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Microsoft The Internet

Microsoft's Vista Blogger Quits 133

Posted by Zonk from the community-and-communication dept.
Preedit writes "Nick White, the in-house Microsoft blogger who wrote about all things Vista, has resigned. White is leaving Redmond to join the blog-centric marketing and public relations firm BuzzCorps. White did not provide a reason for his decision. InformationWeek, however, notes that his position could not have been easy. White's posts often elicited hundreds of responses from Vista users complaining about the OS's numerous glitches and quirks. The story further notes that White is the sort of young, blogosphere-savvy manager that Microsoft needs if it hopes to outrun Google, and his departure raises questions about the company's ability to retain Web 2.0 talent."
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Microsoft's Vista Blogger Quits More

Microsoft's Vista Blogger Quits

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  • Hyperbole (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lord Grey ( 463613 ) * on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:21PM (#22943868)

    The story further notes that White is the sort of young, blogosphere-savvy manager that Microsoft needs if it hopes to outrun Google, and his departure raises questions about the company's ability to retain Web 2.0 talent.
    Oh, please. Trying to assert that the resignation of one blog-savvy employee "questions the company's ability to retain Web 2.0 talent" is just sensationalism. Microsoft is doing a fine job of shooting itself in the foot, all by itself, without anyone publishing hyperbole.

    • Re:Hyperbole (Score:4, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:29PM (#22943960)
      Not only that, but the suggestion that Google will be outrun my MS if MS employs Blogosphere-savvy managers makes me, er, laugh (for lack of better words. Feel free to replace it.)

    • Re:Hyperbole (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Chabil Ha' ( 875116 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:29PM (#22943964)
      or not.

      FTFA:

      White's resignation is the latest in a string of key departures at Microsoft.

      Joanne Bradford, who was chief media officer for the company's MSN Media Network, resigned last month to join advertising startup Spot Runner. Bradford had also previously served as Microsoft's VP for sales and marketing and as chief media revenue officer.
      Information Weekly think they see a trend, so they're making an observation. Again FTFA:

      The departures highlight one of Microsoft's biggest challenges as a mature company: attracting and retaining Silicon Valley's top talent. In its early days, Microsoft could entice recruits with an entrepreneurial environment and stock options that eventually turned secretaries into millionaires.

      In 2008, however, it's hot Web 2.0 startups like Flickr and MySpace that can offer those kinds of perks and incentives.
      They're saying that MSFT is facing problems with retention because there are smaller fish offering big bucks for those willing to take on the risk, just like MSFT was back in the day. MSFT need to kick it up a notch to compete for labor because of the *many* departures in the past year.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by hostyle ( 773991 )
        A "media officer" and a blogger are hardly "Silicon Valley's top talent". Information Weekly sounds very bloggish to me (without having RTFA), and most bloggers worst crime is thinking that blogging is in some way important in the overall scheme of things. Not to say blogging is bad - some blogs are very relevant and full of useful information or insightful content - but teh vast majority are parasitic gnomes trying to rub shoulders with the few giants that do exist.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by Otter ( 3800 )
          In fairness, the article gives some more prominent examples, although I doubt that Jeff Raikes and Bill Gates are leaving in the hope of striking it rich at a Web 2.0 startup.
        • Blogging, as a profession, perhaps, but not as a role. I think the profession has a little ways to mature, but as we age inside the 'Web 2.0' era, I think it will take on the same prominence and prestige, that say, the anchorperson on the nightly news has. There will always be the pretenders, but there will also be the personalities that garner attention.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by TheRaven64 ( 641858 )

          Information Weekly sounds very bloggish to me
          My custom CSS appends '[TROLL WARNING]' in red to any InformationWeek article. Articles like this really don't encourage me to modify it.

        • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

          by rtb61 ( 674572 )
          What M$ needs are people that know, understand and that can defend the needs of the end user. The catch is, they either leave or get fired. M$ doesn't want to hear why some stupid idea that they forecast will make millions, will annoy a whole lot of customers and driving them away and end up costing millions instead

          Representing the customers view point is a lost cause at M$, which is why they struggle so badly in consumer products and lose money and fail when launching new consumer products.

