Gates-Seinfeld act 2: Beautiful minds?
Having bumped into each other at Shoe Circus, the two protagonists decide to walk the tightrope and make a road movie.
Whisper it very softly, but they just might pull this trick off.
Take a look at the 4.5-minute version of Gates and Seinfeld's "Road to Somewhere 2." In the first installment, the Kafkasesque "Shoe Circus," Jerry Seinfeld looked as if he had really forgotten how not to act, but in this second installment, it's hard not to warm to his buddy act with a new thespian who is clearly holding his own, Bill Gates.
In this episode, Bill and Jerry decide that they will commune with normal human beings. A fine idea for many in the tech world, some might say. In the middle of some truly heartening and funny absurdity, the courage that went into the writing makes the eyes and ears commune with a strange sense of the unusual.
In answer to Bill's questioning why they're attempting to reconnect with real people, Jerry says, "Why, Bill? Because as we discussed, you and I are a little out of it. You're living on some kind of moon house hovering over Seattle like the Mother Ship, and I got so many cars, I get stuck in my own traffic."
How many companies have been honest enough to admit their faults? How many would publicly declare they lost touch with the customers? How many would reach for self-deprecation in doing so? And would anyone have ever suggested Microsoft might be one of those companies?
As I said in my last post on this subject, this campaign is not aimed at techies. It is not even designed to sell products today. It is solely there to help you find some positive disposition toward the Microsoft brand.
My Las Vegas 51's baseball cap goes off to the people at ad agency Crispin, Porter and Bogusky who persuaded Microsoft, in the person of Bill Gates himself, to admit to at least some of the company's lesser judgments.
It isn't just that they might not have created great products. They have lost sight of real, ordinary people--those who, like the family in this episode, have had slightly crotchety, loopy grannies wandering around their house for the last 12 years.
The greater constituent of good communication isn't information, but rather emotion. And the dominant emotional effect of this involving, funny, and distinctive piece of work is to give Microsoft the possibility of looking like a somewhat cuddly underdog.
The more Apple continues to patronize Bill Gates, albeit gently and cleverly, the more it risks appearing to embrace just a tinge of smugness. (And what brand does that remind you of?)
If Microsoft manages to create at least an aura of underdoggery, the company and its ad agency will be seen as some of the brightest communicators to have ever survived the Large Hadron Collider Experiment.
I still can't quite get out of my head that one 30-second version of the greatest Apple ad ever made--not the "1984" thing, but rather the utterly brilliant "Here's To The Crazy Ones"--actually ends with a shot of Jerry Seinfeld.
But you have to be a little crazy to attempt a radical repositioning of Microsoft's image. And no one at the company is sane enough to think the duckling will become swanlike overnight.
However, those involved in this singularly brave attempt just might achieve something many thought impossible. The success of a movie called Smart and Smarter.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
These commercials have to appeal to techies because we are the ones buying new computers every six months. And we are NOT going to be swayed by a cute commercial. We want something Rock Solid, DRM invisible (no crashing because we swapped out a hard drive or added a unrecognized peripheral), and fast. And so far that is not Vista. Microsoft just can't update their software fast enough anymore. As much as I hate that I can't run OS 9 programs on Macs with Intel chips, Apple did the right thing and abandoned their old code and just moved into the 21st century. Microsoft will never do that.
Vista, allows additions of hardware and has loosened its registration alot. So at the moment you're simply spreaing the Apple propaganda, which is normal for Mactards to do.
And in blind ignorance, you ignore that Apple is COMPLETE DRM, allowing you to only buy computers from them to use their OSX.
OSX wont even allow itself to be virtualized without major hacking, and THAT is the future. A future in which OSX holds no ground and nor should it.
Jabberwolf. I hope that Bill Gates is remembered more for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation than for Microsoft, but Microsoft is, I think, the point of the commercials. And no, my in-laws have no idea who Steve Jobs is. So Steve doesn't write code. So? Bill doesn't either, but he did plagiarize some and did buy a whole bunch. When I stop hearing negative comments on multiple tech blogs about Vista installs, I will start to believe you, but not yet. I don't need Apple ads, which I never see, to know that. So you don't like OS X, don't use it. Use Linux, but don't try and tell me that Vista is good.
Ubuntu is Linux (just like Red Hat, SuSE, etc.)
It would have been better to says
"OS X is based on Unix. Yes, just like Linux, Solaris, etc."
