Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

We would like to welcome Bryan Glanzberg back from London. He will contribute The Water Cooler every Monday, a column that bridges the gap between technology and business. Evan Cabat will still be with us reporting on new tech IPOs and other business news as it pops throughout the week.

NEW, BOLD, EXCITING…all are words overly used by marketers these days.  Microsoft has unveiled their WMP11 for Windows XP in an attempt to regain market share from the dominant iTunes software from Apple.  I don’t know about all of you, but I just don’t get it…if you want to gain market share, make a product that is INNOVATIVE, not designed very similar to Apple’s platform. There is such a thing called market research and Microsoft makes a big effort to collects lots of data (with or without our discretion) on what customers like and dislike about the platform that they are using.  In my opinion, the reason why Microsoft has been so stagnant lately is because they are too busy trying to catch up to Apple’s advancements in their GUI and software applications. 

To me, Windows Vista seems like a Mac OSX platform…there is actually a mock of Bill Gates video on the internet showing what Vista looks like, but its actually a Mac GUI and you honestly can’t tell the difference.  NEW, BOLD and EXCITING are words of today, but they should be tossed.  Innovation is what is going to drive interest as long as it is aligned with consumer preferences.  Someone over at Microsoft needs to build on all this data that they have and spark some interest for newer products.  I honestly don’t remember the last big risk Microsoft has taken in order to gain more market share. 

This was written during Bryan’s final days from his hotdesk in London (not cubicle because apparently that is the same thing as a bathroom stall).

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