          The lost to I

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by rohan972 ( 880586 )
          A "media officer" and a blogger are hardly "Silicon Valley's top talent".

          Marketing and PR are the core business for MS. Well engineered products can be bought, the PR machine must be internal.

      • In 2008, however, it's hot Web 2.0 startups like Flickr and MySpace that can offer those kinds of perks and incentives.
        No, in 2004 Flickr and MySpace were hot Web 2.0 startups. Now they are owned by multi-million dollar corporations and I'm pretty sure their secretaries aren't getting millions of stock options.

        Also, Web 2.0? wtf is that about? Didn't that buzzword die like two years ago? Is this publication for real?

    • Re:Hyperbole (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Kamokazi ( 1080091 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:30PM (#22943984)
      Not to mention the fact 'Web 2.0' is probably the stupidest and non-specific internet term used by mainstream media/marketing since 'blog'.
      • It's got a long way to go to beat "Netizen" or "Podcast".

        I assume you're disqualifying "Blogosphere" because it's derived from "Blog".

        • Re: (Score:2, Redundant)

          by cyphercell ( 843398 )
          My fellow Netizens we are Podcasting live on the Blogosphere. To bring you news regarding a meatspace event...
        • You forgot Podiobook - say it out loud.
        • No, I think Blogosphere is a great term! You have to speak French though, because 'blague' (pronounced the same) means 'joke', and that, in a nutshell, describes the blague-o-sphere.

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by radagenais ( 1261374 )
        Note to self: add "Web 2.0" keyword to resume.
        • I dunno about that. Round here HR is on a strict orders to hire anyone with "Web 2.0" on their resumes. But on the first day the security guards beat them to death with a spade and bury them under the flowerbeds out back.

    • Re:Hyperbole (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:41PM (#22944108)
      Microsoft is doing a fine job of shooting itself in the foot, all by itself, without anyone publishing hyperbole.

      I disagree. Microsoft have gotten so incompetent lately that they'd probably miss and shoot off an arm instead. While failing at failing might seem like a double negative, they seem to do it on such an unprecedented level that its more like 5 levels of failing. Maybe thats why Bill Gates ran off when he did.

    • Re:Hyperbole (Score:5, Funny)

      by Stanistani ( 808333 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:42PM (#22944132) Homepage Journal
      Microsoft will announce yesterday that his replacement is pop singer Pink.

      Pink is the new White.

      • Microsoft will announce yesterday that his replacement is pop singer Pink.

        Pink is the new White.
        And they'll use Google's new Custom time [google.com] feature to e-mail the announcement to the media yesterday.
    • Also I doubt that White was in any position to help lead or steer the company. Now if Apple lost Steve Jobs and his RDF, that would be cause for panic at Apple. The sales of tinfoil hats would be unimaginable.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Threni ( 635302 )
      > Microsoft is doing a fine job of shooting itself in the foot, all by itself, without anyone publishing hyperbole.

      They're also producing excellent products, such as Visual Studio (including C# and ASP.NET), SQL Server 2005 and Windows XP. Whether or not they employ someone who's into the time-wasting scene that is blogging is neither here nor there. Were that to be true then any number of klutz with a Geocities account would have wiped out Microsoft years ago.
      • Oops, meant to mod you insightful but I missed. Sorry about that. Posting to remove the moderation, and here we go filling the lameness filter blah blah....

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by mark99 ( 459508 )
      Mod this guy up. Microsoft has 80k people now. People come and go in a company of that size.

      I am sure they have tons of talent still, and there are lots of interesting jobs in and outside of Microsoft.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by __aaqvdr516 ( 975138 )
      Blah blah blah Web 2.0 blah blah blah blogger blah blah Vista blah blah Microsoft doomed. I think that about sums it all up, doesn't it?

  • No reason given? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eln ( 21727 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:24PM (#22943898)
    The guy was a marketroid who got payed to blog about stuff. I'm guessing the motivation is that his new company offered him a basketload of money to blog about something else, and he took it.

    Man finds new job, quits old one. News at 11.

