Vista — I Love It
Personally, I’m diggin’ the Vista name. Scoble’s brother didn’t like it, but I think it works. Why? Allow me to explain.
Why did Windows 98 work? Because that was the year it was released. Same for 95 and 2000. But, by naming their next version of the OS "Vista", Microsoft really is breaking a mold; their own. We’ve seen their love for the two-letter acronym (NT, ME, XP) — all great names. But, I think breaking the naming conventions they’ve had, they are going to be able to do a whole lot more in terms of marketing the product.
It’s true, Hugh does not care for it either. His argument is a great one: Microsoft should stop being bland. I think though, they have (reference points above). However, staying with this notion, I don’t think that by following the current cutting-edge of PR and Marketing techniques, Microsoft would get any further than by simply doing what Hugh says will fault them in the end:
Now all you need is some uninspired-but-really-expensive Madison Avenue ad campaign (e.g. "What do you want your Vista to see?") just to seal the deal. With an RSS-free, Flash-intro fake blog designed by a hotnewyorkcreativeshop. Rock on.
This isn’t a bad way to go about it. Don’t get me wrong, because I totally see where he is coming from. I just think the mass market will still respond to this better than a direct RSS-feed / blog, "hip", "trendy" approach at the present time. How many middle-aged, beginner-to-advanced computer users (that Microsoft would die to have upgrade to Vista upon its release) are aggregating RSS feeds? I realize the numbers are growing, but it won’t touch as many right now as dangling a huge "buy me" banner from Trump Plaza, or having Gates pound the pavement. That’s just me.
Now, on the flip side, having Gates start a blog that would run from now until Vista’s release, talking about his daily activities geared around it would get some attention.
