5 ms·

low&lame

by ace 18y ago

low&lame

raganwald 18y ago
I'm reminded of what Charlton Heston said to Bill Maher. Charlton had taken out full page personal attack ads blasting Barbara Streisand for her anti-gun activism, and Bill Maher asked him if this was really appropriate. Charlton considered for a moment, and then responded. I was unkind, he admitted, Not unfair, but unkind. Now as to lame, is it there some factual error? Is Microsoft actually spending more on fixing Vista than advertising it? My feeling is that if the ad is correctly representing Microsoft's strategy, there is nothing lame about depicting it. The un-lame thing about the ad is that it never says Microsoft is wrong, it shows you the facts through a skit and lets you decide what to do. I wonder if people would react differently if these ads were SNL skits. I have a feeling that some people are so emotional about one company or the other--which is odd, these are companies, after all, not religious edifices--that they simply cannot sit back and enjoy a good laugh.
- whatusername 18y ago
  If you look at Win7 as "Fixing Vista" --> which in some/lots of ways it is - then I'd guess that MS are spending more on "fixing" than on advertising.. Certainly nothing near that ratio though.. The reasonably insightful comment on reddit was that this isn't just a pissing contest between MS and Apple - it's a pissing contest between Crispin Porter and TBWA (the ad agencies)...
  - rbanffy 18y ago
    I seriously doubt it. They advertising budget is humongous.
  - raganwald 18y ago
    If you look at Win7 as "Fixing Vista" --> which in some/lots of ways it is - then I'd guess that MS are spending more on "fixing" than on advertising I considered that argument, but note that they are still pushing Vista to consumers and businesses, hard. So I think the ad is fair in that it discusses what MSFT is doing to Vista itself. If MSFT's $300 million was spent telling consumers to hang onto XP and wait for Windows 7, that argument would be a little more persuasive.
    - briansmith 18y ago
      What exactly is wrong with Windows Vista? I actually want to get Vista so I can get UAC.
      - raganwald 18y ago
        Well, if you feel that Vista is wonderful, then it is reasonable for you to argue that Apple's ad is not factually correct. Such a view mirrors what MSFT's PR people are saying, namely that Vista is fine but for some reason the marketplace hasn't grasped why they should prefer it to XP or OS X. So... if you believe that the problem with Vista is its perception, then of course the solution is communication, not code. Entirely reasonable if you start with the premise that it's a fine piece of engineering and a good product.
        briansmith 18y ago
        I don't know if Vista is wonderful or not. I just know that UAC is more convenient and more secure then the workarounds that I have to use now. I have heard the performance complaints but I've also heard that you just need to disable the visual effects and they mostly go away. I think the main issue with Vista is that there is no obvious huge improvement that would motivate people to pay the retail price to upgrade. For example, I am interested in UAC and some of the other security features but I am reluctant to buy Vista just to get them, especially if Windows 7 is just a year or so away. Plus, upgrading Windows has always been a hassle in the past. Right now, I guess Windows XP mostly works okay for me, so I am sticking in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" crowd.
      - krschultz 18y ago
        I had hardware and software problems with it, and the software problems continue today so I'm on Linux/XP dual boot to work around these deficiencies. When Vista works it is great, it just doesn't always work.
  - raganwald 18y ago
    The reasonably insightful comment on reddit was that this isn't just a pissing contest between MS and Apple - it's a pissing contest between Crispin Porter and TBWA (the ad agencies)... I think one has the more appealing product to market, the other has the bigger budget and the defensive position. It's a fairly textbook marketing battle between the entrenched number one and the upstart niche player.
    - unalone 18y ago
      And Crispin is a company that's known for taking pretty daring risks. There was an article that said it was ironic that they're running Microsoft's campaign, because they're a very "Apple-like" company.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
jyothi 18y ago
> low&lame high end flame. :)

low&lame

by ace 18y ago

low&lame

I'm reminded of what Charlton Heston said to Bill Maher. Charlton had taken out full page personal attack ads blasting Barbara Streisand for her anti-gun activism, and Bill Maher asked him if this was really appropriate. Charlton considered for a moment, and then responded. I was unkind, he admitted, Not unfair, but unkind. Now as to lame, is it there some factual error? Is Microsoft actually spending more on fixing Vista than advertising it? My feeling is that if the ad is correctly representing Microsoft's strategy, there is nothing lame about depicting it. The un-lame thing about the ad is that it never says Microsoft is wrong, it shows you the facts through a skit and lets you decide what to do. I wonder if people would react differently if these ads were SNL skits. I have a feeling that some people are so emotional about one company or the other--which is odd, these are companies, after all, not religious edifices--that they simply cannot sit back and enjoy a good laugh.

whatusername 18y ago
If you look at Win7 as "Fixing Vista" --> which in some/lots of ways it is - then I'd guess that MS are spending more on "fixing" than on advertising.. Certainly nothing near that ratio though.. The reasonably insightful comment on reddit was that this isn't just a pissing contest between MS and Apple - it's a pissing contest between Crispin Porter and TBWA (the ad agencies)...
- rbanffy 18y ago
  I seriously doubt it. They advertising budget is humongous.
- raganwald 18y ago
  If you look at Win7 as "Fixing Vista" --> which in some/lots of ways it is - then I'd guess that MS are spending more on "fixing" than on advertising I considered that argument, but note that they are still pushing Vista to consumers and businesses, hard. So I think the ad is fair in that it discusses what MSFT is doing to Vista itself. If MSFT's $300 million was spent telling consumers to hang onto XP and wait for Windows 7, that argument would be a little more persuasive.
  - briansmith 18y ago
    What exactly is wrong with Windows Vista? I actually want to get Vista so I can get UAC.
    - raganwald 18y ago
      Well, if you feel that Vista is wonderful, then it is reasonable for you to argue that Apple's ad is not factually correct. Such a view mirrors what MSFT's PR people are saying, namely that Vista is fine but for some reason the marketplace hasn't grasped why they should prefer it to XP or OS X. So... if you believe that the problem with Vista is its perception, then of course the solution is communication, not code. Entirely reasonable if you start with the premise that it's a fine piece of engineering and a good product.
      - briansmith 18y ago
        I don't know if Vista is wonderful or not. I just know that UAC is more convenient and more secure then the workarounds that I have to use now. I have heard the performance complaints but I've also heard that you just need to disable the visual effects and they mostly go away. I think the main issue with Vista is that there is no obvious huge improvement that would motivate people to pay the retail price to upgrade. For example, I am interested in UAC and some of the other security features but I am reluctant to buy Vista just to get them, especially if Windows 7 is just a year or so away. Plus, upgrading Windows has always been a hassle in the past. Right now, I guess Windows XP mostly works okay for me, so I am sticking in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" crowd.
    - krschultz 18y ago
      I had hardware and software problems with it, and the software problems continue today so I'm on Linux/XP dual boot to work around these deficiencies. When Vista works it is great, it just doesn't always work.
- raganwald 18y ago
  The reasonably insightful comment on reddit was that this isn't just a pissing contest between MS and Apple - it's a pissing contest between Crispin Porter and TBWA (the ad agencies)... I think one has the more appealing product to market, the other has the bigger budget and the defensive position. It's a fairly textbook marketing battle between the entrenched number one and the upstart niche player.
  - unalone 18y ago
    And Crispin is a company that's known for taking pretty daring risks. There was an article that said it was ironic that they're running Microsoft's campaign, because they're a very "Apple-like" company.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

jyothi 18y ago

> low&lame high end flame. :)