    • Re:No reason given? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by paiute ( 550198 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @04:46PM (#22944866)
      You have to wonder about the workplace dynamics. People where I work sometimes get up a lottery pool when the prize is big. What happens in a small shop when half the workers hit the lottery? Do the other half offer congratulations but silently resent them? It would take inhuman strength not too. In the Microsoft cafeteria, there must be a lot of younger employees eating with people who have been there long enough to be much more wealthy than the new guys could ever hope to be - at that company, anyway. It isn't any surprise that most of the ones who didn't hit the MS lottery look elsewhere for theirs.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by just_another_sean ( 919159 )

      Man finds new job, quits old one. News at 11.
      I thought it was blog at 11:00 [slashdot.org] now?

  • "Web 2.0 talent" = Oxymoron? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by xxxJonBoyxxx ( 565205 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:25PM (#22943922)
    "Web 2.0 talent" = Oxymoron?

    C'mon - when was the last time writing anything that popped into your mind considered a "talent". Blogs...yeesh. I still can't figure out who has the time to read those things.

    • Re:"Web 2.0 talent" = Oxymoron? (Score:5, Funny)

      by peipas ( 809350 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:30PM (#22943974)
      I'm looking forward to Web 3.11 for Workgroups. (sigh) I miss Winsock.

    • Blogs...yeesh. I still can't figure out who has the time to read those things.

      You posted this on Slashdot? Which is a drumroll please.....
      Your post is modded insightful, not funny. I hope I'm not having a whoosh moment here.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Captain Splendid ( 673276 )
        I hope I'm not having a whoosh moment here.

        No, it's just fashionable to sneer at blogs here on /.

        It think it's the same group who claims they don't watch TV either. We can sneer right back at them for being elitist snobs, but we don't really care about that, we just wish they'd shut the fuck up. We heard 'em the first time.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by hansamurai ( 907719 )
      You know, Slashdot is virtually a blog. But I guess that supports your talent notion.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by SoupIsGoodFood_42 ( 521389 )
      I think you just proved their point. Many of the more innovative people in the IT industry see blogging as a good thing (if it's not a crap blog, of course). That you seem to think everyone who blogs is crap is a hang-up on your part and shows that you might be out of touch with life -- from a good employer's perspective.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pojut ( 1027544 )

      C'mon - when was the last time writing anything that popped into your mind considered a "talent". Blogs...yeesh. I still can't figure out who has the time to read those things.

      A perfect example is my website. I write about things that pop into my mind, however due to the nature of the website many people share the experiences of what I write about. Just yesterday someone from Slashdot began commenting on my blog and in my forums, stating his reason being that he is dealing with many of the things that I t

    • In fact I'd really love a Google feature that would let me search the web without blogs. Don't give them as results, don't factor in blog links to the rankings. I find that they are useless a good bit of the time, and worse than useless the rest.

      For example something that has happened to me a number of times: I'm trying to accomplish something with new software, or find information on it or something like that. I do a search, first result is something talking about what I want. Great, I follow the steps. No
    • --->Blogs...yeesh. I still can't figure out who has the time to read those things. And yet, you have time to post here.....

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by duggi ( 1114563 )

      Blogs...yeesh. I still can't figure out who has the Interest to read those things.

      There .. fixed that for ya. a little late though.

  • White did not provide a reason for his decision. InformationWeek, however, notes that his position could not have been easy. White's posts often elicited hundreds of responses from Vista users complaining about the OS's numerous glitches and quirks.

    What would shed more light on this is whether White had access to technical staff who could provide behind the scenes information and support when responding to these users. Further, whether these staff had an idea and an understanding of why it is important to respond to these users, and the Web 2.0 world, where two way interaction and many to many communication is the norm.

    If he was left out there in the cold on his own, it's no surprise he resigned.

  • You just know that Steve wants to throw a chair. Btw never read him.

  • Last one out - please close the lights.
  • Huhh? Web 2.0 talent?

  • New Vista-Bashing Blog (Score:5, Insightful)

    by lancejjj ( 924211 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:32PM (#22944012) Homepage
    It is tough being the public face of a company. One of my friends was the spokesman for a large aerospace company. He was always "on-call" and had to be familiar with a ton of information at his fingertips.

    In contrast, a blogging spokesperson sounds easy, as you can triple-verify everything through the tech staff, legal, and the upper echelons before publishing.

