It's Happy Hour!!!!!!!

Time to climb in your favorite bathtub, put on your best hat, and act like an asshole!!!!

"I'm not cool enough to be a Mac person"

Microsoft has decided that Apple has won. The Mac vs. PC spots that have become a part of pop culture set out to cement the conceit that PCs are not cool and Macs are. They didn't beat around the bush either. They concisely laid out their position and didn't pull any punches. 

A couple of years late, Microsoft decided to strike back with a baffling series of advertising messages that employed everyone from Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld to Pharrel Williams and a bunch of cute little kids. Their newest commercial is a lame version of a reality show/mini documentary where they're following a girl with very specific needs in a new computer.

This redheaded lady, ostensibly chosen because of her slightly geek-ish, unassuming look, desires a 17" laptop for under $1000 dollars. Hmm. How many people are looking for 17" monitor on their laptop (full disclosure: I'm writing this on a 10" HP Mini)? Well, typically those are going to be designers or video editors i.e. people that buy Macs. After we get the setup, the first place the girl goes to look is, shockingly enough, the Apple store. The next big shock is that Apple doesn't sell a 17" laptop for under $1000. In fact, they only have a 13" for that price. 

Then comes the big line, the "stinger" for Apple: "I guess I'm just not cool enough to be a Mac person." So the coolness quotient is directly tied to the amount of money you're willing to spend on a computer? The next obvious question: why would Microsoft directly support the claim that Apple has made for years?

Ah, that's because their operating system comes on cheaper computers. Its okay to not be cool if you're cheap. Am I right? 

Here's my problem with this whole strategy: if Microsoft wants to talk price, where it certainly has an advantage over Apple, why make it sound like you have to sacrifice being cool in order to save money? Why not address the only growing segment of computer sales (read the full disclosure above) and talk about netbooks? Why not have some cool kid who is looking for a cheap computer to get on Facebook and Twitter and do all the cool shit kids do on the web and say, "Hey, kid, here's a netbook with Windows running on it and its $300. How about that shit?"

Okay, that's enough I think. Back to watching Duke get manhandled in this game.

Sidetaker

http://www.sidetaker.com/index.php

I get in arguments on a daily basis. I fight with random strangers on the street. You think the new Kanye West album was shit? REALLY? I'll get in your face about it. No doubt.

Sidetaker gives my arguments (and your arguments) an audience. After both parties tell their sides of the story, the other users weigh in and tell you if you're right or massively in the wrong. They show this with comments and a nice graphic that lays out your level or wrongness (or rightness!) in percentage points.

If only all of our parents had this when we were younger :(

Quarantine: Infect Yourself!