What does it mean when you have to fake your customers into trying your product? You’d think that the most influential, powerful software company in the whole world would be able to promote it’s flagship product without resorting to tricks…

Basically Microsoft brought in a number of XP users to show them their new OS, code named “Mojave,” to get their opinion. Then, surprise, surprise, they were told that they’d been shown Vista, the OS they panned at the beginning of the sessions. My take-away from the video is that a lot of people formed a negative opinion about Vista without having tried the product. What the video doesn’t show was how much “hands-on” time the marks, er… I mean, customers are given with Vista. What I see is that these subjects had formed blind emotional opinions about the product and now believe otherwise based on a brief wiz-bang demo. If I was on the fence about Vista I don’t know that seeing these folks reverse their previously ill-informed opinion would help my decision. I mean, they were “wrong” the first time. I guess if I were buying a new PC I’d check out Vista but of greater concern is the idea that such a powerful company has to use trickery to get people to try their product. As before, none of this engenders any trust in me towards Microsoft or Vista. jbb

Music: She’s A Woman from the album “Anthology 2 (Disc 1 of 2)” by The Beatles

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