geekEleet

As submitted to http://acanac.org/blogs/geek/

Have you seen it?  If you haven’t, I encourage you to head on over to http://mojaveexperiment.com/ where you can witness the awe and might that is science.  Or something.  Too lazy to click the link?  I hear that.  Well let me give you a brief synopsis of what this is all about.

Something you should already be aware of is the fact that Microsoft’s latest operating system, Vista, gets some very bad PR.  People love to talk about the hate that they have for this marvel of modern technology.  People love to loathe it.  The biggest problem, in the eyes of Microsoft, is that many of these haters have never used Vista.  They are relying on the word of others.  So Microsoft did what any noble software company would do, they tricked some people into using their product.  Enter Mojave. 

Mojave is the fictional operating system of the future, the next life changing package from the Microsoft machine.  Mojave is everything you ever imagined in an OS and more!  They brought all kinds of people in to do a consumer level taste test on the new product.  The catch?  It’s simply Vista in disguise.  The results?  Astounding. 

Many of the users are recorded saying negative things about Vista, however after trying out the new Mojave product they are very eager to upgrade and get this latest offering.  Every single on of them is in shock when they find out it’s really just Vista.  They talk about how easy it is to use and how finely tuned it appears.  It really is some marketing goodness on Microsoft’s part.

As pointed out by Wil Shipley on his blog over at Call Me Fishmeal, there are four main flaws to this experiment.

The Placebo Effect

• People hyping up the results in their mind because something is new and improved.

The Pepsi Challenge Effect

• When sampling a small portion of something, it’s easy to be won over by the look and feel, but the whole package might not be so good.

The Perfectly Controlled Experiment Effect

• Microsoft set up the hardware and picked the software and accessories - no doubt the most compatible that they could find.  Experts controlled the experiment from beginning to end.

The Personal Tutor Effect

• When you sit someone down, walk them through using it, and answer all of their questions - they are likely to have a good report to give.

Personally, I was amused by the whole thing.  I am unable to avoid the Microsoft machine as I have a close working relationship with them through the company that I work for.  The one thing I did get really riled about is the fact that the site was built in Flash.  What gives?  Silverlight is on version 2 now, who at Microsoft is still supporting the competitor?