I'm no Mac-fanatic (really, I'm not) but a couple of recent stories could turn me into one


Scoble alone tries to offset Microsoft's cluelessness...and can't

First thing that cracked me up is a continuation of the insularity of the typical Tech-blogger mindset. PR Blogger (and Russ Beattie punching bag) Steve Rubel is switching to Mac. He writes a lengthy post explaining why. OK. To be honest I didn't even read the whole post. Seemed like he laid out his reasoning pretty thoroughly and politely.

The Microsoft evangel-blogger Robert Scoble, to his credit, links to Steve's post touting his switch to Scoble's competitor. Robert lists some reasons why Microsoft is doing OK by its customers, and that's great. But he also, to his debit, says:

"Hey, Steve, did you call us before writing this?"

Ummmm.. What? See, Steve probably made the decision the same way most people considering a computer purchase do. He probably read reports; talked to friends; relied on personal experience, compared specs and application support. If he wanted to know what Microsoft evangel-blogger Robert Scoble thought about his own company's products, well he certainly could read about it ad infinitum. What would a phone call get him besides a sales pitch? But more than that, I sincerely doubt Scoble can spare the time to talk to every random person considering a switch, so perhaps, just perhaps, Microsoft should, rather, look to improve either a) their product or b) their marketing. [I mean, Microsoft does have the marketing team who thought comparing loyal customers to dinosaurs was a good idea...you know, shame them into paying for an upgrade!]

It just made me laugh envisioning Microsoft's antidote to the Apple "I Switched" commercials: it would be Robert Scoble in black and white saying "Call me, no really, my cell phone is published on my blog. Call me and I will personally talk you out of switching."

I can see it now in my mind. Microsoft's new marketing campaign will consist entirely of that!

As to product? Well, I have to shudder when I read articles like this one in the NY Times that says people are starting to simply trash their PCs rather than try to get rid of all of the spyware etc. that is making the PCs unusable. Like I said I'm no Mac-olyte. And I certainly understand replacing certain gear rather than trying to make it work.

I recently bought a Belkin FM transmitter for my car and my iPod, and it sucks. And even though I've invested~$50 in that plus the headphone extension cord Doc recommended, I'll probably try something else soon. But that's $50, people, not $500!

And what I love, really love, is Microsoft's reaction to this. It is not perhaps to design their OS or provide patches for their OS to make it less penetrable by these marauding pieces of rogue software (like, say, the Mac OS apparently is.) No, it's to start a business unit to make more money off their own OS' lameness. Here's the choice quote:
"Microsoft executives say they decided to enter the anti-spyware business earlier this year after realizing the extent of the problem."
Does anyone else find this hysterical (and clueless) other than me?

Posted: Sun - July 17, 2005 at 10:15 AM       EmailFeedback

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