(Image Source: Tumblr)
BY LOGAN TITTLE
Microsoft is apologizing for a presentation performed at the Norwegian Developers Conference
last week. In an effort to promote the new Windows Azure platform—they ended with this
dance number.
“I got the skillz to impress. I’m a computer genious. The words ‘MICRO’ and ‘SOFT’
don’t apply to my penis.” (video source: YouTube)
And while they couldn’t manage to spell “genius” correctly, they did manage to
appeal to gender inclusivity by displaying “(or vagina)” under the lyrics on the
giant TV monitor.
Being in a room full of smartphones— and techies who know how to use them—naturally
the video popped up pretty quickly on the Internet. Microsoft has issued apologies on
YouTube and Twitter since then.
But that didn’t stop the outpouring of criticism.
PC Mag called the routine “fairly silly and (typically) lame...” comparing it to
a “cross between LMFAO and Dance Moms.”
A speaker at the conference referred to it as a “car crash” and says Microsoft is
“still clueless” about what constitutes as appropriate behaviour.
A Capsule Computers writer called it the “biggest waste of time anybody has ever been subjected
to.”
And a writer for Tech Crunch says this is just one link in a long chain of Microsoft’s
misplaced performances.
Last week when Usher performed at Microsoft’s E3 conference he instructed the audience to
stand up several times—but never really got them out of their seats.
And back in 2009, a Microsoft store broke out into a not-so-impromptu flash mob dance.
But did anyone find it amusing? Some comments on posted videos say the dance was “hilarious”
and a “special piece of programming,” and a writer for Extreme Tech says this may
have been produced with a different audience in mind.
“The lyrics of the song are obviously obscene — but then again, this is Scandinavia. When
it comes to sensibilities and social acceptability, you would be hard pushed to find a group of
people that have more diametrically opposed sensibilities than the USA and Scandinavia.”
