EightBlack.

Well at least that’s the gist of the story in today’s Age in Melbourne.

Full story here.

Basically, Microsoft is a bit like poor old Dubya at the moment and is looking for ways to help lift its image. By sponsoring the National Australia Day Council’s “Look Up And Smile” campaign, the beleaguered technology company is hoping we’ll still be smiling after Vista is launched and the bugs are finally ironed out of IE7.

I just struggle with the entire notion that it takes the world’s largest software company 5+ years to roll out upgrades to its core platforms. I mean, they can’t sit around in a meeting room and say “well, we’d better wait until we see if we have enough money in Q4 before we commit to investing in an upgrade…”.

Google on the other hand buys companies every week. The 2-3 man start-ups that people like you and I would never have heard of. You make up your own mind whether Google are buying resource or buying out the technology application that has yet to see the light of day.

Not to be outdone on Australia Day then, Google decided to go head to head with Microsoft this Friday and put their own plane in the sky to take images of Sydney (like Microsoft is doing).

But there’s a critical difference.

Google will use the content to drive consumption of its Google Earth application.

Microsoft on the other hand want us to all run outside, be happy, hug someone and be known as a good corporate citizen and stand still while some high as a kite camerman hangs out of a helicopter and takes photo’s of topless chicks at Cronulla. Or something like that.

You’ve just got to question Microsoft’s marketing strategy when they need to clutch to straws like this.

The launch of the iPhone has created more anticipation in the market than any other consumer product in the past 12 months. Everyone is waiting. Everyone wants one. People will queue to buy them.

Pity the same can’t be said for the release of Vista. Microsoft’s customers (ie most of the world) look forward to product releases about as much as they look forward to having a root canal without any any pain relief.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 5:25 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.