OS X is based on a Unix kernel and Linux is based on a Linux kernel, it's not the same. The code for those kernels is different, Linux is just Unix-like in the way it was designed so it could run programs originally designed for Unix. FYI, blogs aren't the best source for reliable information either. Buying a computer every 6 months or buying an Apple doesn't make you a "techie". Keep in mind the majority of buyers aren't "techies".
The only point you made is that your mother-in-law, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew are a bunch of retards!! =D
They must be just sitting in some caves watching soap opera to not know who Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are.
What the F@#$#$ do they know??
I believe that we are in a transition point in technology and fortunately for MS due to their unrivaled past success, they have the luxury of waiting for other firms to market and commercialize products before they enter. They keep $30 B in the cash reserves solely for this purpose! The ability to have such liquidity allows them to wait and learn from other firms who enter the market first. Look at Xbox for example. Originally people thought MS was crazy and would not succeed.
It takes time and I believe that MS will be the company to establish the home entertainment server / products of the new milenium, utilizing gaming, music, TV, etc . . . into the media center.
While Apple is looking at how to create "cool" new cell phone technologies, Microsoft is trying to figure out how to use that technology in larger products (MS Surface, etc . . .)
And I'm sure Bill would be much more interested in being the dominant force in the Robotics game opposed to flaunting a cool new cell phone like Steve Jobs.
Don't get me wrong, Apple has some good products, an excellent brand, and solid marketing, but I would think twice before discounting Bill Gates. MS will be back. Although it will be an exciting future as these titans (Apple, MS, and Google) battle it out in the future.
"At the current US$186 per share, Apple's value as a company is US$162B. That's now larger than IBM ($159B) and Intel ($155B) and fourth in terms of computer companies behind only Cisco ($189B), Google ($208B), and Microsoft ($290B)."
Apple doesn't just make an OS, they make the whole device. And not just in one niche, but in several and in one they own the market and in another, phones, they have become the Player who set the pace. Everyone is copying Apple. Windows devices are losing sales fast to the iPhone and Apple is forecast to surpass all Windows Mobile devices this year with just one: the iPhone.
Since 2001 when Apple's market share was about 2%, in the US it has doubled twice, it's over 8% now. And that doesn't break out consumer sales from business sales. Take out businesses and it's a much grimmer picture for MS.
Apple won't overtake MS anytime soon and maybe never, but MS definitely IS in decline. Their products are not well-designed, their corporate image is in tatters and they've been convicted not once, but twice for monopolistic practices.
And MS Surface? You're kidding, right, the Big A$$ Table? Basically a giant iPhone with multitouch. Ironic that MS is getting into touch devices since they are so out of touch.
The point is that Apple is growing in a market that everyone else is just treading water and the premier MS product, Windows Vista, has a growing reputation for being a disastrous product and this after 5 years of development! This is the company you think is nimble enough to come back?
JoeL
"You're kidding about market cap, right? Look at the respective companies and tell me MS isn't losing a step. MS owns 90% of the OS desktop and yet really isn't that much bigger, cap-wise, than Apple:
"At the current US$186 per share, Apple's value as a company is US$162B. That's now larger than IBM ($159B) and Intel ($155B) and fourth in terms of computer companies behind only Cisco ($189B), Google ($208B), and Microsoft ($290B).""
First you say that MS isn't really that much bigger than Apple, cap-wise, then point out how MS's cap is about 80% bigger... that's... well, that just doesn't make sense.
"Apple doesn't just make an OS, they make the whole device."
No, no they don't. They do *not* make the device. I could list all the manufacturers for you if you'd like, but Apple does *not* make hardware. In fact, they use the same hardware as PCs.
MS isn't slipping as much as people think. Its image has slipped tremendously, but it hasn't hurt it as much as you'd think.
If it were anyone than MS, they would spend that money fixing it, instead of trying to convince people it isn't total garbage.
If Vista really is as bad as the bloggers say it is, even though I am skeptical, MS will have no trouble coming back from it, as they did with ME.
But a lot of people seem to think that these commercials are about selling Vista, which they clearly aren't, and if you go into the commercial waiting for the pitch, you are left scratching your head. As expressed in the article above they are trying to rebuild their reputation; I agree 100%. I think that this is the right move for MS and these commercials deliver.
