Officethemovie: The Confessional

Yesterday, a seemingly official Microsoft Twitter account fooled popular blogs and mainstream news sites to write that Microsoft would introduce a new Zune platform in June. But the account wasn’t from Microsoft.

Allegedly, David Z from Haklab set up the account. I e-mailed Haklab today asking:

I love guerrilla marketing, and know how to recognize it, which is why I didn’t get sucked into the vortex like other bloggers and journalists. But it’s confession time. Who are you really, and what are your objectives? Not that I’m sure I will believe you. But try me. I want to blog on the problem of Twitter and shoddy journalism. You’re the case study.

This afternoon, I got a response. David claims to have exploited a Microsoft mistake—that the Twitter feed from Microsoft’s Office 2010: The Movie Website went to an unclaimed account. So he registered the Twitter account, @officethemovie. My suspicion: There was a typo on the page, and the account should have read: @office2010movie, as it does now. David, Microsoft and the news pwning are three things that go oddly together.

David Z writes:

Ok, all the news sites are so clueless they don’t know what really happened.

1. Microsoft launched a new site athttp://www.office2010themovie.com/
2. I noticed that the twitter linked tohttp://www.twitter.com/officethemovie, and that @officethemovie twitter account wasn’t registered.
3. I registered the twitter account @officethemovie and people thought I was Microsoft
4. I made a tweet that said: “June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers.”
5. Later people @replied me asking for more info, and I made another tweet saying: “@Gilly2468 @Chimerica @clubdirthill @serenecloud New product launch, that’s all I’m allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre. :)”
6. A lot of people saw that tweet and lots of tech blogs thought that I was the official Microsoft and they thought Microsoft is releasing a Zune in June so they linked to my Twitter feed and spread the news across the interwebs (http://www.techmeme.com/090512/p75#a090512p75).
7. After I saw that a lot of people started thinking I was Microsoft I took the opportunity to make a post at Haklab.comhttp://www.haklab.com/2009/05/apple-needs-to-work-on-improving-iphone.html and make sure to get my point against iPhone piracy across to people and hoping that Apple would see it. I made a tweet that said: “I pwned all the tech blogs because I wanted to get this message across:http://www.haklab.com/2009/05/apple-needs-to-work-on-improving-iphone.html”

A lot of people saw the message and now I hope Apple did too. Apple needs to take action against piracy but they don’t do anything since they keep making money from iphone apps. I’m trying to make it apparent to Apple they need to take action but they simply don’t care otherwise they would have at least done something. I’m just one person so I can’t make that difference, only big blogs like CNN or NY Times will make a difference. Making that tweet allowed me to reach a lot of people but it turns out that I pissed them and now I’ll be ignored. :(

This is David’s story, which reads like someone caught up in events out of his control, improvising to use circumstances for another purpose. You can believe David or not. In my original e-mail, I cautioned that I might not. I haven’t verified his identity to my satisfaction, but the story is believable enough for me.

In the previous post, I indicted the new news media’s misreporting. But there is one question remaining, posed by David. Is there rampant iPhone application piracy? Isn’t that what the App Store is supposed to prevent? I ask developers to pipe up with answers in the comments. Is there a problem with iPhone piracy? Is it any different from other mobile platforms, like Android, Symbian or Windows Mobile?

[Update: This post was repurposed from joewilcox.com on July 6, 2009.]

Do you have a story of journalism gone bad that you’d like told? Please e-mail Joe Wilcox: oddlytogether at gmail.com.

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The Problem with Real-Time Journalism

There’s not enough emphasis on real-time accuracy. Yesterday’s “@officethemovie” pwning is about the worst example yet of new news media gone wrong. In the quest for clicks—and the feeble ad rates they pay—bloggers and old-time journalists rushed to write about a new Zune platform coming in June. Apple is rumored to be unveiling the new iPhone the same month. Additionally, the E3 gaming expo starts June 2. I guess it all was just too tantalizing for people to check their facts. The source wasn’t Microsoft. But most blogs and news sites reported that it was.

