4 ms·

> unlike other pranks our prank didn’t just say ‘Microsoft is successful but nerdy’. Instead, it fed the idea that Microsoft kind of sucked as a company in some

> unlike other pranks our prank didn’t just say ‘Microsoft is successful but nerdy’. Instead, it fed the idea that Microsoft kind of sucked as a company in some way; a lazy copycat. > [...] Usually Microsoft was happy to take credit for clever pranks from employees, because it showed we played hard besides working hard. > [...] BillG said, in effect, that the prank was not in good taste, and that it made Microsoft look stupid rather than clever - especially as a catch-up to Sun Microsystems. We learned he was repeatedly calling the prank “in poor judgement” in meeting and internal memos. I'm kind of flabbergasted that the authors, Microsoft employees it seems, were surprised that their prank wasn't perceived well, and lay the blame squarely on "PR flacks." (Or maybe I'm 25 years younger in a corporate environment that has thoroughly taken control of this kind of thing.)

ellyagg 6y ago
It used to be that we were not all indistinguishable cogs in machines designed to be as inoffensive as possible.
nxc18 6y ago
I think people sometimes don’t perceive things the same way and that can lead to misunderstandings. I have sympathy, I’ve been in the position of having some edgy marketing/pr go the wrong way for a software launch. Totally random example that I had _no involvement_ in: launching a tree survey app on the 20th of April that had insufficient moderation tools. I’ll let your imagination around this (totally hypothetical) scenario run wild. Personally, I think the prank would have been fine if they filled the boxes with actual coffee beans.
- robbomacrae 6y ago
  "Personally, I think the prank would have been fine if they filled the boxes with actual coffee beans." Thats exactly what I was expecting from the title and the mentions of it being "costly". I would have found it quite funny to be picking up a box of coffee from Microsoft and it would work on a number of levels. If it was just an empty box with absolutely no product, coffee or software or otherwise, then thats just kinda lame... I agree with Bill on this one.
  - jhugo 6y ago
    From a comment from pricci currently near the top of the page, who got a box: > One morning we were going to brew it but it was whole grain and we didn't have a grinder.
jozvolskyef 6y ago
Microsoft was sued by Sun in 1997. The pranksters may not have realized they are publicly taunting their future opponent, but Gates probably saw it that way.
dalbasal 6y ago
Well... msft was already pretty big, but they hadn't been for very long. It might have been ok 3-4 years prior. Maybe like Tesla now, at least for elon. I doubt "PR flacks" had much sway at the company, if you go back to its formative years. Also, this seems to have been related to some sore points at that particular time. Also, the world was more naive before "re:all" emails from hr.
cbozeman 6y ago
> (Or maybe I'm 25 years younger in a corporate environment that has thoroughly taken control of this kind of thing.) You're 25 years younger in a corporate environment that has thoroughly taken control of this kind of thing. > BillG said, in effect, that the prank was not in good taste, and that it made Microsoft look stupid rather than clever - especially as a catch-up to Sun Microsystems. He was pissed because, while a "joke", it was an valid and accurate criticism as well. Sun was miles ahead of Microsoft and many other companies, in several different ways. Microsoft dominated because Gates was a ruthless son of a bitch who repeatedly broke laws that were poorly enforced back then. I had a whole tirade typed out, but I realized that HN is full of true believers in the "New Bill Gates". I'm not. He's trying to buy a legacy so he can overwrite the shit one he had when he was at the helm of Microsoft. Sadly, it'll work because people have short memories.
- scrollaway 6y ago
  People aren't allowed to change? Improve? What shitty things did you do 25 years ago you're willing to let me judge current you on?
  - rizpanjwani 6y ago
    People can and do change and improve, but the point is that it's quite a luxury when you make billions breaking laws and then use those billions to create a perception that you are now somehow this wholesome person.
    - auslegung 6y ago
      But that's not the point. The point cbozeman made was Gates was not good 25 years ago and cbozeman does not believe that Gates has changed, but instead "he's trying to buy a legacy so he can overwrite the shit one he had when he was at the helm of Microsoft." cbozeman's point is not "it's quite a luxury when you make billions breaking laws and then use those billions to create a perception that you are now somehow this wholesome person". scrollaway's point is that people can change. My point is, it's quite easy to make claims without proof. I know next to nothing about "new" Gates or "ruthless son of a bitch" Gates. Your claim that Gates has not changed needs some sort of evidence to be taken seriously.
jrnichols 6y ago
Things were a lot different corporate-wise back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Like when Microsoft employees put a big "E" on Netscape's lawn, which Netscape employees promptly tipped over and put Mozilla on top of it. https://medium.com/@ddprrt/tales-from-the-browser-wars-mozilla-stomps-internet-explorer-799035887cb1 https://medium.com/@ddprrt/tales-from-the-browser-wars-mozil...

