Microsoft changes their mind about Family Guy ad partnership
Justin says...
on Nov 22nd, 2009 @ 9:53 pm
Peter Griffin tries to spell Windows 7 in a quick 15 second commercial during tonight’s episode of Family Guy. I guess they thought it was okay to pair their ad with this particular episode? Or they just changed their mind in a desperate attempt to appear cool before Apple puts them out of business?
Better Version:
YouTube Version:
UPDATE Later during the episode (not commercial) Peter has to stop talking as the OSX wait icon pops up, pretty funny.
MicroClone Stores, please don’t try to be original
Justin says...
on Nov 17th, 2009 @ 4:49 pm
You know by now that Microsoft has started opening their long rumored retail stores which are basically an exact clone of the Apple stores. Can’t really blame them for using a format that works (at least for Apple). Guess someone at Microsoft didn’t like being a clone and decided to add this twist to the mix…oh Microsoft, you make it too easy. You can take the Microsoft out of Redmond, but you can’t take the Redmond out of Microsoft.
(via @cabel)
New Droid commercial, I actually like this one
Justin says...
on Nov 3rd, 2009 @ 9:32 pm
Trying to build hype for the new Motorola Droid, a new commercial should start airing soon. It’s clear now Verizon and Motorola are going after the nerd crowd with their TV ads. Just like the iDon’t commercial, most people probably won’t know what’s being sold to them except for nerds, but this one is a lot more fun (looks like a play on superman’s arrival).
(via Boy Genius Report)
My thoughts on TG Daily’s “Microsoft blindsided vulnerable Apple with Windows 7″
Justin says...
on Oct 23rd, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
Just saw this TG Daily article on Daring Fireball, Gruber had this to say:
I’m coming around to the idea that Enderle’s really a genius and his doofus routine is a Stephen Colbert-esque schtick.
Unfortunately Gruber is joking (at least I hope so)…Enderle is not a genius. I pretty much disagree with everything he says in this article with the exception of the Magic Mouse (Apple has never been good at making mice) and when Apple almost went belly up.
Let’s take a look at “Windows 7: A New Hope” section of the post:
Steve Jobs and Apple clearly planned for the same traditional behavior [Windows launch failure] and were completely unprepared for both the quality of Windows 7 and the fact Microsoft has a war chest this time. Their near pathetic recent release of a couple slightly improved PCs and a couple peripherals showcases this. They figured they could easily skate through the next few months because, traditionally, Microsoft would be vulnerable and not able to fight back.
The new updates were just that, updates. They got faster hardware and a few other tweaks with the lone MacBook getting the biggest upgrade. Apple is not “unprepared”, but instead sticking with what works and Windows 7 isn’t going to change that. Not sure what Rob thinks Apple should have released? Apple isn’t going to suddenly start competing in the thin margin budget computer business.
Windows 7 should shake some of the bad Vista press (just as XP did for Windows Millennium), but the problem for Microsoft is all the negative press has pushed Apple into the spotlight…even with their teeny weeny market share. People that have never considered a Mac are now thinking about “the switch”. Add in the success of the iPhone and iPod touch and Apple has gained a much larger audience than they ever have before.
Here is what’s really going to happen for Apple and Microsoft in the Windows 7 world:
- People running XP now will continue using XP for as long as they have that computer, especially businesses.
- At lot of people running Vista will pay the upgrade fee since it will probably be worth the price to get the hell off Vista.
- People on a tighter budget will buy a new cheap PC with Windows 7 just as they would if it still had Vista on it.
- People deciding between a Mac and PC will not be swayed to a PC by Windows 7, they just won’t be pushed to Apple by Vista (so one plus for Microsoft here).
Rob wraps things up with:
Two good lessons here, even when you are on top it is very foolish to under estimate a competitor with Microsoft’s resources because they can actually get it right, and picking too many fights at once can take out the most powerful of entities just as it took out a nearly unbeatable Germany in the second world war.
Not even sure how to respond to this one. The “too many fights” is referring to the Droid (Google, Verizon, and Motorola) in addition to Microsoft. I don’t see how Apple is under estimating anyone? Apple is selling more Macs then they ever have before and have the fastest growing consumer devices ever with the iPhone and iPod touch. Looks to me like they are winning both wars.
MicroClone Stores, they even copy the grand opening!
Justin says...
on Oct 22nd, 2009 @ 2:23 pm
If they copy everything else why not kick open the doors in the same style as Apple? …the highest form of flattery I guess.
(via @cabel)
How Verizon’s iDon’t commercial should have been
Justin says...
on Oct 19th, 2009 @ 3:18 pm
Just found this YouTube video of an old Sega commercial on Daring Fireball showing “Genesis Does What Nintendon’t”. I’m sure you notice the similarities to the new Verizon, “iDon’t commercial” I discussed yesterday.
Yesterday I said:
I find it interesting that all the iPhone ads show what the iPhone iCan, while Verizon is all about the iDon’t.
Yes, the end result of the commercial was the same as Verizon’s, a direct jab at their competition, but Sega approached in the way I thought Verizon should have. Instead of showing all the things “Droid can”, they choose the inverse approach by showing what the iPhone can’t. If the Droid can do all the things iPhone can’t, then let’s see it!
Another side effect of this inverse approach is something The iPhone blog found after doing a quick survey of their non tech savvy friends:
TiPb asked a few non-geek friends and most of them didn’t even realize Verizon was targeting the iPhone in these ads (some thought the commercial was saying whatever device they were talking about didn’t do the things listed). Is that an ad-failure, or was it deliberately targeting geeks?
This idea of “inverse” is really what I meant by a “negative ad campaign” in my post yesterday…not that going head to head with your competition is a bad thing. The first thing someone that disagrees with me would bring up are the Mac vs PC ads, but I see them as more of the Sega style. They discuss what the Mac can do in direct comparison to where Windows OS falls short. See for yourself in the video below.