I am simply stunned by yesterday’s feeding frenzy. I use the term in new context. Larry Sabato popularized the phrase, for use outside its ecological context, in his bookFeeding Frenzy: Attack Journalism and American Politics. But the social Web and changing news gathering business model has created another kind: Feeds. Subscriptions. Really Simple Syndication. That’s the new feeding frenzy—get news out fast through the feeds to generate traffic, for which the writers are paid based on impressions or page views. It’s a business model that favors speed over accuracy.

I learned about the pwning in stages. I group my RSS feeds, and one is “Microsoft.” Mary Jo Foley’s “All About Microsoft” is third from the top because the list is alphabetized. I saw Mary Jo’s post first. She wrote that: “There’s a new Zune rumor: Something new and Zune-related is coming in June”—and linked to the @officethemovie Twitter account.

As I looked through my feeds, I saw that early buzz was about Microsoft Website Office 2010: The Movie. WHOIS shows the promotional site pointing to Microsoft name servers; meaning it’s a Microsoft Website. The first tweet from the @officethemovie Twitter account links to the movie site. Perhaps for many people, the tweet legitimized the account as being Microsoft’s. A few reporters trying to be diligent may have been fooled by something else—a direct link—that I’ll explain further nearer the bottom of the post.

Other tweets were about Office: “Office 2010 will include Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks integrated right into Word. That’s just a hint of what’s to come!” Then they turned to Zune: “June 2009 will be an important month for Zune lovers,” and “@Gilly2468 @Chimerica @clubdirthill @serenecloud New product launch, that’s all I’m allowed to say. Hold off from buying an iPhone/Pre. :)”

That second tweet set off the feeding frenzy, or so I assume from reading various blogs and news stories. The tweets weren’t from a Microsoft employee. The tweeter later confessed—or perhaps gloated: “I pwned all the tech blogs because I wanted to get this message across,” with link to blog Haklab. Pwned everyone indeed.

Who’s Who of Disgrace
The list of blogs or news sites taken in by the fake Twitter account is surprisingly long. Some links for your enjoyment, or loathing:

• CNET: New Zune in June—”According to the Office 10 Twitter account, Zune lovers will be happy in June.”
• Electronista: Microsoft teases Zune-based iPhone rival for June—”Microsoft early today drew a competitive line by using its Office 2010 Twitter account.”
• eWEEK: Is Microsoft Planning a Zune Phone for June?—”May 12 Tweets coming from a Microsoft Twitter account.”
• Fast Company: Microsoft Goes on iPod Offensive: New Zunes/phone in June?—”Intrigue around a new Zune launch arose from some Tweets from a Microsoft site that’s vaguely related to the Zune.”
• Gizmodo: Did Microsoft Just Announce a Zune Phone on Twitter?—”Granting that this is a Microsoft-run Twitter and that the announcement is well-informed.”
• NeoWin: Microsoft Hints at June for new Zune—”An interesting twitter update from the Microsoft Office 2010 team points towards June being the month of the Zune.”
• Stuff.tv: Microsoft announce a Zune release via Twitter?—”Insiders at Redmond just can’t wait to get the news out there, confirming via Twitter.”
• Zune Thoughts: More Zune Tease From Microsoft—”Microsoft has a new Twitter account called Office The Movie.”

I could tell pretty quickly that the site wasn’t Microsoft’s. There were so many giveaways. Among them:

• The account belonging to Microsoft would be @office2010themovie, keeping in line with the promo Website (That’s the account linked from now).
• The tweets almost immediately switched to Zune from Office, which was highly suspicious.
• The Zune content was seemingly too good news to be true—Apple-Microsoft conflict stuff that people wanted to believe.
• Microsoft denied Zune HD rumors just days before. Why tweet bait now?

But timing worked for the Twitter faker:

• Microsoft had recently used Twitter to tease about some products.
• The Twitter account used an Office logo as icon, at least early on.
• Microsoft released on May 8 a YouTube marketing video about Zune Pass, but it wasn’t widely blogged until May 11.
• TechEd was underway in Los Angeles, with a barrage of product announcements.
• The Office 2010 promo site launched this week.
• The faker claims that the account he used was linked from the Office 2010 promo site; Microsoft didn’t register it, so he did.