    I'd be quite surprised if he left due to anything related to Vista. Heck, MS paid him to support Vista, and I'm sure he will continue to do so under the principle of "never bash a former employer until you retire".

    Instead, I think he left for either an easier life and/or more money.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by andruk ( 1132557 )
      Funny, I would have left for an easier job. Blogging about Vista? C'mon.

      I've never had an easy time polishing a turd, I doubt this guy did either.
  • Oh my. Oh my. Oh my.

  • Top 5 least Glamorous Jobs (Score:4, Funny)

    by UberHoser ( 868520 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:34PM (#22944036)
    #5 Rest room cleaner for the Saints Stadium after Katrina.
    #4 Tank Ammo Tester (Think Bugs Bunny).
    #3 Amish Mechanic (What do you call a man with his arm up a horse's Ass?)
    #2 Thong Adjuster for Janet Reno. (Close your eyes and visualize it..AIEEEEEE)
    #1 Microsoft Pro Vista Blogger.

    Seriously, I wonder how long he had that job for. And now, how long will he need a shrink to regain his self esteem ?
  • So what I surmise is that if you get paid to do something, then what you do must take talent. Dang, my garbage man is really talented!

  • Web 3.0 (Score:2, Funny)

    by TTURabble ( 1164837 )
    his departure raises questions about the company's ability to retain Web 2.0 talent.

    No, you guys have it all wrong. White was "let go" so that Microsoft could bring in "fresher" Web 3.0 talent. God only knows what the next "Catch All" web term will be, and Microsoft has to be ready for it.
  • That word sounds like some type of intelligent hemmorhoid. It makes me want to punch babies.

    Anyways!

    Given the amount of crap he probably had to take on a daily basis I doubt I could blame him. I'll happy polish a turd if you pay me enough money, but it comes to a point where no amount of money can cover the mental stress from having to polish a turd and taking flack from the owners of that turd. I would not have been able to keep it up for as long as he did, polishing that turd. I hope he is happier

  • When I Hear The Word "Blogosphere" (Score:5, Funny)

    by MichaelCrawford ( 610140 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:42PM (#22944126) Homepage Journal
    ... I reach for my Browning automatic.

  • Maybe it was a question between:

    Tell the truth about Vista to people who already pretty much know it, or

    Toe the corporate line and continue to receive paychecks and promotions.

    Oh the pressure!

  • Job Opportunity! (Score:4, Funny)

    by AioKits ( 1235070 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @03:53PM (#22944274)
    I hear the US Military is hiring bloggers. >.>
  • ...Vista victim.
  • I'd be willing to wager that he got tired of getting paid to lie. Which is precisely the reason I will never again work for Microsoft or any of their sub-companies. I can take a lot of crap from an employer, but when they tell me to flat-out LIE to customers, that's when it's time to move on.

  • All hype or not, MS *does* need an image makeover (Score:5, Insightful)

    by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @04:03PM (#22944396) Journal
    Recent surveys indicate Microsoft's overall regard by college and university students has dropped over 40 points in relation to other, similar businesses since last year. Meanwhile, Apple was ranked #1 as having the most desirable image.

    Today's college and university students are tomorrow's tech. consumers, so it actually IS important to maintain a good image with them.

    Yes, paid corporate blogging and much of this other "Web 2.0" stuff is ultimately going to be shown to be more "fluff" than worthwhile pursuit. Still, sites like MySpace and Facebook are part of this "next generation of web apps", and by all counts, they DO succeed in keeping the attention of the younger computer-using audience. (History repeats itself, folks. Despite the nay-sayers who were USUALLY quite correct about all the stupid e-commerce ideas springing up all over during the .COM/.BOMB fiasco - survivors included Amazon and eBay. Both of those sites didn't do so bad for themselves, did they?)

    Microsoft just doesn't want to miss out again, if they ignore the wrong trend and it balloons into something huge....

    Right now, their image is really tarnished on many fronts, including the "red ring of death" issues with XBox 360's AND the choice of backing the wrong HD technology for DVDs, the whole Vista fiasco, and an overall perception that the latest updates to their products don't offer very much for the money. (I just don't see nearly the level of "excitement" over the Office 2007 release that I remember people having when, say, Office 2000 came out. Most people using it just seem to be doing so because it was bundled with a new computer system purchase, or they needed to buy it to be legal on a new PC that didn't come bundled with it. Many of these people are students who got a huge price break through their school.)

