Have you seen the new Microsoft ad on TV featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld? At the risk of taking it WAY too seriously, one could interpret it as being emblematic of some of the things that are wrong at Microsoft these days.
First, it’s impossible to figure out what the company is trying to say in this ad. This is a microcosm of the confusion in Microsoft’s current product line. Server Core says “lean and mean is good,” but Vista says “big and rich is good.” Hyper-V says “speed is good,” but Vista says “speed isn’t all that important.” What is Microsoft’s message these days? Nobody really knows, but to enshrine this lack of a consistent message in an impenetrable TV ad seems an ironic decision.
Second, the ad is trying to be hip, but Microsoft has never been hip and most likely never will. It tried to be hip with Vista, but nobody really bought into that. Several years ago Microsoft tried to be hip (at least at the kiddie level) with “Bob,” which was far worse. No, what customers want from Redmond is software that is workmanlike, functional, reliable, secure, and leverages the learning curves that organizations have already travelled. Let Apple be cool and funny. We don’t need Microsoft to be hip; we’d be happy with consistent and competent.
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