ellyagg 6y ago

It used to be that we were not all indistinguishable cogs in machines designed to be as inoffensive as possible.

nxc18 6y ago

I think people sometimes don’t perceive things the same way and that can lead to misunderstandings. I have sympathy, I’ve been in the position of having some edgy marketing/pr go the wrong way for a software launch. Totally random example that I had _no involvement_ in: launching a tree survey app on the 20th of April that had insufficient moderation tools. I’ll let your imagination around this (totally hypothetical) scenario run wild. Personally, I think the prank would have been fine if they filled the boxes with actual coffee beans.

robbomacrae 6y ago
"Personally, I think the prank would have been fine if they filled the boxes with actual coffee beans." Thats exactly what I was expecting from the title and the mentions of it being "costly". I would have found it quite funny to be picking up a box of coffee from Microsoft and it would work on a number of levels. If it was just an empty box with absolutely no product, coffee or software or otherwise, then thats just kinda lame... I agree with Bill on this one.
- jhugo 6y ago
  From a comment from pricci currently near the top of the page, who got a box: > One morning we were going to brew it but it was whole grain and we didn't have a grinder.

jozvolskyef 6y ago

Microsoft was sued by Sun in 1997. The pranksters may not have realized they are publicly taunting their future opponent, but Gates probably saw it that way.

dalbasal 6y ago

Well... msft was already pretty big, but they hadn't been for very long. It might have been ok 3-4 years prior. Maybe like Tesla now, at least for elon. I doubt "PR flacks" had much sway at the company, if you go back to its formative years. Also, this seems to have been related to some sore points at that particular time. Also, the world was more naive before "re:all" emails from hr.

cbozeman 6y ago

> (Or maybe I'm 25 years younger in a corporate environment that has thoroughly taken control of this kind of thing.) You're 25 years younger in a corporate environment that has thoroughly taken control of this kind of thing. > BillG said, in effect, that the prank was not in good taste, and that it made Microsoft look stupid rather than clever - especially as a catch-up to Sun Microsystems. He was pissed because, while a "joke", it was an valid and accurate criticism as well. Sun was miles ahead of Microsoft and many other companies, in several different ways. Microsoft dominated because Gates was a ruthless son of a bitch who repeatedly broke laws that were poorly enforced back then. I had a whole tirade typed out, but I realized that HN is full of true believers in the "New Bill Gates". I'm not. He's trying to buy a legacy so he can overwrite the shit one he had when he was at the helm of Microsoft. Sadly, it'll work because people have short memories.

scrollaway 6y ago
People aren't allowed to change? Improve? What shitty things did you do 25 years ago you're willing to let me judge current you on?
- rizpanjwani 6y ago
  People can and do change and improve, but the point is that it's quite a luxury when you make billions breaking laws and then use those billions to create a perception that you are now somehow this wholesome person.
  - auslegung 6y ago
    But that's not the point. The point cbozeman made was Gates was not good 25 years ago and cbozeman does not believe that Gates has changed, but instead "he's trying to buy a legacy so he can overwrite the shit one he had when he was at the helm of Microsoft." cbozeman's point is not "it's quite a luxury when you make billions breaking laws and then use those billions to create a perception that you are now somehow this wholesome person". scrollaway's point is that people can change. My point is, it's quite easy to make claims without proof. I know next to nothing about "new" Gates or "ruthless son of a bitch" Gates. Your claim that Gates has not changed needs some sort of evidence to be taken seriously.

jrnichols 6y ago

Things were a lot different corporate-wise back in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Like when Microsoft employees put a big "E" on Netscape's lawn, which Netscape employees promptly tipped over and put Mozilla on top of it. https://medium.com/@ddprrt/tales-from-the-browser-wars-mozilla-stomps-internet-explorer-799035887cb1 https://medium.com/@ddprrt/tales-from-the-browser-wars-mozil...