Chris
Their products lack the new welcome-userfriendly-easy2use concept that google and apple have come to master. We are now given choices, thats the difference. For most part of their dominance, they were the only one that was trusted among the public; they always found the way to make their products standard and eliminated much of their competition or at least the big ones be that in the browser category or in the os itself. Before people only needed a computer for simple task as opposed to now where we use photoshop, maybe want to create a movie with our clips and frankly microsoft is as far as linux in these area, apple cant be touched there. And yeah, they have this new windows 7 comming 0ut now that should spark back some sales if apple doesn't come with a better idea but it wont last so long. I think the public has now come to conclude that microsoft is not good and apple could not be happier. Well, i dont really think apple wants to grow any bigger, or at least marginally. As long as they keep the consumer base as big as now where they are not a target of the virus population and can keep the macs immune and with the ability to deliver a smoother-safer experience I think they would be the ones with the prestige. Think about it, honda sales more cars than Bently or Roll Royce or Ferrary but when you step to a club wiht one of those outliers you are noted, and thats how a mac compares to a pc.
Is thought off as sleeker, better, faster......................... while a pc is just a computer.
Is their fault, they should have never allowed a mac to run vista the fastest (lol) that was the breaking point for me to swith, I use to think their commercials where just a blatant lies but they turned out to be true. PC your throne would always be the reigning champion in the market, but you would never get any of the awards. sight...........(SAD).
Remember, once upon a time Microsoft understood the emotional side of communication. They just moved away. And user-friendliness, as you so rightly say, has been so cleverly embraced by others.
Thank you for commenting,
Chris
Vista runs the same on Macs and PCs because they use the exact same hardware.
PCs can run most designing software out there just as well or better than Macs. As designing firms realize the money they can save (Mac Pros are ridiculously overpriced), they're share will dwindle.
The Mac has two problems: price (for its upper-end stuff... its lower-end isn't too bad) and its users. I actually want a Mac (in addition to my vista box and xp/ubuntu box). But, please, someone shoot me if I ever sound as ignorant and as elitist as you. PCs are instruments. They are not ******* toys and the computing world doesn't need your kind around who wants to buy a computer cause they think it looks pretty.
to be honest I dont know where to start with you. Ironically you are selling the same product you are trying to position yourself against. (think bad politics) Now to address your lack of knowledge, macs at some point after vista first launched were running vista the fastest via bootcamp and you can see the wall street journal if you dislike that dont take my word for it.
second, everybody knows that macs are synonyms of design and architecture and even movies.
How can you call me an ignorant? I have a mac (lol) just kidding but dont take it personal kid.
macs do not look the prettier, I think vaio has the better looking one (the vaio tz) for that matter.
I just thnk that macs are best for users that live outside an office and have a life, thats why we get ilife. (again dont take it personal) macs have everything more tightly integrated and we all knwo why but then, too bad for microsoft for not doing it that way. And yess they have this lttle monopoly going on but liberty is not a gift, is a responsability that most users cant handle in a computer world, if not ask your sister about a picture thats extended under .jar or .zip and why shouldnt she open it, well you get it, probably not but read and you would understand
finally, read your post and you would see what i MEANT by my first statement, you my friend are an obstacle to the light at the end of the tunnel, a stop sign to progress and definitively an earmark. Criticism should always be welcome if not, we stay stock, open your arms and welcome the new era rapped in a nice sexy package (made by apple) lol,
Actually, the Mac Pro is excellent value for the money. The production company I work at is preparing to replace an edit suite. Our Technical Director is both extremely well educated on computers and notoriously thrifty. He's gone over the options with a fine tooth comb and feels that the Mac Pro is a better system for less money than a comparable Windows box to serve as an edit suite.
This is the guy who hasn't installed a Mac in the office since 2001, favouring XP boxes for most tasks. The system we are replacing is a Windows-based Avid Composer suite that's over ten years old, running on, believe it or not, Windows NT4. Our newer systems are also Avid, XP-based. Tomorrow the TD and I are heading down to the local Apple reseller to put the Mac Pro-based Final Cut Studio suite through its paces.
Believe me, we're talking about a guy who's practical to a fault, he's not the type to buy a Mac because it's cool or looks pretty. He's done his homework and believes the Mac Pro is the best value to build a new edit suite around, and has also decided to buy one for himself for home use.
Disclaimer, our analysis is based on Canadian prices, and Apple was one of the few manufacturers who adjusted their Cdn prices to (almost) reflect the current US exchange rate (close to par) rather than the 2002 exchange rate. That might make Apple products more competitive to me than to you. And frankly, it does make me consider them more favourably. Manufacturers who are still trying to sell stuff with a 25% premium over US prices, and blaming the exchange rate, come across as gouging the consumers. The Mac Pro only has about a 4% premium for Canada.
