Microsoft To Become Cool, Too

It helps to be “cool,” in this world. Apple is cool! Barack Obama is/was cool, too! But not Microsoft. It is nice that Bill Gates is saving the world from diseases, but that doesn’t make kids want a Zune. That’s why Microsoft investors are very excited about CEO Steve Ballmer making the company’s offerings cool. The band Weezer played a Microsoft store in a Virginia mall, so that’s something. Hip hop and skateboards could be next for the software giant.

Mat Honan writes at Wired’s Gadget Lab:

But what is cool? When it comes to technology products, cool is typically something with a beautiful design that works well, does unexpected things, and makes life easier. Something that is not only innovative but that also engenders further innovation — something that lets the people who buy it create wonderful new things. The iPhone is cool. Twitter is cool. The Kinect is cool. And the Surface? Assuming it actually works, it looks very, very cool. Even Microsoft’s UI, the design language formerly known as Metro, is gorgeous and fun. People will build amazing apps that take advantage of that interface. Again, cool.

“The Surface” is Microsoft’s new plan to replace all flooring in the world’s buildings — homes, offices, hospitals, everything. Then you can just lie down on the floor and connect, in whatever way feels right. Imagine everybody on the floor, forever. Very very cool.

No, that is probably not true. The “Connect” is an iPad, as far as we can figure. Everybody loves iPads!