Sony Vaio L-Series

Microsoft is making a big mistake.  They have a great deal of amazing technology, but they are keeping it all a secret from the public.  It's not just Microsoft.  Many tech companies are failing to market their products effectively.  It's not that they don't advertise, but they don't produce the right type of advertising, and in some cases, not enough.

Last week, two friends and I took a trip to the mall for lunch.  After a quick bite at the food court, we strolled the mall and hit the usual spots.  We stopped in the Apple store, browsed the over-priced gadget stores, and popped our heads into SonyStyle.  Among the huge and brilliant LCDs sat an all-in-one Sony Vaio desktop computer, similar in function to an iMac but with a industrial look.

The Sony Vaio L-Series computer is an all-in-one desktop computer with a multi-touch touchscreen display and Windows 7.  Prices range from $1200 to $2000, but the one we played with had these specs:

• 24 inch HD touchscreen monitor
• Quad-core processor
• 6 GBs of RAM
• Wireless Keyboard & Mouse
• 1/2 TB Hard drive
• BluRay
• Windows 7 64-bit
• TV Tuner with Remote

We explored the outstanding Windows 7 multi-touch features and admired the sleek hardware.  Then we happened upon an application called Microsoft Surface Globe.  We were blown away.  We carried on like kids in a candy store as we tilted and rotated the globe, zoomed down to street level, and viewed New York then Orlando then the Mall in which we were standing all in 3D and all without a mouse.  The multi-touch display and software worked effortlessly.  All the while, we kept asking each other why we didn't know about this.  Why didn't Sony and Microsoft produce a simple commercial demonstrating this computer and software?  And then one of said it.  "You know, sort of like Apple does."

Apple will someday release a multi-touch iMac and MacBook, and the world will gasp!  Apple will flood the airwaves with straight-forward advertising in which the super-cool iMac Touch is put through its paces.  The New York Times and CNN.com will run the story on their homepages.  The general public will assume that Apple invented the multi-touch computer.  And God bless them!  Why shouldn't they push their products?

The multi-touch computer is but one example.  Below is a very incomplete list of products that I almost never see advertised.  I guess I'll have to spread the word for Microsoft, et al., since they are too busy making high-concept "I'm a PC" adverts.

• Microsoft Surface
• SanDisk Sansa Clip
• Bing Maps Beta
• Photosynth
• HP TouchSmart PC

This is just a small sampling of products off the top of my head that deserve better marketing.  I have a passion for tech, so I will be on the tech blogs reading about these and other products, but why would major tech firms not want to be  in the public's mind with Apple?  Speaking of Apple, I can't wait for Apple to release its long-rumored 'slate' computer.  I hear they invented a new type of computer called the 'tablet'!  Why didn't Microsoft and the PC OEMs think of something like this years ago?  Kinda makes you wonder...