Hurricane Ike and MotoGP at Indy

My brother and I were fortunate enough to fly out to Indianapolis to see the MotoGP. The remnants of Tropical Storm Ike made things a lot more interesting than we anticipated. Basically, it was three days of torrential rain. So in many ways, it was a unique experience, beyond the historic build-up about motorcycles racing for the first time since 1909 at Indy.

First, the weather, where we later saw the local weather man showing the center of Ike going over the city, and the racetrack. I was not surprised, because on race day, the winds changed 180 degrees from the 125s to the 800s. It was very dangerous out there, and even though it's exciting to see a crash, you really don't want to see someone get hurt. Bringing out the red flag on this day was merciful. Sheets of water, leaves, branches, trash, all flying sideways across a wet track, while these guys are going 200 mph, is a little crazy.

In spite of the weather, the experience was fantastic. I definitely want to go back. The people, obviously hurt by the economy, were really wonderful, and well organized. The number of merchandising choices was the largest I've seen at any track event. Lots of food at different parts of the track, which made things convenient when the downpour started. We had some coffee and a funnel cake (a stringy waffle snack with powdered sugar), which was really tasty. Standing under the bleachers, while the heavens opened up, you knew you were surrounded by the hard core fans, that's for sure.

As far as the racing and the track, it was really nice. Valentino Rossi won, passing Agostini's record of all-time premiere class wins. Nicky Hayden came in second, sporting a Colts logo on his helmet. Nice to see him return to form, and even nicer to know that he moves from Honda to Ducati next year. It's hard to win on a bike specifically built for the Spanish midget. Dani Pedrosa was repeatedly greeted with loud boos from the crowd, so the Honda bosses had some things to ponder about their decisions. Pedrosa is not the next Rossi. The next Rossi was not on that grid. But in the 125 Red Bull race, Hayden Gillim looked incredible for a kid only thirteen. Perhaps he's the one....

If you've never gone to see grand prix motorcycles race, give it a try, you may really like it. It's not as crowded as NASCAR, and there are a lot of passes and crashes, that are far more entertaining and close than what you see on four wheels.

The Mojave Insult and the Seinfeld Shoes

As with most people, the negative impression of Vista has been long, deep, and across the board. It's not sporadic, it is the vast, overwhelming majority. Even the most staunch Microsoft zealots have had major problems with it. Vista is a disaster.

I had a former co-worker, who was an ex-Microsoft employee, and he had gone back and forth between installing Vista, versus back to XP, then back. When you have Microsoft power users, experts (!), blowing 4+ hours for each Vista retry, and failing, you have a big problem. It is crazy to think that the general public will be more successful.

Enter "The Mojave Experiment." I had heard about the site, which requires Silverlight, by the way. Last night I finally saw the TV commercial. The premise is like the old Pepsi Challenge, where you try Coke versus Pepsi and pick the one you like. But this one is a "new" Microsoft OS called "Mojave," where people off the street try it and love it. They are implying that this should be compared to Vista. Then the big reveal is that Mojave is Vista, Vista is Mojave.

In other words, there is nothing wrong with Vista. It's not a software problem, it's a people problem. People are just too stupid to realize how wonderful and bug free Vista is. What a relief. Apparently, we have all suffered some mass hysteria where we imagined Vista problems that weren't really there! All it took was a controlled environment, with novice computer users, to prove it. Microsoft is denying there is a problem with Vista.

I saw this commercial with my wife, and her reaction was that it was an insult. I think her observation was spot on. This is hubris and denial on a very public and embarrassing scale. It's official: Microsoft has lost it. Microsoft is telling us we are just stupid, it's not Vista.

Later on, we saw an Apple commercial, this one where PC is the King, with robe, sceptre, and throne. The premise being that Apple store staff will help you transfer your PC files to Mac when you switch to Mac. What a contrast of message: "You're stupid" versus "We will help you, it's easy."

So the big plan was to have Jerry Seinfeld come and save the day, and overturn these Apple commercials with something hip and funny. If you have not seen the Seinfeld/Gates shoe commercial, don't worry, you're not missing anything. The message is very subtle. In fact, it is so subtle, I don't get it. Seinfeld and Gates say we can expect something pliable, mushy and gooey? We are supposed to be impressed with Gates shifting his butt? Are you kidding me?! The Seinfeld commercial is definitely not funny.

At $10 million, I originally thought the Seinfeld project may stop the bleeding on TV. Instead, these commercials confirm the bleeding and the denial are all too real. My opinion is that Mojave and Seinfeld are monumental marketing gaffs. Vista will not recover from its well-deserved reputation. The bottom line: Microsoft is in a public relations free fall.