How Microsoft manages to make cool technology uncool

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In the past few weeks, Microsoft has managed to impress me, and impress me thrice. First with their campaign “Bring the love back” (link). Then they showed a new way of collecting meta data for photographs. And finally, they have a cool table-top computer in the works.

But then the old Microsoft factor jumped in. They just do not know marketing. When I visited their site, I was surprized how un-cool they managed to make their videos. Yes, they have a cool web-site, but the videos are just old-school; nicely made, but essentially boring. If I hadn’t seen the video from Popular Mechanics first, I wouldn’t have grasped how cool this thing really is. Worse yet, in the same week that Microsoft has the first public showing of this new Surface thing, everyone is talking about a mobile cell phone.

They have the means to pay for any type of ad strategy, but it seems that the problem is at the core of Microsoft. Stories are much more interesting than facts.

So, without further ado, a video that uses Microsoft footage with a new voice-over, putting the Surface computer into perspective: (via)
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