Posts from — September 2008

Daniel Eran Dilger
Poor Microsoft. In its efforts to ‘embrace and extend’ Apple’s Get a Mac advertising for its own purposes, it has only managed to funnel $300 million into Mac brand awareness. Here’s why Microsoft’s latest “I’m a PC” campaign is such an epic fail.

Microsoft $300 Million Ads
Microsoft’s Mojave Attempts to Wet Vista’s Desert
Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment Exposes Serious Vista Problems
Paul Thurrott calls Apple “the Bad Guys” of Microsoft’s $300 Million Ads
Gates, Seinfeld and the $300 Million Ad to Nowhere
Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign tumbles with new PC ads
Microsoft’s “Windows vs Walls” Ad Tries to Think Different, Fails
Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” Millions Actually Promoting the Mac
Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ Campaign Keeps Getting Stranger (With Videos)
I’m a PC too… touché
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
Over the last century, a pattern of exaggerated economic downturns related to corruption and fraud in the market and in banking has repeated at regular intervals. Here’s the historical context of what’s happening today with Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.
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Daniel Eran Dilger
Part of Microsoft’s new campaign to spend $300 million in damage control for the Windows brand is the new “Windows vs. Walls” ad, which seeks to lift the message of Apple’s “Think Different” ads from ten years ago and apply the same sentiment to its own product.

Microsoft $300 Million Ads
Microsoft’s Mojave Attempts to Wet Vista’s Desert
Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment Exposes Serious Vista Problems
Paul Thurrott calls Apple “the Bad Guys” of Microsoft’s $300 Million Ads
Gates, Seinfeld and the $300 Million Ad to Nowhere
Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign tumbles with new PC ads
Microsoft’s “Windows vs Walls” Ad Tries to Think Different, Fails
Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” Millions Actually Promoting the Mac
Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ Campaign Keeps Getting Stranger (With Videos)
I’m a PC too… touché
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
After dumping its $10 million contract with Jerry Seinfeld after just three ads (only two of which even aired) Microsoft has created new ad copy where regular people and a few celebrities say, “I’m a PC!” One problem with the campaign’s credibility: the ad work was created using Macs.

Microsoft $300 Million Ads
Microsoft’s Mojave Attempts to Wet Vista’s Desert
Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment Exposes Serious Vista Problems
Paul Thurrott calls Apple “the Bad Guys” of Microsoft’s $300 Million Ads
Gates, Seinfeld and the $300 Million Ad to Nowhere
Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign tumbles with new PC ads
Microsoft’s “Windows vs Walls” Ad Tries to Think Different, Fails
Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” Millions Actually Promoting the Mac
Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ Campaign Keeps Getting Stranger (With Videos)
I’m a PC too… touché
[Read more →]

Prince McLean, AppleInsider
Last night, Apple’s WebKit group announced the new SquirrelFish Extreme, a major new retooling of the SquirrelFish JavaScript engine originally announced in June. The update comes before SquirrelFish even had the time to make it into production versions of Safari.
SquirrelFish Extreme promises to speed JavaScript in Safari 4.0
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
When I point out facts that some people find objectionable, they typically respond by calling me a one-sided partisan with a limited perspective. To offer some balance in perspective, here’s a look at what prominent Republicans and conservative thinkers have to say about Barak Obama and the John McCain/Sarah Palin campaign.
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Prince McLean, AppleInsider
Microsoft’s bizarre campaign to turn $300,000,000 into a marketing message took an even stranger turn Thursday with the airing of the company’s latest television commercial: “I’m a PC.”

Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign tumbles with new PC ads

Microsoft $300 Million Ads
Microsoft’s Mojave Attempts to Wet Vista’s Desert
Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment Exposes Serious Vista Problems
Paul Thurrott calls Apple “the Bad Guys” of Microsoft’s $300 Million Ads
Gates, Seinfeld and the $300 Million Ad to Nowhere
Microsoft’s $300 million ad campaign tumbles with new PC ads
Microsoft’s “Windows vs Walls” Ad Tries to Think Different, Fails
Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” Millions Actually Promoting the Mac
Microsoft’s ‘I’m a PC’ Campaign Keeps Getting Stranger (With Videos)
I’m a PC too… touché [Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
Supporters of the Bush administration like to say that there have been no terrorist attacks on US soil since the tragedy of September 11, 2001, suggesting that President Bush has kept the country safe from terrorism. What they forget is that Osama Bin Laden clearly outlined his strategy for battling America, not by flying more planes into new buildings, but by driving the US into bankruptcy.
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
After initially dismissing the notion that Apple could ever break its way past entrenched rivals and make any significant impact on the smartphone industry, tech pundits are now aghast that Apple is running its business the way its executives see fit. Critics charge that the iPhone and its mobile software store amount to a monopoly and a restriction of free trade. They’re wrong, here’s why.

Apple and the New Software Market
How Apple Is Changing the PC Software World… Back
iPhone Apps Store Growing Twice as Fast as iTunes Music
The Other iPhone Apps Store
SDK 3.3.3: The iPhone Podcaster Surprise Myth
Banned iPhone Apps and the John Gruber Podcaster Defense
The iPhone Monopoly Myth
[Read more →]

Prince McLean, AppleInsider
Adobe next week will unveil Creative Suite 4, a new version of its media design bundle set to ship the following month with features such as enhanced options for working with 3D objects in Photoshop, new Flash document exports from within InDesign, and a new animation model for Flash, AppleInsider has learned.

AppleInsider | Adobe Creative Suite 4 details emerge

Daniel Eran Dilger
Following up on the ‘SDK 3.3.3: the iPhone Podcaster Surprise Myth,’ here’s why Apple refused to list Podcaster. If you’ve read the previous article, this version will be largely identical.

Apple and the New Software Market
How Apple Is Changing the PC Software World… Back
iPhone Apps Store Growing Twice as Fast as iTunes Music
The Other iPhone Apps Store
SDK 3.3.3: The iPhone Podcaster Surprise Myth
Banned iPhone Apps and the John Gruber Podcaster Defense
The iPhone Monopoly Myth
[Read more →]

Daniel Eran Dilger
There’s a mantra being repeated in the US: “Drill here, drill now, get oil prices lower and then invest the money in alternative energy!” The problem: drilling in the US will have no meaningful impact on oil prices, and oil companies have no vested interest in changing anything.

Architecture 2030 E-news
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Daniel Eran Dilger
John Gruber’s Daring Fireball says the clearly articulated iPhone SDK limitations are completely unrelated to the the circumstances of the Podcaster app being denied from the iPhone App Store, and that it is therefore really no different than Evernote or AOL Radio. He’s wrong, here’s why.

Apple and the New Software Market
How Apple Is Changing the PC Software World… Back
iPhone Apps Store Growing Twice as Fast as iTunes Music
The Other iPhone Apps Store
SDK 3.3.3: The iPhone Podcaster Surprise Myth
Banned iPhone Apps and the John Gruber Podcaster Defense
The iPhone Monopoly Myth
[Read more →]

Prince McLean, AppleInsider
For its third anniversary, the highly portable 4G iPod nano gets a new tall and slim design, Genius Playlists, audio recording and other new software features, twice the storage at the same price, and a new array of colors. It continues to offer high quality audio, and plays video games, podcasts, TV and movie downloads, and movie rentals. Apple still refuses to give it a capital n, however.

AppleInsider | Review: Apple’s fourth-generation iPod nano

Daniel Eran Dilger
According to a growing swell of supposedly outraged developers, the creator of the Podcaster app had no warning that Apple might restrict the app from the iPhone App Store because there are no clear guidelines about what apps might be rejected or why. They’re wrong, here’s why.

Apple and the New Software Market
How Apple Is Changing the PC Software World… Back
iPhone Apps Store Growing Twice as Fast as iTunes Music
The Other iPhone Apps Store
SDK 3.3.3: The iPhone Podcaster Surprise Myth
Banned iPhone Apps and the John Gruber Podcaster Defense
The iPhone Monopoly Myth
[Read more →]