Want to see how Microsoft views the world in 10 years?  Check out this amazing compilation video that was previewed at the Wharton Business Technology Conference courtesy of Microsoft Labs (if in RSS, click through to see):

If you visit the Microsoft Labs, you can also see longer videos for:

• Retail Future Vision (featured below)
• Manufacturing Future Vision
• Banking Future Vision
• Health Future Vision

Thanks to the FEED: Digital Design Blog for the lead

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• Microsoft 2019 (blogs.msdn.com)
• A Glimpse into the Future with Microsoft. If they pull this off, I’m a future PC [video] (thenextweb.com)
• Vision of the future according to Microsoft (jkontherun.com)

It seems to be Microsoft day here on Hard Knox Life, but they just made a key new hire that should be getting a lot more attention than it is.  According to the folks at ReadWriteWeb, Microsoft Research has hired danah boyd, who is probably the most famous academic in the world focused on youth and social networks.  As RWW points out, the hire is important because “If Microsoft is going to be relevant to the next generation of computer users, who better to pay attention to than the leading expert on how the next generation is using social networks?”

danah hit the radar of most folks when she published that kids were moving from MySpace to Facebook.  As danah wrote somewhat controversially in her research:

“The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other ‘good’ kids are now going to Facebook. …MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, ‘burnouts,’ ‘alternative kids,’ ‘art fags,’ punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn’t play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm.”

I have been following danah’s work for quite some time, largely thanks to the frequent coverage she gets on Ypulse.  She is truly one of the sharpest minds in understanding youth and how their use of social technology will transform culture and business.  It is going to be really exciting to see the impact danah makes at shaping the future vision of Microsoft and their view of the social web.

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• Research on Social Network Sites – Dana Boyd

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkZdkHylJ3w]

As you would expect, all the Apple Fanboys are hating on the new “I’m a PC” campaign from Microsoft.  In particular, bloggers are pouncing on the fact that the ad was likely created using a Mac.  In my opinion, this is just another example of Alan Wolk’s NASCAR Blindness where the left leaning, Mac loving writers of the online world completely miss the point because they have their blinders on.

The fact is, this new campaign is pretty clever for Middle America

Let me start by making some assumptions based on my experiences in the Mac vs PC debate.

1. Apple’s most passionate Brand Advocates seem to be concentrated on the East and West Coast, especially in cities like New York and San Francisco.
2. These Apple Fan Boys (and Girls) are more likely to be in a creative line of work (like advertising)
3. They are reading media in places like the New York Times, where Apple has gotten so much praise for their “I’m a Mac” rich media buys.
4. Apple celebrates their “trendiness” and the fact they are “cooler” than PC users.

So given these facts, I think the “I’m a PC” campaign is a brilliant move by Microsoft to shore up Middle America.  Put yourself in the shoes of a Microsoft Brand Manager.  You recognize the above assumptions but realize that the do not describe the majority of America.  Just as important, you realize that a lot of people might find Apple and their smarky spokesman Justin Long just a little too smug.  And finally you recognize that in this time of political division and economic uncertainty, people might appreciate advertising that does not play up stereotypes.

The new Microsoft ads work because they focus on what brings us together instead of what sets us apart. They work because they call out that most of us “are not what you call hip”… nor do we want to be.  They work because they show that PC users are not about stereotypes and looking down on others.  And they work because they are funny with things like “I turn #2 into energy” or “I’m a PC and I sell fish.”

My girlfriend Cindy summed it up best when she saw the ad during NFL football on Sunday.  She said, “now that’s an ad for someone that thinks its stupid to spend $3,000 on a Mac just because its cool.”  Enough said.

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So apparently I am little slow on picking this up, but I heard about the story of Nathaniel, a passionate Xbox gamer who suffered a serious loss when he sent his Xbox 360 into Microsoft for repair.  You can read the whole story here, including the amazing response by Bungie Studios (Makers of Halo) and the equally cool response by Microsoft.  The short of it is that Microsoft suffered a major breakdown in Customer Service 101 by making a promise and then not living it up to it.  However, thanks to the power of blogs and the connected economy, they redeemed themselves and then some.

Now this story really rang true to me because of my own bad experience with Microsoft customer support.  (more…)

Lots of talk this morning about AOL buying Bebo for $850MM.  My favorite post was over at Silicon Alley Insider where they made a comparison of the per user cost of Bebo versus other deals.  Here is the snapsot:

News Corp (NWS)/MySpace deal, July 2005: $580 million, or $21.80 for each of the network’s 27 million uniques.

Hi-Media/Fotolog, August 2007: $90 million, or $9 for each of the network’s 10 million members.

Microsoft (MSFT)/Facebook, October 2007: MSFT invests $240 million at a valuation of $15 billion, or $300 for each of the network’s 50 million members.

Everyone knows that News Corp made a steal when they bought MySpace back in 2005.  Could it be AOL (the most unlikely of companies) made a similiar deal for what is essentially the MySpace of the UK? 

 UPDATE:  A couple of numbers show the deal was pretty pricey and caused others to pass:  “Bebo’s revenues for 2006 were only $7 million with $3 million in EBITDA…In 2007, the results are still small, with $20 million in revenues and $5 million in EBITDA. Based on these numbers, AOL (NYSE: TWX) paid a huge 42.5 times revenues and 160 times EBITDA. Even looking at projected numbers (which of course may or may not materialize)–$50 million in revenue and $10 million in EBITDA in 2008; $117 million in revenue and $48 million in revenue in 2009 and $193 million in revenue and $92 million in EBITDA in 2010.”