    Honestly, I think as much as people liked to bash Microsoft in the past, they often had a love/hate thing going on. It was difficult not to admire Bill Gates for his success, and/or for his willingness to donate to charities. People were really interested to see documentaries showing the inside of his mansion and so on. He generated a certain amount of "buzz" whenever he gave a speech to discuss his views on technology and ideas for the future. But now, Gates has pretty much retired and people like Steve Balmer are the new "figureheads". Who thinks of Balmer and thinks of anything positive?? He's often referred to as "monkey boy" and is best known for throwing chairs.

    • Recent surveys indicate Microsoft's overall regard by college and university students has dropped over 40 points in relation to other, similar businesses since last year. Meanwhile, Apple was ranked #1 as having the most desirable image.

      If those numbers are correct, that's really astonishing considering Apple doesn't do any of that Web 2.0 social media stuff. No blogging, no pre-release hyping of products, no pandering to the MySpace generation, nothing. If that sort of transparency and outreach were trul

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mugnyte ( 203225 )
        You may be surprised, but Apple has had forums, blogs, support circles, and design groups that act as "social networks" - for years prior to their web-title as such a thing. But they're in a different space from years of productivity:

        Drop into a graphic design firm, photographer, printer, game studio, music studio, or any of thousands of ancillary businesses. You'll find appleheads who have long since moved on from the "be my friend" webosphere to actually just using a computer as a tool in a netw
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Right now, their image is really tarnished on many fronts

      Repetition becomes tedious.

      But the Slashdot Geek seems to live within a bubble that no outside force can penetrate - without, of course, being modded down into oblivion.

      "But, frankly, Scarlet, I don't give a damn."

      Here are the links again, whether you like them or not:

      MS Office

      The Year of Office 2007 [microsoft-watch.com]
      Microsoft SharePoint taking business by storm [infoworld.com]

      "The "magnitude of Office sales relative to the rest of the PC software market" is phenomenal. It

  • Retaining talent & Microsoft's one unique abil (Score:5, Insightful)

    by elwinc ( 663074 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @04:11PM (#22944492)
    Back during the high tech bubble, you could make a pretty good bet that a job at Microsoft that included stock vesting privileges would make you a millionaire in about 5 years and set for life in 7. This allowed Microsoft to hire and keep some really talented coders and code managers.

    And Microsoft was sort of able to do one thing that no other company could really do. Microsoft was (more or less) able to build some really huge software projects in a few years. Such as WinNT/Win2000 and the Office suite. I'm not saying they were perfect, but they were good enough. And nobody else could execute projects on that scale.

    My reading of the (years late, mediocre) release of Vista is that Microsoft has lost that one unique ability. My guess is that the kind of coders that used to put in their 7 years at MS are now headed elsewhere, such as Google. And without that steady supply of top tier talent, MS can't innovate quickly. Regarding the loss of one PR flack, PFFFFFT!

    • Re:Retaining talent & Microsoft's one unique a (Score:4, Funny)

      by unlametheweak ( 1102159 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @08:24PM (#22947080)

      ... This allowed Microsoft to hire and keep some really talented coders and code managers... My guess is that the kind of coders that used to put in their 7 years at MS are now headed elsewhere, such as Google. And without that steady supply of top tier talent, MS can't innovate quickly.
      I have never applied for a job with Microsoft because I never thought I was good enough. Now that I hear that quality candidates are avoiding Microsoft for smaller fish, I am thinking about talking to a Microsoft recruiter. Since my coding skills are rather mediocre, I feel that I will now be a good fit as a Microsoft programmer. I'm certainly "Vista Capable" in terms of the quality of my coding skills.

      I only hope I can get a job here in Canada so that I don't have to go through the hassles of applying for a Visa to work in the US or India (where most Microsoft jobs are located).

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by JLennox ( 942693 )
      "Microsoft was (more or less) able to build some really huge software projects in a few years. Such as WinNT/Win2000 and the Office suite."

      Windows NT started development in 1989. There was more than a few years between then and Windows 2000's release.