Caught in a Rat Trap
Still, bloggers and reporters should have checked. They shouldn’t have assumed the Twitter account or its tweets were legit. Hours after the tweets started, the Office logo disappeared from the Twitter icon. I knew then, without even contacting Microsoft, the account had been from someone else. Allegedly the account belongs to the aforementioned Haklab, which about page explains:

We write about news and views relating to the iPhone—mainly discussion relating to the piracy of the iPhone apps. We cover almost every news and views related to iPhone apps piracy. We also keep an eye on the most current iPhone and iPod Touch news and try to keep you updated with what’s going on…We are proud to say that Haklab does not support piracy or any illegal act of downloading software but we do strongly believe in a try before you buy method.

Haklab/@officethemovie pawned the news media, which pawned Microsoft, by spreading misinformation about Zune. But he also worked a pawn for Apple. In one tweet, @officethemovie claims to be a “Zune fanboy.” But he uses Tweetie, which is a Mac desktop and iPhone/iPod touch product.

I e-mailed Haklab today asking:

I love guerrilla marketing, and know how to recognize it, which is why I didn’t get sucked into the vortex like other bloggers and journalists. But it’s confession time. Who are you really, and what are your objectives? Not that I’m sure I will believe you. But try me. I want to blog on the problem of Twitter and shoddy journalism. You’re the case study.

I got a response this afternoon from David Z. Full text of his response is in the next post. He claims to have taken advantage of Microsoft’s mistake: “I noticed that the twitter linked to http://www.twitter.com/officethemovie, and that @officethemovie twitter account wasn’t registered.” I haven’t verified David’s assertion with Microsoft.

There should not have been a mass pwning of tech blogs and news sites yesterday. I’m all for real-time journalism, but it can’t exist without real-time accuracy. Social media services like Twitter could be the future of information gathering and sharing. But they are tools that must be properly used. Right now, they are more purveyors of gossip. It’s one thing to base reporting from a Twitter account of a real person that you can identify—and something all together different when the source is unverified.

Not that the lesson will be learned. This isn’t the first time in recent months when being first (and wrong) trumped being right. My list of pwned blogs or news sites isn’t a B list. Shouldn’t CNET, with the news gathering heritage of CBS News, or Fast Company have done better? The A list of pwned by @officethemovie is longer than what I’ve given. Digg it, Google it or Techmeme it to see. Sure, many of the A-listers have posted follow-up stories about the fake. But they were pwned, nevertheless.

By the way, in February, Adam Kinney posted an excellent list of Microsoft Twitter accounts. Unless recently laid off, Adam works at Microsoft This list of sites is tried and tested, and there are many newer Microsoft Twitter accounts—and @officethemovie isn’t one of them.

[Update: This post was repurposed from joewilcox.com on July 6, 2009.]

Do you have a story of journalism gone bad that you’d like told? Please e-mail Joe Wilcox: oddlytogether at gmail.com.

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Microsoft vs Mac Marketing

I want to take a look at just one of the ways Apple, with its puny computer market share, out-markets Microsoft. It’s all in the presentation.

Gander at these two Websites: Apple’s iLife `04 and Microsoft’s Plus! Digital Media Edition. Each site hawks the respective company’s digital media suite. But, Apple does a much better job making its product enticing. [Update, October 2009: The original Websites are no longer available for comparison. Damn, I should have gotten screenshots five years ago.]

Under each iLife heading is a tagline that denotes action: Make your own music; organize your music; sort and edit your photos; edit your own video; create your own DVD. The first rule of good sales is to make the customer feel like the product already is his. So you put the product in his hand or you let him test drive the car and then refer to it afterwards as “his” car. The common element is feeling of ownership. Apple’s presentation does this subtlety but effectively by the use of “your,” but in the connotation of taking action, or empowerment. Each section on the different products—GarageBand, iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD—entices with the “what you can do” and then bullets a list of features.

