Crushing Apple... Crushing Google... that Microsoft... always with the crushing.

@deathbychichi: You've been reading everything wrong. Microsoft doesn't want to crush Apple or Google. They have a crush on Apple or Google but have to settle for ugly old Yahoo with the sagging tits.

Harry "what will become of old hag eBay" Wang

Wow, I can' believe how well Jackon Browne reinvented himself.

I think I've posted here about this once before, but I just don't see that as a good fit. CP&B is famous for bringing us the creepily mute giant Burger King and the eerie chicken that does whatever you tell it to do website. I just don't see Microsoft corp marketing approving goatse as their new mascot because it's "subversive, yet well known enough by those 'who get it'"...

+1

You guys don't get MSFT's use of intentional confusion as a marketing tool. It is actually quite similar to you guys posing something slightly incorrect on the Valleywag: lots of people jump in to correct you in the comments.

Rick Beluzzo who had swung through SGI and MSFT as a senior executive had actually fairly good expose about it, but I can't find it now. Ed McCracken (past CEO of SGI) had even article in Fortune about intentionally creating chaos to gain advantage in marketing.

They are there to feed the whole cottage industry of MSFT explainers. Unlike marketing affiliates they don't get a cut of sales.

Think it through, it is actually quite interesting strategy, on par with "integrated innovation."

C'mon Jackson, I expect a little better research out of you. The branding "mess" amounts to some guy finding "six different header backgrounds" at Live.com. Oh Dear God the confusion! Actually, I think that most people can name Microsoft's desktop operating system product and its office product. I would call that a branding success.

Fast Company has the best airbrushers I've ever seen.

they need to find the ad firm that did those mutant things singing "eat quizno's subs"

+ Watch video

Fast Company is still publishing?

@Spy from the Land of Rainpeople: so, you're saying they hired this guy because he looks like Mac Guy? Clever.

@michaellamb: Those are RatherGood's Spongmonkeys.

+ Watch video

If "better" means "horribly overpriced and a huge ripoff", then yes, I agree with your opinions on Apple. I can get a laptop with the exact same specs as the Macbook Pro for over $1000 less.

@raincoaster: Who knows? Certainly not me, I've been out of the MacOS market since 7.1. I see two possible moves:
(a) Narrow one: just move into the niche for strident marketing (ala Bang&Olufsen and Apple.)
(b) Wider one: actualy close the gap in the MSFT's product line and design a complete system, possibly around the "surface" concept: matching software, hardware and furniture.

No. Sigh. So sad.

@HarrisonHopkins:
@HarrisonHopkins No no. You're making a common error in comparing prices between Mac and PC, which is to only look at the sticker price. What you're not considering is actually what makes Macs CHEAPER than PCs, and that is Opportunity Cost. You can go ahead and buy a $1,000 PC or even a $500 PC for that matter, but take your downtime in hours per year, add it to the time you spend on hold waiting for support from India and the time you spend fixing the PC. Then take the total hours and multiple by what you feel your time is worth per hour. For example, if your time is worth $50/hour and you spend an hour a week farting around with your PC to get it to work properly (reasonable), 52 x $50 = $2,600 plus your list price of $1,000 = $3,600. If your time is worth $150/hour, 52 x $150 = $7,800 you are paying for your PC plus the $1,000 list price = $8,800, which is considerably more expensive than any Mac on the market today. You simply cannot just compare sticker prices. You could if you were speaking about the same equipment, but PC is a far inferior product, more apt to break down, with a poor support and time-consuming support system and a different OS. When you do the math, it's actually cheaper to buy a Mac.

Well I work on my wavy locks (grown all by myself). Are chiseled features, stylish boots and designer jeans mandatory? For my name. It sounds a bit like his ^_^ Pls hire me MSFT :-))