Musician Robert Fripp is probably today’s über-geek composer. One of my favorites, he works with electric guitars and tape loops to create lush soundscapes. His music is anything but raw — architectural, intellectual, spare… but not emotional.  Imagine my delight to learn that Fripp is the composer of the new sound schemes on Windows Vista! Long Zheng has written a very cool blog entry, including a media file comparing XP and Vista sounds.
I’m disappointed, though.
The new sounds, while very nice, are not Frippertronics. Their pedigree is simply not evident. Unbelievably, Microsoft has taken a very cool indie composer, and made his artistry into pablum.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Not unbelievable at all. When it comes to marketing, Microsoft is all about the pablum. Even when it attempts to do edgy marketing, it's safe-but-edgy.
This is still the same company that passed on the opportunity to put a version of the original Doom on the Windows 95 disc as a way of showcasing that OS's new gaming capabilities because it was worried the game was too violent.
{ 2 trackbacks }