I just came across some photos by Niall Kennedy, taken at the introduction of Microsoft’s latest money-making monstrosity, Microsoft Live. Just what I want, ads in my word processor. I don’t want to waste any more breath commenting on the product; it’s the presentation that interests me. Or appalls me, to be more accurate.
How can the most successful technology company in history, run by the richest man in the universe, stand in front of the world with such incredibly lame slides in their presentation? They look like something put together by a high school kid who just discovered clip art and shaded backgrounds.
Is it just me? You be the judge
Here’s one of Bill’s slides…
and another…
Makes me want to scream! Geez…the two headings aren’t even lined up vertically!
And what the hell are those four double-headed-arrow things?
For contrast, here’s one of Steve’s slides from a few years back (his current images are even better, but couldn’t find any good shots of those)
Here’s a link to all of Niall’s photos. Be warned, they are not for the faint of heart (or anyone with any aesthetic sense.)
I guess this proves just one more time the difference in thinking between Microsoft and Apple. Another one is the difference between the remotes shown on the last keynote.
Sorry to say, but I always likes Microsoft presentations. The apple slide above tells us that Apple has four applications/services (i suppose iTools is .mac) which kind of reside into ones mac.
The MS slide tells us that they have an ambition to unite two different concepts into one computer: digital lifestyle and digital workstyle. It can be easily seen of which elements these two concepts consist (TV, movies, music…)
To make one thing clear: MS is one of my least favourite companies. Their products are just crap and I don’t see a single ray of hope this will change someday.
Apple males great products, really great ones. It’s only their presentations. You can’t understand one single thing without listening to Mr. Jobs speech. I own a mac, of course, but what if I didn’t? I wouldn’t even know what “iMovie” exactly is.
One of the reasons that Microsoft has to produce such elaborate slide decks is directly related to the personality of their presenters. Not to knock BillG or SteveB, but they’re both average presenters. Therefore, to compensate they need complex slide graphics/layouts to help tell the story. SteveJ is a master presenter. As someone who presents on a frequent basis, you can’t begin to imagine what a great case study SteveJ’s keynotes provide. SteveJ knows how to tell a story. He knows his voice can speak louder than complex slides. He knows the focus should be the presenter and that the slides are just there for backdrop. The slides aren’t the story. However, in Microsoft’s case they have to be (leaving aside the fact that absolutely nothing presented yesterday was innovative — in fact, it help really 1998 to me).
What I’d like to know is how SteveJ produces his slide decks. Does he do an outline with storyboards? Does he actually design them?
Adras,
The whole point of the slide is to support the presenter, not to be the presentation. Therefore a GOOD thing that you need steve to explain his slides…. Bill’s presentation distracts from what he’s saying since the audience is too busy to listen since they’re trying to decode his slides. Take a look at http://www.presentationzen.com/ .
Jeff
Jeff – that’s a great site. Everyone who strives to be a better presenter should look at it.
Mike
Ya, Guy Kawasaki recommended through his mailing list. I really respect his concepts and ideas about how a company should work. Funny thing, as you probably know he’s from Apple too… In fact all smart people seem to work at Apple at some time or another. Hmm….
I think this all speaks to a much deeper issue. That is, this is the very essence of the difference between MS and Apple. To Apple, simplicity is at the heart of the design of every product, project and presentation. How to communicate the most information in the easiest and most elegant way possible.
MS on the other hand seems to be obsessed with making things harder. Take one look at where to simply set the desktop preferences in windows and you will find that it can be accessed in the most unintuitive way possible, with several groups of options numbering in the dozens, spread out amongst many tabs that MOVE and REORDER themselves when you click them – therefore ensuring that you never really know where you are. Just try finding where to turn off the horrendous font smoothing in Windows to see what I am talking about.
The perplexing thing to me is that the Windows zealots (yes, they exist) seem to think that a computer is not really a computer unless it is hard. This is why they say things like “Macs are like toys”. They are so used to years of dealing with these interface atrocities that they now don’t know how to approach anything unless it is complicated. I have seen this play out hundreds of times.
Therefore, the MS slides are designed exactly the way they should be for the audience they are trying to communicate to. They are confusing, busy, complicated and rife with bloat – exactly like Windows and Office and every other thing produced by MS for the past 20 years.
I really like to see the difference again… Makes me think about the time Steve had a problem with a Mac and just flipped a switch and moved on, while mentioning that microsoft did it less fluently last presentation…
that’s funny.
i grabbed niall’s flickr show and made a parallel blog entry comparimg MS and Apple, Jobs and Gates presentation style as metaphors for how the two companies diverge.
When Jobs shows products, they’re either shipping today or next week, but when Bill displays product, well… It’s quite pertinent so much of his upcoming products are displayed up in clouds – the ultimate vaporware.
…If there is any reason to avoid software designed by this group of people, it’s likely this slide…
Hi Les – I think it must have been your site where I saw these images first. I jumped out to the flickr page and lost track of where I had come from, then got distracted with writing it up. So thanks.
I think Apple slide is revolving around a PC MS has changed its domain to the Internet. MS now talking like a leader. Looking forward to Spring 06 for Office Live to launch.
Nikhil – the Apple slide is five years old; it’s just an example of a better slide.
It happens again, the MS presentations are always horrible…….
Why they just don’t hire some genius to do the job, or they don’t even know
how a genius look like ??
As Steve Jobs warned before: ” I don’t like Microsoft because they’re no taste, absolutely no taste !! “
notice how on this slide the Mac products are represented by a dated translucent iMac.