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The Next Microsoft

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Re: The Next Microsoft

#341

Post by brsim »

ekianjo wrote: post #319
brsim wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Xbox user interface has been changing to look similar to the new "Windows 8 style" recently. I think you could easily take one of the proposed "Slate" images, duplicate and flip it, then overlay it over the original to make an "X" shape. That would create a nice fresh brand image for the next generation of xbox's and fit in with the proposed brand redesign as a whole.

Yeah but why was it not even mentioned in the whole brand redesign ? Xbox is clearly NOT a windows branded product, it stands on its own and should have been part of the "New Microsoft" brand image.

I agree the Xbox brand should stand separate of Windows overall. The author did show an image of the Xbox + Kinekt at the beginning but focused on showing the new branding on a laptop later. Perhaps he simply ran out of time or thought it would be obvious that the same branding would be used?

Re: The Next Microsoft

#342

Post by asciilifeform »

wilfra wrote: post #273
josteink wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am unwilling to speculate or suggest that Paul and the unknown moderators act on content or people in the name of financial benefit Hence why I qualified that statement with "if I didn't know better". :) I guess the cult of Apple is just particularly strong here. Arguing against current Apple cult is sort of like arguing for Microsoft in Linux IRC-channels back in the days. You just cannot expect fair treatment of…

One way to look at it is that arguing against the 'hivemind' is not tolerated. Having run several communities myself, I offer the counterpoint: People arguing against the crowd, even when the crowd is wrong, usually manifests itself as what appears to moderators to be trolling. When action is taken it is far less often about whether or not the content is accurate and far more often (i.e. nearly always) about whether…

My experience with this:

http://www.loper-os.org/wp-content/killed.png

http://www.loper-os.org/?p=91

Anyone who sets the sheeple a-bleating is labeled a "troll."

Re: The Next Microsoft

#343

Post by loup-vaillant »

drostie wrote: post #338
loup-vaillant wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, as an avid LessWrong Lurker, I can share my first impressions: Religion: does it have any basis in reality? That's a real question, as I know of a religion that does: copyism¹. Also Note that LessWrong did come up with a winter solstice ritual. Post modernism: as far as I know, this is just confusion. Even if it's all in our heads, well, that's how the world works . Anyway, it empirically seems that magical thin…

I dunno. "Does it have any basis in reality" sounds somewhat bizarre. Think of points in the board game Settlers of Catan (or choose your favourite): do they have any "basis in reality"? In some ways yes, in most ways no; and in any case there is something seriously wrong with the person who sees the points in the game as belonging to the material world, rather than belonging to a social field of interactions. Religi…

"Basis in reality" was poor wording. A better question would be "what is the evidence for the factual claims of your religion?". That's the base line.

> Religions are about authentic living, meaningfulness, mindfulness, and reminding yourself with ritual of that which is most important.

Sounds both compatible with a correct vision of the world, and a worthy goal. So far, I'm not scared away. I will be if you suddenly require me to believe things that I deem too improbable, though (canonical example: a supernatural God).

My point is, I do not reject the idea of a true religion. It may be dangerous, but it may be worthwhile. It just have to acknowledge powerful truth-seeking processes, like Science, and update accordingly. I do think however that mos current religions are hopelessly false.

Re: The Next Microsoft

#344

Post by mturmon »

cdcarter wrote: post #236
blhack wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you allowed to give your students assignments that involve redesigning existing brands? I did not go to school for design, so I really have no idea if this is allowed, but what would happen if you told the students that their assignment was to create an ad for Nike? I'd jump at something like that.

It's, in fact, fairly common. Some companies even go so far as to ally with the AAF and other organizations for national competitions.

Here's some example student projects from a leading design school:

http://www.artcenter.edu/accd/gallery.jsp

Refresh a couple times to see more. Many are commercial, and some of those are for established brands.