  • It's confirmed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by qualidafial ( 967876 ) on Wednesday April 02, 2008 @04:13PM (#22944518) Homepage
    This story is certified Buzzword-Compliant (R).
  • Making a big story out of his resignation (not to mention saying it hurts Microsoft) is stupid.
  • I see that he did this so that he will have a way to monitor the blog posters and "censor" the bad stuff about Vista on behalf of Microsoft.

    If you can't beat them join them and subvert them like done with the ISO cert on OOXML.

    Doesn't surprise me a bit IMHO.
  • He said he was leaving Infoworld to go work at Microsoft in this week's column, but nobody believed him.
  • After a massive, high-pressure project, isn't a certain amount of turnover expected? No matter what the outcome, I'd think. Some folks burn out, or just get tired of it. Maybe they feel like they took too much of the blame (or someone else the credit), or now that the project is over the new day-to-day tasks (or new projects) don't interest them the same way. Also, they've added to their resume, and might be very desirable to other employers.

  • Please......... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Vamman ( 1156411 )
    I had to comment on this one. The guy posts blogs. Are you saying Web 2.0 (aka blog spotter) is more important than a .NET savy desktop engineer =) Also not to mention this but has anyone noticed all of the people leaving Google? Lets compare a blogger leaving to the CIO of the company?
  • I was not aware that the web have a production cycle. Where can I buy the latest version of the web or can I sign up for beta testing of Web 1.90c? I am also worried that my Web 1.0 won't be compatible with Web 2.0 when it comes out. Will Microsoft release a patch to update my web? Help me Slashdot Web Gurus. Enough with this "Web 2.0" crap. Is this even a real designation? I have even heard of "Web 3.0" being bandied around by the same people who use words like "leveraging", "paradigm-shift" and "synergy".

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Tatsh ( 893946 )
      When I read Web 2.0 in the description, I had total disregard for this entire post.
  • I met him at Vista event in Beijing. Quite nice person. Even Vista evangelism is a hard job, he did it well on communication with community.
    • I guess he just ran out of good things to say?

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by markpeak ( 1039366 )
        He didn't pretend to say something like "Vista has no flaw" or "Vista is perfect OS" but the way he talk is "Ok, I will forward this [problem|request] to the [xxx] team". That's quite nice in Microsoft Empire.
  • After all, in his own words (taken from http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/31/why-were-suing-facebook-for-25-million-in-statutory-damages/ [techcrunch.com]):

    My own personal brand has risen over the years as well to the point where I believe I can say without hubris that I am a very important person. Forbes recently named me No. 2 on their list of web celebrities, for example, and Business Week says Im one of the 25 most influential people on the web. Ive also appeared in numerous JibJab videos.

  • the tar and feathers wasn't a fashion statement?
  • When companies start renting bloggers to do product promos, it's pretty obvious.

    The biggest red flags for a grossly over-hyped or down-reigh bogus product is when people or companies start derscibing a product with words like:

    "Paradigm shift"
    "Revolutionary"
    "Breakthrough"
    "Cutting edge"
    "Sweeping the nation"
    "As seen on T.V."
    "Endorsed by (insert celebrity)"
    "Patented"
    "Patent-pending"
    "As seen in (insert magazine)"
    "Space Age"
    "("customer" testimony dripping with praise)"
    "Technology"
    "All new"
    "Natural"
    "Regrows hair"
    "
  • Nothing to see here. Throwing in a towel is nothing like throwing a chair.
  • I guess this puts more pressure on their Web 1.0 talent.
  • Microsoft hired a former Iraqi Information Minister as its new Vista blogger.

  • I call BS (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Luscious868 ( 679143 ) on Thursday April 03, 2008 @10:35AM (#22951966)

    I call BS. Microsoft has no business competing with Google in the first place. Microsoft software sucks because the company has become so bloated and the bureaucracy is so big that it's impossible to do anything innovative. Microsoft should focus on what made it such a success in the first place. Operating systems, it's suite of server software and Office on the desktop. Vista is a fucking disaster of epic proportions.

    If Microsoft stopped trying to compete with every big tech company out there, eliminated the bureaucracy and spent all of that cash on R&D for the core software that it sells, it might actually be able to produce a half way decent operating system.

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