Mike's Lookout

This is, hands-down, the best Microsoft marketing ever.

Be sure to read the children’s book too.

The scene was intense.  Tensions where high.  There at the stoplight, head to head were a brand new, 2008 Mercedes McLaren SLR and a 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid.  What a match!  The SLR, with a price tag of ~$450,000 can shoot out of the gate in less than 4 seconds.   The Hybrid, an equally impressive yet not quite as fast machine would prove a difficult battle.

I was driving the Honda.  The driver of the SLR smiled as he noticed me admiring his car.  We waited for what seemed an eternity for the light to turn green.  When it finally changed, the SLR quickly zoomed ahead, but the stoplight where we both turned left was only a few hundred feet ahead.  On the curve, I made my move.

Rounding the turn, the Honda nestled quickly into the wide-open carpool-only onramp entering highway 85.  The SLR sat idly at the back of a very long line of other cheap cars.  I proudly smiled as I looked in my rear view mirror.  That was the last time I ever saw the Mercedes Mclaren SLR.

Winner:  Honda Civic Hybrid.  Cost:  $22,000.

Am I the only one that hopes to see police chasing a white bronco again soon?

I had a friend visit for lunch here at the Google campus last week who is a long-time Microsoft employee based in Redmond.  He had never been to Google before, and was interested to see.  As we waited in line in the cafe, he said, “You know, I’ve never heard music in the Microsoft cafeteria before”.  I think he liked it.

So there you have it – the difference between Google and Microsoft is music in the cafe.