Today is the final day for another Microsoft cornerstone - Windows XP. Following the retirement of Bill Gates last Friday, today will be the last day for the retail sale of the 7.5 year old operating system. The retirement of the OS is of no surprise as we were all informed this time last year about their product development plans. Of interest to me is the groundswell of consumers voicing their opinion in an effort to persuade the software giant to keep Windows available on the shelves and as the OS of choice for their OEM PC purchases. On June 27th, the editor of InfoWorld delivered a petition signed by more than 210,000 users to Steve Ballmer asking him to consider extending the retirement of XP until the next OS, Windows 7, is released in January. The YouTube video below has had almost as many views as those that signed the petition. The endorsement of a media driven petition is a significant statement and certainly has the power of other media to amplify the message. However, the 19 year old U.K. Videoblogger authentically and passionately voices the corporate and consumer rejection of Vista. Perhaps Ballmer should have considered the consumer in this decision or the most vocal of them in this collection of almost 3,000 UGC posts of authority voicing their opinion to save Windows XP before investing $200 million in a new advertising campaign to promote the joys of integrated Windows platforms - FTP168 - Free the People 168 (24 x 7 = 168?). In a technology world that has moved to open source and software as a service (SaaS) brands must take a consumer centric approach to their marketing and overall business decisions. For reference - The Cluetrain Manifesto was published 10 years ago - the people have been speaking and some business have been listening. In the case of Windows XP how many of the 95 theses do you think apply?
Jun 30
Jun 28
My wife, Pamela Sellers, of CNN had the privilege of interviewing Vint Cerf and others at the Personal Democracy Forum this week. Here is the interview as he discusses Internet for Everyone:
Jun 27
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