The Microsoft commericals are a lie!

[Greenhoe]

Is it just me or are those Microsoft Commercials with the little girl who is 4 1/2 and the boy who is 6 or something just a lie!

MS Commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhre2C4THT4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVdEq-mYURs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHaUc0cFKt0

Alright the boy who made the photo gallery and then viewed it on his TV, come on do you even think that kid knows what a VGA cable is to hook up to his tv is? lol

And that girl who took all the random pictures of his fort and put them together for one big picture, with Microsoft image gallery, I don't even think I can do that! But then again I don't think I have ever even opened MS image gallery!

Either Microsoft is finding computer wiz kids at 4 1/2 or they are getting a little help with their computer skills.

But I have to give it up to Big Softy, atleast those little kids are cute compared to Jerry Sienfield and Bill Gates

 

[iTzChasE]

Yeah. This one is a total lie!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rhre2C4THT4&feature=channel

Wait nvm.

of course she knows how to use it, she's asian.

 

[Dmac77]

Um, why is this in the Buying Tips forum? Shouldn't this be in Apple and the Industry? I'll be asking the Mods to move this.

And yes, those commercials are a lie, and they are ungodly annoying.

 

[Doctor Q]

Won't they make the many adults who don't quite understand how to use photo software just feel stupid, and not want to try and fail at something that a genius kid can master?

 

[Melrose]

...someone make a throw-up smiley. Those are revolting.

 

[Sky Blue]

The one with Kylie is awesome.

 

[alexbates]

Those are just a big lie... the kids have just been told what to do but really have no idea how to even work a computer. And the 4 year old is just a joke

And someone needs to make sure those kids try using a Mac. What Apple needs to do is make a commercial with the same kids and get them to say why they switched to a Mac.

 

[michael.lauden]

yeah i thought it was funny watching these commercials.

i bet they cut around the loading/rendering times quite a bit - not to mention helping the kids.

im sure the kids are smart enough to do what you tell them. meaning

here is a VGA cable. here is a USB cable. let's figure it out in less than 2 hours and then i'll cut it together to make it look like youre a genius

 

[sushi]

Won't they make the many adults who don't quite understand how to use photo software just feel stupid, and not want to try and fail at something that a genius kid can master?

Interesting perspective. Probably more truth in it than we realize.

...someone make a throw-up smiley. Those are revolting.

Not a single one of those commercials looks real to me. Give me a break! If she did all those photos then she would know how to hold the camera. What BS!

Edit: Just looked at some of the other Rookie videos. Why did I waste my time?

 

[Consultant]

Fake. The photos "taken by the kids" are taken by a professional with studio flash, not on a small point and shoot camera.

I guess those ads are not that far off from wasting money as the other MS ads.
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/...-campaign-keeps-getting-stranger-with-videos/

...someone make a throw-up smiley. Those are revolting.

Here you go (click to animate):

 

[Doctor Q]

We tried to teach a little kid to take photos a couple of months ago. He would aim it at someone and hold the button for a split second, long enough to trigger the start of a shot, but then he'd lower his arms before the focus locked and the camera flashed. He got photos of the floor every single time. By the time we figured out to turn off the autofocus and flash, he was bored and didn't try again.

One advantage that kids have when taking photos is that if they manage to aim the camera in the right direction they are less likely than adults to get their fingers over the lens. Little fingers don't reach as far!

 

[edgew8]

I'm sure the next M$ commercial will have a Chimpanzee hitting an HP laptop with a banana to edit its home movies in Windows movie maker

The only thing 4 year olds do with laptops is put peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the keyboard and close the lid and then hide it under a couch cushion

 

[robanga]

My six year old takes pictures with her pink Playschool Digital Camera and imports them into iPhoto. That is where it currently stops though, no editing or creating of slide shows yet. She also has a lot of fun with Photo Booth as does both of our kids.

Yeah, I am thinking these ads are taking a bit of creative license.

 

[Doctor Q]

Youngsters can learn to use Photo Booth. It's a fairly kid-friendly app, but I doubt Apple is going to make commercials about it.

 

[FF_productions]

Don't even get me started, Windows is the last OS I'd see with a little kid doing these kinds of things with. I don't even think they could do it on a Mac either, I mean talk about some serious BS. I know its an AD and all, but seriously?!? My dad is almost 60 years old (ok he doesn't know much about computers minus the internet), he doesn't even know how to do that, you're gonna tell me a 4 year old can do it?

 

[dotdotdot]

Just going to put this out there, when I was four I was very good at computers as well, and that was on Windows 95. Windows Vista and XP are so much simpler to use than Windows 95.

I believe all these commercials, of course they were shot by an ad agency so they are more professional and the kids were told what to say, but there's no doubt in my mind that they could perform these tasks on their own.

