Microsoft Might be Growing Up

In the past I have been less than impressed with Microsoft's advertisements and marketing strategies. In fact I was so disgusted with one video they put out that I wrote a post about it. While at the same time Apple has been putting out awesome and hilarious ads. I guess I am biased because I am a Machead, but nonetheless it is difficult for anyone to deny that Microsoft's marketing has sucked in the past.

Well tonight I saw an ad that might indicate a change in Microsoft's strategies. No longer are they trying to counterattack Apple with their I'm a PC ads, but now with the release of Windows 7 they have started these 7 second demo ads. Each ad takes 7 seconds to demo a feature in Windows 7. But it is not this concept that is revolutionary for Microsoft, but the features that they demo are actually somewhat cool. Instead of trying to again counterattack Apple by trying to demo how easy it is to create a picture slideshow, they are now demoing features like "one-click side-by-side snap windows," "one window shake function," and "one-click universal search." Some of these may sound confusing, so I'll just let you watch one of their ads to better understand the features.

More after the jump...



So all in all, what I am saying is that I think Microsoft is finally making some headway with Windows 7. I actually didn't know why it was better than Vista until I saw those 7 second demo ads. And I think Microsoft is finally figuring out that all they need to do to make a good ad is showcase some practical features within Windows 7 instead of always trying to compete with and counterattack Apple.

OS X is still the superior operating system and...
If you ask me though, I'll still tell you to buy a Mac.
:)

Money is Not Equal to Value

There is a difference between "valuing church media" and "spending lots of money on church media." Just because a church spends loads of money on a bunch of media equipment, does not mean that church values media. A church can spend as much money as they want on equipment, but if they don't know how to use it effectively to communicate the gospel, then they are back at square one.

Hiring a full-time Media Arts Director is crucial for a church nowadays. It doesn't even have to be a media arts director, just someone who is paid to commit time to communicating the gospel effectively through media.

Yes, a church can say that their volunteers are great, and that they can run the show, but having a staff of volunteers doesn't always translate into effective communication.

All I'm saying is, if a church is willing to spend money on media, that is not equal to a church valuing media. Instead of a church wasting $60,000.00 on 2 video routers, and an AMX remote panel, why don't they use that money to hire someone to actually create good content. After all, isn't the content that we produce and communicate more important than the medium that we use to communicate it?

Identity

Well for the past 3 months my life has absolutely been consumed by soccer. Actually for the past 4 years my life has been consumed with soccer.

For those of you who don't know, I play soccer for Moody Bible Institute. This past weekend was our regional tournament. Moody hasn't won the regional tournament since 2001, and this year was the best chance we had of winning it. We went 13-5 on the regular season, and we were very confident that we were going to go to the national tournament in Florida. That was our goal for the whole season.

The accomplishing of that goal came down to one game against Northland International University in the regional championship game. It was a hard fought game, but we ended up losing 1-0. When the game ended I could do nothing but cry. It was hard to believe that my college soccer career had come to an end, and we still hadn't gone to nationals.

Since then I have thought alot about my time on the team. The craziest thing to think about is that I am done. My soccer career is over as I know it. In previous years I had something to work toward after the season was over, because I always looked forward to the next season, but not this time. This time it is all over. There is no next season, and I can hardly wrap my mind around it.

This has led me to question myself. How much of my identity is really wrapped up in soccer, or being on a team? Evidently more than I thought. I didn't think it was going to be this hard.

This is just a great reminder that my identity should constantly be found in Christ, and nothing else. It seems that I have somewhat lost sight of that.

But what does it mean to find my identity in Christ?

It means that He is my motivation for everything I do. I thought this was completely true for soccer, but I don't think it was (Notice I said it was not completely true, because it was partially true).

I guess it is hard to really know where your identity lies until it is taken away.

Where is your identity found?

Its a good thing to really think about