gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

If I am ever given marketing power the first thing I'll do is get rid of that campaign and do something interesting.

I like Jeff Bezo's idea: don't spend money on advertising, just make better products and services.

That said, it's a crying shame that we aren't demonstrating the Tablet PC and Media Center on TV shows.

D'accord, Robert ;-)

Microsoft's big idea?

Heh, my old boss at the camera store I used to work at used to yell at me to "sell what you got."

So, what do we have?

Eight areas where software is useful: your wrist; your pocket; your office; your coffee table; your TV; your server (yes, for home or work); your kitchen; your car (two places: dash and back seat); embedded devices (sewing machines, exercise bikes, et al).

So, let's look at what we got there.

SPOT watches for your wrist. http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=23473#23473
SmartPhones, PocketPCs for your pocket. http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=7334#7334
All sorts of stuff for your office (Tablet PC being best)
Tablet PC for your coffee table (pictures look awesome on it)
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=8248#8248
Small Business Server for your server (or, lots of other things including SQL Server and Exchange).
Your kitchen? Hmmm. Gotta look into that.
Your car? Windows CE-based AutoPC (or, you can roll your own with Windows XP).
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=15096
and
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=26133#26133
Ever see a digital sewing machine? I have, it's lots of fun.
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=10924#10924

Cool Robert, now you just have to synthesize all this into a single "Purpose-Idea".

Quoting the hem-hem Hughtrain again: "It's not enough for them to love your product, they have to love your proccess as well."

It's what Apple (read: Steve Jobs) are masters at, even us Windows-using heretics know that.

Still, Micosoft has an opportunity to develop the "decentralized anarchist" schtick further.

Apple doesn't, because as every schoolchild knows... it's all about Steve.

Hugh: why does Robert have to synthesise it at all? I think the single "purpose-idea" is a bit of a red herring. People become attached to organisation for a whole variety of different reasons; not the same one.

Just because something works for Apple doesn't mean it will work for anyone else.

I think the single purpose-idea is actually a concept from the world of branding. An idealised version of a reality that is more complex and actually much more interesting.

Fair point, Johnnie. Perhaps the "idea" is "not to have an idea".

I agree, if you get to dogmatic about "purpose-idea" you just end up being another branding-schmuck with a middling consulting day rate.

What's more interesting to me (and you too, I bet) is a discussion about what needs to be expressed, that is currently unexpressed.

I'm all ears...

Humans _love_ to simplify complex ideas.

Nike : shoes, sports
McDonald : cheap, fast hamburgers
Apple : stylish, sexy, desirable, cool products
Microsoft : monopoly, unsecure, coporate

I don't think MS will be able to do much until they get rid of this tag they got ("the new IBM")

Right now, Microsoft is clearly giving me the idea that they want to rule the fuckin world, and invade my life. No thank you. Leave me alone.

It's just me, and I'm the only one who is thinking this, but this current exchange re: MS/Scoble has me thinking of Jon Stewart telling Tucker Carlson "I'm not your monkey."

But seeing how Scoble is down with it, that's cool. As you were.

Hugh, when you say "What's more interesting to me (and you too, I bet) is a discussion about what needs to be expressed, that is currently unexpressed", I say Yeah. Let's talk about the elephant under the table. Though most of Microsofts are being talked about somewhere...

The irony of Microsoft's breadth, depth and dominance is that despite having full control over a pantheon of products that smother the "8 areas where software is useful" the majority of their shit still doesn't work well together. And I say this in part as a developer that LOVE's the progress MS has made platform-wise.

Another observation to throw out there is that MS's apparent internal decentralization is perhaps a necessary 'evil' in terms of fostering an appropriately high level of innovation that otherwise would not occur naturally.

Hugh, your comments about the iPod as a closed system made me sit up and yell "Amen!"

iTunes is cumbersome. The iPod isn't stillborn, but if it isn't opened soon, it will be dead within a year.

The drivers behind this are simple:

1. It's harder to use than the competition. MP3 is a portable format that can be used in any way the music owner wants and it plays on hundreds of players. I can play MP3s on any MP3 player I want. I can only play the music I buy from iTunes on my iPod.

2. It's expensive. £239 iPod, £173 Archos. An Archos plays MP3s, not some proprietary, encrypted format. I don't have to buy the licenses for my music twice, and I can own more than three computers and still listen to my music on each one.

3. The Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme is counterintuitive and insulting. I can play my CDs in any CD player, right? I can even burn my MP3s onto a CD and play that in most CD players. Why is Apple such a hard ass? Is Mitch Bainwol seriously worried that Kid Rock is going to starve to death if I don't pay for Devil Without a Cause a fourth time? Why don't I get to choose where and how I listen to music that I bought and paid for?

This is why I hate MS. I've been interested in a tablet pc and after reading Robert's post, thought I'd check out what MS has to say. You go to their website and go to product info and if you type in "tablet pc" you get ONE product: MS Office One Note. Okay, sounds interesting. You go to "learn more" and then "system requirements" and some features require "Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition" or even "Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005"...but do a search on either of those and you get NOTHING!!!

I've wasted all this time looking through this stupid website, and I STILL don't even know where to find a damn Tablet PC itself!!

Nathan, the iPod plays mp3s as well as the apple proprietary format.

There's not a (legal) source of non-proprietary downloadable music out there. Apple has a download store *and* plays untagged mp3 files.

And, beyond that, it's the usability. Usability, usability, usability. A monkey can pick up an iPod and use it without ever having seen a manual. I haven't seen another mp3 player that does that yet -- that doesn't mean I won't, but I haven't to this point.

John Y. makes a huge point. It has nothing to do with "Apple making it into a closed system" -- although I understand the logical jump, given their history.

Do you really think the itunes store would even exist today without Apple's DRM? Apple didn't want the DRM, the *record companies* did. That was their bargaining chip to gain entry into the online music market, and supply tons of legal songs for their hardware product. Obviously, having it reduces the usability of the product. If DRM was not a requirement for the iTunes store, Apple would drop it in 10 seconds flat. You can, in fact, do whatever you want with mp3's on iPod (or any other player).

You cannot buy most mainstream tracks on mp3, you get a single choice. Apple's AAC or WMA, both with DRM. I dont think you can legitimately argue that either company would (or even should) use the other's :-)

That said, I agree, it's just a freakin' mp3 player -- but for some reason, either marketing or perhaps good design (I'm not entirely convinced, but then I dont own one), all of the other players are just not as popular. You'd think someone would've come up with a kick-ass alternative that doesn't look like some shitty kids toy you pick up on 14th street by now.

Mark: sorry about our search engine being so difficult.

You can find a bit of information on the Tablet PC here:

http://www.microsoft.com/tabletpc/