Carl Tyler's Blog

1 - Absolutely. I think a 8.0.2 standard client with Sametime enabled shown without branding would get a lot of the same responses the Microsoft test team ended up with.

This is decaffeinated? I had no idea!


Elijah

2 - I think that's a fabulous idea!

3 - Bad idea.

1. They already did it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

2. They have been roundly condemned for so doing.

Exploiting user naiveté to make some kind of marketing point in tightly controlled (i.e. not real world) conditions looks just like what it is - an act of pure desperation.

4 - Focusing on the naivité theme, Microsft themselves were very naive in the way they went about it, without stopping to consider how it might look.

I'm sure it would be perfectly possible to do this in a context which didn't involve the blatant lying, manipulative snake-oil approach that Microsoft appears to have taken. (The reality and intent may have been different, but that was the general impression).

And yes I think it would be a good idea. Although quite who the target audience would need to be in order for this to make the slightest difference in the real world, I'm not sure.

5 - Sorry, but it was done long before Notes 8 shipping. Not exactly the same, it was not "I hear you don't like Notes, what do you think about this product?" (and showing them Notes). Instead people were asked to test somewhat, not told review some software, not told what company it was from, and the screenshots had all brand names removed. It helped generate the messsages used in marketing.