Hangin' With the Cool Kids
Microsoft once had a larger market capitalization than the current number one corporation, Apple - at least, when you adjust for inflation. That was an intraday high of $618.9 billion, set back on December 30, 1999. Ah, those were the days.
Microsoft has had money, but they've never had Apple's cachet for cool. Back in 1995, a huge extravaganza launched their OS built for the new World Wide Web: Windows 95. In Redmond, Washington, Microsoft covered acres with a mammoth white tent. Bill Gates' speech was simulcast to launch events in 43 other cities around the world. The Empire State Building was lit up with the Windows 95 logo. The logo was also painted on English fields so that it could be seen from the air. Polish reporters were taken down in a submarine to see "A world without windows." The Rolling Stones' song Start Me Up was the official launch song, though cynics pointed to the verse, "You make a grown man cry." Windows 95 had easier networking, and got rid of the 8.3 naming convention. It promised multimedia and better games and multitasking. The hype cost millions, but it was worth it. Even in staid Boston, techies lined up in the middle of the night to buy it.
To the best of my recollection, that was the last time that Microsoft was really cool. Face it - Microsoft makes a lot of the programs you love to hate. Windows comes installed on most of the computers sold in the world, both the good ones and the cheapest sub-optimal junk from Wal-Mart. Microsoft Office is the business standard, but it's bloated with far too many features and hobbled with confusing menu trees and options. Microsoft is now a stodgy megacorporation. Steve Ballmer might be a great administrator, but a rock star, he ain't.
Microsoft still longs to sit with the cool kids, though. Today in Boston, they opened a new Microsoft Store with lots of amplified rock and bright lights.
The store sits in the shopping mall that surrounds the base of Boston's Prudential Tower (the 52-story squarish building seen in all location shots of Beantown). The store itself has a lot of frontage but little depth. Much like the product line.
Here's a picture I snapped. Note the number of logos. Microsoft makes Internet Explorer, Office, and the XBox. All of the other logos belong to other companies.
Likewise, the products inside are mostly other people's. They just happen to run some version of Microsoft Windows. I hit the place at lunchtime. The opening was apparently well-attended, with freebie giveaways like Lenny Kravitz tickets and X-Boxes. By the time I got there, it was just loud music, too many mall security guards, and a lot of people passing by. No one was lining up to get in, but it looked like they had a fair number of people inside the store. But there was a jarring note: there seemed to be entirely too many paramilitary-uniformed private security officers hanging about, as though Microsoft were afraid overly-enthusiastic fans would lose control and rush the store. They needn't have worried.
Through the mall and across the street sits the gleaming three-story glass-fronted Apple store with its glass spiral staircase at its heart. There's nothing special going on today, but it was still bustling. When the Apple store opened in 2008, there was a news chopper overhead, satellite trucks for CBS, NBC, and Fox out front, and a line that stretched for several blocks.
Some folks are just cooler than others.
Microsoft has had money, but they've never had Apple's cachet for cool. Back in 1995, a huge extravaganza launched their OS built for the new World Wide Web: Windows 95. In Redmond, Washington, Microsoft covered acres with a mammoth white tent. Bill Gates' speech was simulcast to launch events in 43 other cities around the world. The Empire State Building was lit up with the Windows 95 logo. The logo was also painted on English fields so that it could be seen from the air. Polish reporters were taken down in a submarine to see "A world without windows." The Rolling Stones' song Start Me Up was the official launch song, though cynics pointed to the verse, "You make a grown man cry." Windows 95 had easier networking, and got rid of the 8.3 naming convention. It promised multimedia and better games and multitasking. The hype cost millions, but it was worth it. Even in staid Boston, techies lined up in the middle of the night to buy it.
To the best of my recollection, that was the last time that Microsoft was really cool. Face it - Microsoft makes a lot of the programs you love to hate. Windows comes installed on most of the computers sold in the world, both the good ones and the cheapest sub-optimal junk from Wal-Mart. Microsoft Office is the business standard, but it's bloated with far too many features and hobbled with confusing menu trees and options. Microsoft is now a stodgy megacorporation. Steve Ballmer might be a great administrator, but a rock star, he ain't.
Microsoft still longs to sit with the cool kids, though. Today in Boston, they opened a new Microsoft Store with lots of amplified rock and bright lights.
The store sits in the shopping mall that surrounds the base of Boston's Prudential Tower (the 52-story squarish building seen in all location shots of Beantown). The store itself has a lot of frontage but little depth. Much like the product line.
Here's a picture I snapped. Note the number of logos. Microsoft makes Internet Explorer, Office, and the XBox. All of the other logos belong to other companies.
Likewise, the products inside are mostly other people's. They just happen to run some version of Microsoft Windows. I hit the place at lunchtime. The opening was apparently well-attended, with freebie giveaways like Lenny Kravitz tickets and X-Boxes. By the time I got there, it was just loud music, too many mall security guards, and a lot of people passing by. No one was lining up to get in, but it looked like they had a fair number of people inside the store. But there was a jarring note: there seemed to be entirely too many paramilitary-uniformed private security officers hanging about, as though Microsoft were afraid overly-enthusiastic fans would lose control and rush the store. They needn't have worried.
Through the mall and across the street sits the gleaming three-story glass-fronted Apple store with its glass spiral staircase at its heart. There's nothing special going on today, but it was still bustling. When the Apple store opened in 2008, there was a news chopper overhead, satellite trucks for CBS, NBC, and Fox out front, and a line that stretched for several blocks.
Some folks are just cooler than others.