Sorry nothing about computers, I just like smart comedy for once.
Apple commercials play to the dumb dumb crowds.
Yes, they are targeting Windows users :)
Now as an AppleFanMan, I agree with you somewhat. A Mac user since 1987 and I am not the scruffy Justin Long user, but the more well groomed and dressed John Hodges. I feel that Apple should also portray more varied Mac users, like the ones I know, professionals, retired seniors (I am getting there), and so on.
Linux, Windows, etc- all those allow you to install on whatever hardware you have already. <p>
Dispute it all you like, but even Apple has made this very clear in their EULA.
Do you just like to blog no matter what your point might be, just for the fun of it?
Get a real job,,,,, This doesn't pay off, literally
Macs are cool, no doubt. But for me who started with DOS 2.0 they are very frustrating. I get none of the intuitive bonus from them that people talk about.
What you will find in the years to come is that people will continue to vote with their pocketbook and buy the computer that costs less and does what they need it to do, and, in many cases, runs the OS they use at work because they are familiar with it. Is it the best? Probably not. Is it good enough? That's what really matters.
Projection of one's failings and the herd factor results in tattooed, Apple users with a very average IQ who can't stop telling the world how a truly brilliant person ( I'm talking Bill Gates here for you diminished ones ) and software company are inferior in all ways to what they use. My God, not only is he and his company inferior but it is so pedestrian - a quality which the young, stupid and tattooed hate with a passion. Of course, they never mention the fact that MS has 72% of the browser market and 90% of the OS market. They will, however, tell you that Apple's IPOD has 78% of the mp3 market. Whoop - de - doo. Oh yes, I can hear the chorus of Appelite inferiority complexes proclaiming MS is a monopoly - but since Apple was the FIRST real PC, why the hell didn't your wonderful Apple dominate the market, or better yet, if Windows OS is so sorry, why didn't one of you brilliant dumb ***** make a better system. You seem to know everything else in the world about how bad Windows is. Jeez, if I were a talented boxer and i was as smart as you people are about my opponent's weaknesses, I would kick his ass in a second and take over the crown.
Funny how none of you Appelites can do anything more than profess your own superiority. Too bad you can't back it up with real facts other than your IPOD and when you do brag on that you use the same argument for yourselves that you criticize Microsoft with. What a bunch of pansies. You wnet nuts over the first IPhone and it didn't even have 3G. Of course, when they finally got around to a 3G phone it has had nothing but problems.
The biggest pansy quality though is your non stop criticisms of the new Vista ads, which you started in massive quanity well before the commercial ever came out. Once it was out there was a universal chorus from our young, tattooed inferiority complexes about how God awful it was, with criticism toward Seinfeld, Gates, the theme of the commercials and an unending stream of negative blather that was amazing.
All this for a commercial?
Now tell me, are you being just a little over sensitive?
This should not be possible to screw up things in the first place.
"Of course, you throw in the tattoo factor and it becomes a bigger problem."
Agree with you on this one. You can give them even a plastic ball and still you must watch out because they will break it :)
"...why the hell didn't your wonderful Apple dominate the market..."
This is all MS does: dominates the market. Quality is optional for them. Let's face it: OS X is a much better operating system starting from kernel and going up to the end-user software. (even a guy with a tattoo can use it, remember?). That is why Apple doesn't dominate the market, because they think twice before releasing a product and invest much more money in studying which is time consuming. Oh, yeah, almost forgot, MS puts huge amounts of money in stopping the smoking, helping home-less children,etc. I totally agree with that (shame on apple because is not doing that too) but they are a #$%^ software company! Let's put some money in technology too! See MS history of OS patches for an anti-example. They release patches for patches (how the @#$% is this possible!?)
"Too bad you can't back it up with real facts other than your IPOD and when you do brag on that you use the same ar..."
Well, I can. I do C++ programming on MAC OS X and take full advantage of a BSD-like system. Can you do it in MS? Can you program a decent network server in windows? I think not! (see the facts on internet).
Oh wait!!! I just realized: you are a tattoo guy! How come you use that language?
Fact is, most Mac users are dual citizens. We live and work everyday with both. My wife has an XP laptop. My office has me moving between OSX, XP, and Win2000 every day (and until recently, NT4). It's not a competition for me, I just happen to prefer the Mac.
