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September 21, 2005
Alright, let's do this
I'm too busy for this. I don't have the effing time to go around spreading my opinion on issues of computing, software, design, etc. There are so many pressing matters I should be tending to...but I need to vent.
DON'T WATCH THIS MICROSOFT PROPAGANDA VIDEO
Or watch it, at your own discretion. So Microsoft has been doing this thing lately where they send out this guy to interview developers on Microsoft's various projects. The videos are generally somewhat boring...most of the time it's just a bunch of guys sitting around in a room acting really geeky and talking about software (which resembles my life a little too clearly, but at least we have a few women around).
What I learned today, however, is that these "uncut" movies are actually a clever ploy by Microsoft to try to earn back its much needed core of amateur software developers (or professional ones who don't like to develop for Microsoft). How did I learn this? Well, if you pay close attention, you'll notice that the videos are actually cut together to say exactly the types of things the people at Microsoft want you to hear.
For example, the video linked above is a visit to the Hotmail team, who has been busy creating the new version of Hotmail, codenamed "Kahuna." The guy behind the camera asks the question, "So, does this work on browsers other than IE?" Answer: "Yeah, we're developing for IE 5.5.96###, because that's our biggest user group"--CUT!!!-- Next we see a guy explaining a new feature. It's nice to know there's some honest reporting going on out there.
The other thing that really upsets me is that at the beginning of the video one of the developers describes how they went in to a room and tried to rethink email on the web. They weren't trying to build a system like the old Hotmail, or any other mail software. Creativity is a great thing. They had an outstanding opportunity here...but they failed. When they actually showed the demo of the new Hotmail, it looked exactly like MS Outlook. WTF Microsoft!!!??? That's what you get when you tried to be creative? Something's wrong with that picture. I wonder if they even tried talking to users...
Posted at September 21, 2005 05:30 PM
Comments
Dude... OMGWTFMS...
Shenanigans...
Posted by: Justin Donaldson at September 21, 2005 07:30 PM
Hot damn the cameraman is annoying. Kind of like that crazy faux-amateur porn technique that seems to be all the rage these days. Oh I shouldn't have said that. ;-)
So yeah, it's a kind of hybrid-OWA/Outlook/Hotmail repacked into an AJAX interface. Interesting, but Google beat them to the punch, I think.
Much more interesting is the new Office 12 video: here.
Now I really like what Microsoft is doing here. It looks like they've done their homework and have some great ideas. Unfortunate that MS is getting a lot of flack over their new UI, but I can't wait to play with it.
Posted by: Ryan Varick at September 21, 2005 09:33 PM