Microsoft Strange News, 3-18-09
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News Brief. What do Jim Allchin and "I'm a PC" Kylie have in common? |
They're early day news items while you're waiting for the MIX09 keynote to kick off at Noon ET. I thought we could start the day off with some odd, but interesting newsbites.
Jim Allchin. The former Windows executive has a new album, "Enigma." Should geeks/developers make music? You tell me. New music Tuesday brought "Enigma" to iTunes' "New and Noteworthy" section also "What We're Listening To," too. That's two prominent placements.
Strangely, or perhaps not, Amazon and Zune Marketplace chose not to promote "Enigma." Whoa, where's that loyalty, Microsoft? What, not all is forgiven yet about Windows Vista? By the way, Zune Marketplace has got a helluva SXSW 09 mixtape. Do check it out.
As for "Enigma," there are 17 iTunes ratings, with average rating of 2.5 stars. The album's title sums up my reaction.
Kylie. Microsoft's "I'm a PC" preschooler is a hit with TV viewers. According to Advertising Age, the TV commercial was most recalled by consumers. That's based on Nielsen IAG Research rankings for Feb. 2 to March 1. According to AdAge:
Yeah, we know—something about kids and puppies make commercials. In Microsoft's latest iteration of its "I'm a PC" campaign, 4-and-a-half-year-old Kylie shows the rest of us how easy it is to upload, retouch (!) and send photos using Microsoft's software. Kids these days.
What did I blog on Monday? Windows PC sales are up, largely, but not solely, because of the "I'm a PC" marketing. By the way, consumers also recalled Subway, Hulu, Crystal Light and Dominos pizza commercials, rounding out the top five. I DVR everything and will admit to stopping to watch the Kylie and Crystal Light commercials. What about you? Care to confess where you stop fast-forwarding?
Worldwide Telescope. Microsoft has opened the Windows to look out at the stars. One of the best applications for Windows is now available in a Web Client version, via Silverlight. I had wanted Microsoft to showcase Worldwide Telescope as a must-have reason to buy Windows. The company instead showcases Silverlight, and does the world good by making this great software-as-a-service app available to everyone.
Could it be that Microsoft really is serious about interoperability? And what would Jim "Windows or nothing else" Allchin have to say about that?
[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at gmail.com.]
Comments (8)
The world wide telescope is not available to everyone, only those running an officially sanctioned OS. That is OSX and Windows only and only supported browsers.
Why is Google able to produce a better UI in only javascript and HTML that works for everyone and is much faster?
WWT is not showcasing Silverlight, it is showing how unnecessary it is.
http://www.google.com/sky/
Why shouldn't geeks/developers make music?
Posted by billybob | March 18, 2009 12:47 PM
"What did I blog on Monday? Windows PC sales are up, largely, but not solely, because of the "I'm a PC" marketing."
It was the most questionable point on your list. But that Advertising Age result is good evidence that you were right to include it.
Posted by Paul | March 18, 2009 1:47 PM
I am also underwhelmed by your analysis in "'I'm a PC' Marketing Pays Off for Microsoft, OEMs." See my comments down in the thirty-somethings of that post.
My hypothesis is that the supply curve for low-end notebooks has shifted to the left. The demand curve for low-end notebooks, due to the current economic malaise, has somewhat flattened. More people are willing to eschew high-end features and accept basic, functional, low-end units. The eye-popping 36% increase in notebook sales measured in units in the February NPD data was caused by shifts in the supply and demand curves, opening a large gap that was filled by sales of low end units.
The supply curve has not moved as much for high-end computers and the demand curve has steepened. No one is buying high-end units. This, not the lack of advertising, is driving the decline in Apple units.
If my theory is correct, almost all of the sales increase was at the low end, driven by the newly available supply of inexpensive notebooks. If your theory is correct, the demand curves for both low-end and high-end PCs, driven by advertising, moved to the right.
Oh Great Former Analyst, go back to your roots and do your homework! If you can show me that the demand curves have moved to the right, your argument, that advertising has created demand, will have some merit. Until then, count me as a disbeliever.
Posted by Karl | March 18, 2009 4:19 PM
"Why shouldn't geeks/developers make music?"
Because the result is usually horrid.
Posted by mst3001 | March 18, 2009 7:43 PM
I saw Jim Allchin's album on Zune Marketplace yesterday. On frontpage. You should check them out.
Posted by Mai Hai Dang | March 18, 2009 10:46 PM
I saw Jim Allchin's album on Zune Marketplace yesterday. On frontpage of Rock category. I guess.
Posted by Mai Hai Dang | March 18, 2009 10:51 PM
Billy Bob - You can run WW Telescope in IE, Firefox and Safari so that's pretty good coverage. If you're a glutton for punishment, you can run it on Linux in addition to MacOS and Windows.
Comaring Worldwide Telecope to Google Sky is like comparing a Porche to a souped up Subaru. No comparison Worldwid Telecope is an amazing thing if you'd take the time to actually check it out.
Posted by Mark Ashton | March 19, 2009 12:28 PM
Have you compared then side by side? Maybe WWT has better pictures or something, but the information and speed of Google Sky means that it is much more pleasurable to use. I originally wanted to test out WWT, but found it so slow that I was using Google Sky for looking around. WWT kept repainting tiles that had already loaded and loading a tour ground everything to a halt.
I do not think you can run it on Linux, Moonlight is always one step behind (that's the point). Moonlight AFAIK is Silverlight 1.0 but WWT needs Silverlight 2.0. I did install Moonlight for a while, but got rid of it as soon as I realised that it does not actually run anything and it regularly crashes the browser.
Even if it technically works, I find most sites (including MS) do not detect Silverlight properly so tell you that you do not have it installed and send you to the Silverlight.exe page even if you are running Linux.
I have now tested the Windows client and the web client, but I must be missing something because it was very boring (more boring than the MIX news), Google Sky was responsive enough to keep my attention even if it may lack some technicalities (which I cannot see). I am not an astronomer so you will have to point out what is so compelling and I will fire it up again.
Posted by billybob | March 19, 2009 1:17 PM