I guess I don't fit into your little stereotype. And neither, for that matter, do any other Mac users I know. When family and friends ask me for buying advice (and they do), I tell them to pick a computer that best suits their needs, but to give Windows, Mac and Linux a fair shake before buying. I've directed people to Linux, and I've directed people to Windows. I recommend Mac if 1. Kids will be surfing the net (no spyware) or 2. I will be their primary source of free IT help - because, of course, the less free IT help I have to provide, the happier I am.
Shareholders of MSFT, is this really the company you want to support.
I would like to see some of these adds with the world's greatest blowhard, Steve Ballmer.
Microsoft as an underdog? Maybe on your planet.
I actually don't have to drink the Kool-Aid. And I have no reason to be in the tank for anybody. Thankfully, I'm allowed to just say what I think. And, believe me, if IBM can find a way to make itself more likeable- which it did brilliantly- so can Microsoft. However strange that might seem right now.
Thank you for commenting.
Chris
Of course the way IBM did it was by realizing that Microsoft was becoming even more disliked than they were, and by embracing Linux to become an anti-Microsoft.
While Apple's success, and some of it's more annoying fans, are enough to cause some backlash, it's unlikely to be anywhere near enough to cause those of us that Microsoft has driven off with their arrogance and anti-customer policies to suddenly change our mind about them.
What are you talking about? Its a job, if <put favorite actor here> was offered to make 20 mil for a short day's work, get to hang with a billionaire and be seen around the planet, of course he would take.
Got see that japanese site that has all the ads of american actors who were dont do ads here but sell toilet paper and noodles in Japan. Woody Allen is an artiste/sleazebag here, in Itally he's written and directed a series of ads for an Italian grocery chain. At the very least they could have done a tie in with some TV abortion like American Idol or Dancing Stars. I
I used a PC at home for 5 years, I used DOS, Win 3.1 through XP. I use Windows at work, and finally bought a Macbook and loved it. Now I'm in business school and use Windows Vista installed ON my Intel Mac, because I have to. Leopard is just better: easier, nicer looking, less invasive. I would only use Leopard if I could, but I can't.
Finally, I find the real reason I stick with Apple is trust and customer service. Tell me any other company that, you walk in with a crashed hard drive that was your fault, they fix it as part of your consumer plan, free. You walk in with a broken part, out-of-warranty, and they replace it anyway? You have trouble getting a rebate, and they CONTACT YOU AND ASK WHY YOU DIDN'T RECEIVE IT? When I walk into an Apple store, they help me, they put me first, and honor warranties. That is why I don't care what commercials anyone has, I want a company that puts me first by PUTTING ME FIRST, not with a stupid half-baked unfunny ad campaign.
You are awesome - an awesome dumb ass.
Apple has focused on set hardware standards and a tight software to match, Right now its Apple with a small OS X capable of running on a portable device, capable of being a TV, cell phone, computer and a music player among other things. Apple can do it all, while Microsoft cant with its bloated OS blue screens of death and vulnerable swiss cheese security.
I am not even going to mention all the crap you talked about how Apple can do everything and MS can't. Answer this question then: why is Apple still not even 30% saturated in the market? I'm sorry let me explain this so you actually understand what I mean, saturated i the market means how much of the market share it owns.
I'm going to finish off here by telling you that Apple is a fake. They take a Unix platform, slap on a new XWindowing system and call it their own. The code they actually wrote themselves was crap so they got rid of it. It's a shoe company that makes crappy shoes takes some nike Jordans' put their own logo on it and sell it as their own. They talk about innovation, well here is fact for you darwin which is the underlying system OS X is based on is UNIX which is the first OS ever written (long long time ago).
The whole OS X is designed for retards who get turned on by shiny objects with reflections.
I am not a MS advocate, I just hate ignorant people, and given your post above ignorance is a bliss in you book...
- by sousuke88 September 15, 2008 10:17 AM PDT
- I really don't care about what Apple fanboys have to say but I do want MS to stop messing about and produce decent products to backup this marketing!
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
Showing 1 of 2 pages (59 Comments)I have Windows Vista and it hasn't crashed but it isn't really much different to my old XP machine from day to day. There are a lot of annoying things as well which could have been better designed. All these things add up and make it feel rough around the edges. I really don't need any more features in Windows 7, I just want Windows Explorer updated.
Come on MS, Quality not Quantity.
Long time MS user.