Succeeding a long line of nomenclaturally uninspired releases —XP, ME, 98, 95, et cetera— Windows Vista is an amusing change of pace for Microsoft. It brings clarity to your world™, apparently, and is the first sign in recent memory of the company taking their product-naming seriously.
Todd has an interesting take; essentially that Microsoft are nowadays marketing Windows to be more like… well, you know what.
Microsoft has been attempting to heighten their reputation by elevating themselves and their products to a quasi-spiritual plane. Look at their recent television advertisements, where a father gushes that the whole universe is inside his PC just waiting for exploration — stars, planets, etc — and that all you have to do log on and get going. Then there are the musicians, film directors, and other creative types talking about how Windows brings their visions to life.
More touchy-feely. More in tune with your body. A realistic choice for creatives.
You’ll have to excuse the gagging.
Posted by Chris Clark on July 23, 2005 at 11:07 AM
[via Boing Boing] The Hold-It is a handy little tool (if you can call it that) designed specifically to prevent straw loss from your can of WD-40 spray. Of course, it has already been obsoleted by something of the WD-40 Company's own device —the smart straw— but it raises the question: why did it take almost fifty years for this problem to be solved?
Did they never solicit customer feedback? Well, yes they did. They’ve been chronicling the many weird and wonderful uses people have for the spray —in their marketing, on the web site, in the book— for decades. So were there no complaints in those thousands of letters from people who kept losing their straws? Or did they just not care? It seems to me that their customer base is so fanatical (and they are) that the product’s halo overpowered the mediocre user experience. WD-40 is awesome stuff, why not let this little complaint slide?
Because it’s your job; not just to address gripes, but to root out the little things that might not even warrant a grumbly note from a fumes-dizzy fanboy. Sweat the details, and don’t take the praise as proof that your product is flawless.
Posted by Chris Clark on July 23, 2005 at 12:04 PM