Only Microsoft could package up a plain black ball and sell three versions of it at an insane markup. Supposedly, this “bullet point” 
toy will be available at 7-11 stores and K-Marts around the country just in time for summer. I guess they know their audience.
Supposedly Microsoft conducted focus groups in 22 countries and found out that out of over…wait for it…four million, seven hundred and sixty-eight thousand “features,” the one that people enjoyed playing with the most were bullet points. I’m not convinced that this quantitative study allowed for nuances. My guess that by “playing” it referred to the massive amounts of time people take either in Word trying to get simple bulleted lists to format correctly or the slew of web designers that “play” with their code for hours on end so that bullet points can work in Internet Explorer.
*Alignment may vary
While seemingly unfocused, this new go-to-market strategy does seem to align well with Microsoft’s new priority on consumer Advertising. Given the fight Microsoft will get from Google, who’s revenue is 99% based on advertising, it seems that the Redmond software developer will have a hard time juggling the threats they’re getting from Apple on the OS/mobile business and Jive on Enterprise Collaboration. In the meantime, I’m going to get my ass to 7-11 for some of those shiny, rotating hot dogs and a $99 Ultimate Edition black Microsoft bullet point so I can play catch with my kids.
@astrout
