Posted 09/19/08 at 12:24:41 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

The podcast gang throws down a rare fourth week podcast, so be grateful you maniacs! That's right, despite impending deadlines and disaster looming on the horizon, we talked about the death of the Microsoft-Seinfeld ads and problems at Nvidia, then took a trip through the lab, and finally answered reader questions. All that, plus Gordon's world famous Rant of the Week!

Do you have a tech question? A comment? A tale of technological triumph? Just need to get something off your chest? A secret to share? Email us at maximumpcpodcast@gmail.com or call our 24-hour No BS Podcast hotline at 877.404.1337 x1337--operators are standing by.

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

Read More

Posted 09/05/08 at 11:10:47 AM by Paul Lilly

Earlier reports that Microsoft's new ad campaign would kick off with Jerry Seinfeld as its OS pitchman turned out to be true, and so has the pre-release skepticism. It's hard to imagine being any more annoyed than when watching Justin Long portray the prototypical hipster for the umpteenth time, but like Vista when it first came out, general consensus is that Microsoft has dropped the ball and left eager PC fans more than a little underwhelmed.

How bad was it? Enough so that you won't find any pretense of unbiased reporting in this blog.  Not only did the first commercial in Microsoft's $300 million advertising campaign appear to make little sense, but if it was aiming to be funny (and it was), it missed the mark.

"Today, we are kicking off a highly visible advertising campaign," wrote Microsoft's senior VP Bill Veghte in an email to employees. "The first phase of this campaign is designed to engage consumers and spark a new conversation about Windows – a conversation that will evolve as the campaign progresses, but will always be marked by humor and humanity."

Veghte goes on to explain that the first set of ads should be taken as an icebreaker, but if Microsoft was looking to make a good first impression with Seinfeld's debut, well, let's just say it didn't. See for yourself.

Disagree? Hit the jump and post your opinion.

Read More