Re: The Next Microsoft

#345

Post by nsfyn55 »

This is the same uninspired crap that Microsoft always puts out. M$'s problem is not their marketing its their leadership. They keep making superficially changes and marketing them as huge leaps. XP-->Windows 7 = some gui changes. I launch the system program and tada its exactly the same as it was in Windows 98. The most innovrative thing they've announced in a long time is locking down your install completely to prevent install of unsigned software. Apple makes new products. Google takes real risks to change the way things are done. Microsoft is way to risk averse for the space they are trying to play in.

Step one to a good rebranding effort. Change what it is your selling. You can rebrand a turd as a chocolate lollipop and expect me to drop what I'm doing to rush to the candy store.

Re: The Next Microsoft

#346

Post by tatsuke95 »

mattdeboard wrote: post #336
jsprink_banned wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quietly ignoring the final two paragraphs of my original comment since you have nothing to contribute, and are instead attempting to undermine my contribution with a pithy, underhanded dose of snark, aren't you? (The irony is that you unintentionally reinforced my point, so, thanks!) Hacker News is far too full of comments such as these, and I can loosely translate them all: I'm completely unprepared for this convers…

You do a great job of undermining your own point. "Hacker News is so full of bullshit! It sucks! Let me spend 4500 calories and six hours trying to convince you of this!" Ok.

Why criticize someone for putting time and effort into communicating a message on a forum that thrives on people putting time and effort into communicating messages?

Re: The Next Microsoft

#347

Post by xmmx »

alexirobbins wrote: post #281
nhashem wrote: post #95

We could debate whether this would "work" on a practical level as if this was a Powerpoint presentation for Steve Ballmer and we're supposed to predict how he'd react. But I'm really just finding myself appreciating the "space/science fiction" metaphor for technology. Steve Jobs has often quoted Apple as "advancing the human race." I feel like this takes it to the next level. I felt myself wanting this company to exi…

The "slate" logo is okay. The promise of delivering the future is brilliant. I had the same exact reaction to it - there needs to be a multi-billion dollar company devoted to this philosophy! I think microsoft is in a unique position to become this company - they suck right now and they have the resources. I also think Ballmer probably will see this. I bet he'll see it and he'll like it, but worry that it's too big o…

Just curious. If microsoft decided they really liked this concept, could they legally use it since the artist made this 'for microsoft'? Or would the artist be able to demand $5m in commissions before microsoft can use this design?

Re: The Next Microsoft

#348

Post by smacktoward »

commandar wrote: post #331
idspispopd wrote: post #324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They certainly are boring. The problem is that they have had high moments in the past which is what this designer is competing with. They should take a brand that has always been boring and make it shine.

>The problem is that they have had high moments in the past which is what this designer is competing with. When? I'm asking that seriously. They've always been pervasive, but I can remember at least as far back as the late DOS/Win 3.11 era, and I can't recall any point in that span where they've been a "cool" brand. The Xbox is about the closest thing I can think of, but that's always felt like some weird thing Micro…

People lined up at stores at midnight to buy Windows 95 when it came out.

Seriously! They did! http://www.businessinsider.com/15-years-ago-today-windows-95...

Re: The Next Microsoft

#350

Post by SonicSoul »

potatolicious wrote: post #141
blhack wrote: post #73

Dear everybody, Are you paying attention? This is how you build a portfolio. Did microsoft ask this person to do this? No. But he did it, and it's brilliant, and now he can put it in his portfolio under "speculative work". And then he gets a job doing this. I can't tell you how many people I talk to (I live in a college town, and frequently go to bars and strike up conversations with people) who just finished, or are…

This can go either way. Remember when dcurtis did a unsolicited spec redesign for the American Airlines website? We here at HN tore him a new one (justifiably so, it ignored so many critical aspects of the business, and came off as entirely impractical). When you do something like this, you better be sure you nail every single angle of it. FWIW, I normally hate spec redesigns - they're usually positioned in a pompous…

still a win/win for the designer. he got the critical eye and lots of feedback from some of the smartest people in tech.
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