View From the Phlipside

One of the shows fans (Dude, I have fans! So excited) asked if we could spread the scripts out over several days for longer enjoyment. So I figured we could try. One Wednesday, one Thursday and one on Friday.


These are the scripts from my weekly media commentary program on WRFA-LP Jamestown

My name is Jay Phillippi and I've spent my life in and around the media. TV, Radio, the movies and more. I love 'em and I hate em' and I always have an opinion. Call this the view from the Phlipside

So the word is that the big day is coming at the end of October. Needless to say the marketing geniuses have been working overtime to come up with some new way of kicking the latest version off, something that's going to give a whole new feel to match this new way of doing things.

So Microsoft stole an idea from Tupperware.

That's all I could think when I heard that Microsoft was inviting people to host their very own party for the launch of Windows 7, the new and much ballyhooed operating system. You go online and apply to be an official host for a party and they give you, among other things, a free copy of the new operating system.

So I thought - What the heck? The experience was... interesting. Right off the back I felt a little hypocritical. You see they ask you these questions up front, one of which is about was I ready to share a product I love with my friends. That I love? I use Windows, I'm comfortable with Windows but love...? In the name of journalistic inquiry I swallowed my scruples and said, "Sure". I tried to sign in using my Facebook identity but that failed (it seems to fail more often than succeed in my experience) so I filled in all the info manually. Then the next hurdle - am I compatible? Suddenly this felt like I was on Match dot com. Also I was a little concerned to discover that the upgrade advisor software was somehow only a beta version. You can't get a final version of this but I'm supposed to trust you've got the vastly more complex operating system software right. Sure. After waiting a VERY long time (just a few minutes my ear) I was told that my hard drive was rather too small, my graphics card left plenty to be desired, my ethernet card had to go, they didn't much like my productivity suite and that the best I could hope for was to do a custom install then fix it later on. I soldiered on anyway. I was zipping through the user agreement when I caught the word DEATH so I went back. Seems if I host a party and invite you and you die we can't sue Microsoft. Hmmmm, what have they added to this software?

So I'm not holding out a lot of hope of being selected to be a host. But if I am I'll be looking for about a dozen guests so keep the week of October 22-29 open. And if YOU happen to get tapped to be a host, keep me in mind.

Call that the view from the Phlipside