty close.

Discard the shouty, balding, fat used car saleman, then you can start thinking about how to be cool.

I don’t want to see a “cool” CEO from MS. I want to see someone who can take charge and get excited about new technology and actually push it, rather than hide it because it isn’t professional. Jobs was a marketer, not a cool guy. Gates wasn’t a cool guy, but he was a nerd. Ballmer is neither. He’s a salesman and a bean counter. He’s not a nerd, he’s not a marketing genius.

I don’t want to see a “cool” CEO from MS. I want to see someone who can take charge and get excited about new technology and actually push it, rather than hide it because it isn’t professional. Jobs was a marketer, not a cool guy. Gates wasn’t a cool guy, but he was a nerd. Ballmer is neither. He’s a salesman and a bean counter. He’s not a nerd, he’s not a marketing genius.

For those of us who aren’t doing some kind of art/graphics or music, the iPad and company are reduced to just toys.  You can’t give an auto mechanic a needle and thread and expect him to do his job, can you?

Microsoft is ultimately defined by its position as the dominant PC operatong syatem on the planet that the majority of people on the planet is using by will or by force, but not by DESIRE.  Microsoft is not necessarily top of jind when someone decides to buy an HP Envy laptop or Dell Alienware gaming computer, unlike  Apple products.  The hardware that MS resides in is what is interpreted as “cool”, but not the OS. Apple is not defined by an OS, but buy the enitire product, including its OS, followed by the consumers, cool, famous, or ugly, using them. I don’t think consumers get an image of Steve Jobs and wanting to be associated with him when they spend their dollars on an Apple product, although there is a rabid fan base that contributes to the Apple brand and mystique around him.  Nobody walks into a Best Buy or even Microsoft store looking for Microsoft products except for IT professional. COOL isn’t even in the equation

Think out of your cubic box, think what others really can do with it. Try to imagine yourself behind a desk, editing all data in those enterprise data systems. Then, think again. Your ipad? Yeah, to play with during coffee breaks. It’s a fun device, with some functional aspects.

People rip on Microsoft, but they invested well (Sssshh, MS is also one of the biggest shareholders of Apple stock… now go “think different”)..

People rip on Microsoft, but they invested well (Sssshh, MS is also one of the biggest shareholders of Apple stock… now go “think different”)..

Its just a matter of time.  Anyone who deals with MS on a volume license level can tell you, the company sucks.  Almost impossible to deal with.

MS you are killing yourself, you should really start being SUPER nice to the people that still cut you checks.  The google could and the iCrap stuff really threaten you reason to exist.

However, Windows computers can be virus free, has some amazing software, and has some amazing customer support. Also, Windows 7 has yet to crash on me. Even from the beta period. But, given the 90+% market share, it is bound to have viruses. They target the most damage. Also, given the much greater hardware choices, Windows has more chances to crash (majority is due to a driver issue). Microsoft is not in the PC hardware industry – only software (I’m talking systems, not mice, keyboards or Xbox). They build for other peoples hardware. Apple makes their own hardware and their OS to run on that specific hardware. Put it on anything else (even BSD compatible) and it crashes even more often than Windows. So, while Windows isn’t perfect, it has a lot more to take into consideration.

I don’t own a Mac, just because I’d only use it for web and email. Too costly for that simple of a device. I’ve used them and don’t mind them at all. Just not for me. But, you can’t call someone out for bashing Apple and saying their opinion doesn’t matter because of it – then go on to bash Windows. What’s that say about your opinion? :)

ipod- pointless

iphone- android’s as good and better in some cases.

Until someone comes out with something truly revolutionary, these hardware and minor software tweaks will continue to bore me.