Microsoft's products, despite many people's bias here, are actually incredibly simple, and the newer ones are intuitive as well. Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker are two of the easiest programs to use, with the latter being by far the easiest movie editor (beating out iMovie as well).

 

[Unspeaked]

Is it really a secret that these kids didn't do this stuff?

I thought it was just assumed.

I mean, it's not a documentary, it's a commercial.

 

[Consultant]

Is it really a secret that these kids didn't do this stuff?

I thought it was just assumed.

I mean, it's not a documentary, it's a commercial.

Some people do believe everything they see on the internet. For example those who think the new iPod shuffle has a DRM chip which is simply not true.

 

[FX120]

Oh the irony that any fan of Apple would even dare to call out another company for truth in advertising.

Either way, I have no doubt that a kid could do any of the things shown in that video.

I had my first computer (A Mac LC) when I was 5, and wasted hours upon hours with that thing. When I was 8 I had my Apple II completley apart, added the video expansion card, and put it back together again. Hell in fifth grade I took several programming and robotics classes.

Just because someone is 5, 7, or 8 years old does not mean that they're still sucking on a teet and completley ignorant about computers or how to use them, especially with the exposure they have in todays world, and the increased simplicity of todays software, even Microsoft software. Visit any kindergarten classroom and you'll find several computers used by the kids.

Did the little girl take the picture, download it to the computer, touch it up, save it, and email it all in 30 seconds? Of course not. I am sure it would have taken her several minutes to do all of those things, but like the other poster said, this is a commercial, not a documentary.

 

[Melrose]

Here you go (click to animate):

+1. Not as disgusting as warranted by the OP's links, but it fits nonetheless.

here is a VGA cable. here is a USB cable. let's figure it out in less than 2 hours and then i'll cut it together to make it look like youre a genius

Yeah, really. I can't figure out if Microsoft really is that stupid themselves or they think PC users are that stupid... They certainly aren't paying their target audience any compliments.

 

[edgew8]

Microsoft has nothing on Linux baby

 

[NT1440]

Oh the irony that any fan of Apple would even dare to call out another company for truth in advertising.

Either way, I have no doubt that a kid could do any of the things shown in that video.

I had my first computer (A Mac LC) when I was 5, and wasted hours upon hours with that thing. When I was 8 I had my Apple II completley apart, added the video expansion card, and put it back together again. Hell in fifth grade I took several programming and robotics classes.

Just because someone is 5, 7, or 8 years old does not mean that they're still sucking on a teet and completley ignorant about computers or how to use them, especially with the exposure they have in todays world, and the increased simplicity of todays software, even Microsoft software. Visit any kindergarten classroom and you'll find several computers used by the kids.

Did the little girl take the picture, download it to the computer, touch it up, save it, and email it all in 30 seconds? Of course not. I am sure it would have taken her several minutes to do all of those things, but like the other poster said, this is a commercial, not a documentary.

The aim of the commercials is that "anyone" can do these things, even a 4 year old. Not a 4 year old computer prodigy.

 

[EricNau]

We tried to teach a little kid to take photos a couple of months ago. He would aim it at someone and hold the button for a split second, long enough to trigger the start of a shot, but then he'd lower his arms before the focus locked and the camera flashed. He got photos of the floor every single time. By the time we figured out to turn off the autofocus and flash, he was bored and didn't try again.

Try teaching a group of twenty 4-6th graders how to use their parent's old SLR cameras at summer camp. What's the first thing they do after being explicitly warned not to? Open the back. ...Their response: "but I was in the shade."

*face palm*

 

[FX120]

The aim of the commercials is that "anyone" can do these things, even a 4 year old. Not a 4 year old computer prodigy.

And that's my point, the kids in the commercials aren't geniuses, they're just the kids of today that have had exposure to computers since a very young age, I have a nephew who is 3 years old and is playing "JumpStart Preschool" on their computer.

And the Windows Live suite *is* really easy to use.

 

[Makosuke]

I wouldn't underestimate kids too much. Yes, I'm sure they had some help, and no, obviously they didn't do everything in 30 seconds, but it's hardly a stretch to think they could.

I mean, I was writing crude BASIC programs on my TI99-4A when I was 6 years old with only a little coaching from my dad (who didn't know how to program, either), I know I was capable of taking a photo with a film point and shoot at the same time, and I could get some more substantial software working on an Apple II by the time I was about 8. I'm quite sure I could have handled some simple photo transfers and emailing had such things existed in the 80s.

Again, I'm not defending the ads--they seem as likely as anything to make adult Microsoft users feel stupid--but kids can sometimes be smarter than you think about some things, even if they're fantastically stupid about others (or even the same things at a different time of day).