Multiple links lead to further information pages for each product, but Apple doesn’t stop there. Sub-options across the top of each product page lead to a third layer of information. Using GarageBand as an example: Play, Loops, Record, Mix and Accessories. The reader must delve deeper for the information, but it’s there—and plenty of it, too.

The Plus! DME page should be as enticing, but it’s not. Microsoft’s four headings—Photos, Music, Home Movies and Portable Devices—don’t come across with the same sense of empowerment. Apple’s iLife page sells through subtlety, by demonstrating to the reader how much she can do with the cool product. Apple’s narrative talks to the reader. Microsoft’s text reads like a sales brochure, with in essence what are a series of cumbersome sales bullets strung together like sentences. The sub pages marginally improve, but don’t offer the depth of explanation or enticement of those for iLife. That’s not to say Microsoft does everything wrong. The Plus! DME main and sub pages offer plenty of chances to try out software, and on the Photo Story page there are fun and humorous examples of finished image narratives.

It’s too bad, because Plus! DME is a fun product for Windows XP users. But, presentation has long been a Microsoft weakness, and it goes right down to product design. Too often, Microsoft makes new processes for doing things, creating a cumbersome learning curve as opposed to building on familiarity. Whereas, Apple takes a simpler approach.

For example, part of iPhoto’s appeal is its subconscious familiarity. The images are laid out just like on a page—that’s a semblance of how they might be in a physical photo album. But, Apple extends the familiarity by doing something many people wish they could do with their photo albums: The pictures can be resized on the fly. Likewise, images import as digital rolls of film, with an accompanying date, a familiar process for physical film.

Simplicity appeals, yet is too often overlooked. I’m amazed at the human mind’s tendency to make things more complicated than they need to be. When I was in high school, I won 95 percent of my first chess games with new opponents in four moves. Virtually no one looked for the four move check mate. It was so obvious, it wasn’t. Opponents looked for the complicated play. Of course, that trick usually worked only once.

Complication is something I’d like to see Microsoft do more without. Take the complicated product names, such as Windows XP Media Center Edition, MSN Direct Watches or Plus! Digital Media Edition. The operating system folks are the worst offenders. The Office folks are a little better, with products like Word, Excel, Outlook or OneNote. The names may not have zing, but at least they’re not tongue twisters.

The first rule of good product name marketing is watch the syllables. The rule works in writing, too. There are good reasons why book titles tend to be five words or less—and short on the syllables.

Apple, by contrast, picks memorable or evocative product names. Short and simple, too.

You don’t think that little “i” in all those Apple product names is just shorthand for Internet? There are lots of subtle connotations carried in the use of “I.” Comes to mind: The book I, Claudius. The “I” as statement of self, of something important. The name may read iDVD but we hear I, DVD. I Movie. I Photo. The “I” denotes something special, something important, something you should take notice in. The best is when an Apple name makes that personal, as in I Chat for product iChat.

Other Apple product names are evocative in a different way. GarageBand is classic. Everyone knows what a garage band is and the hope said group has of breaking out, making the big time, if only the group practices hard enough and gets the sound just right. Apple’s approach to operating systems is to spice up the boring numerical name, like Mac OS X 10.2, with something catchy. Jaguar. It’s a fast cat or classic car. Mac OS X 10.3 as Panther, a cat that prowls and stalks, maybe in this case Windows.

How effective are these names? Just look at iPod or iSight. My fourth grader refers to video conferencing as iSight. She’s convinced Apple invented the technology.

I have to believe that someday, Microsoft is going to catch on to the simpler approach, starting with product names. Many of the codenames are cool. Mira, Spanish “to look,” was the codename for tongue twister Windows CE for Smart Displays. Mira, that’s cool. The first version of Windows XP Media Center Edition was codenamed Freestyle. Oh, the marketing Microsoft could have done with that. Longhorn might even force a change. People will be calling the next version of Windows Longhorn for so long, the codename may just stick. I hope it does.

Part of Apple’s pop-culture charm comes from the product names, which move right into the every day vernacular. Whenever Microsoft learns that simpler, smarter, cooler product names make sense, I’d watch for the worm in Apple.

[Note: Repost from old Joe Wilcox blog, October 2009]

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