Can I hang out with the cool kids?

So Microsoft is planning to open up stores right next door to Apple Stores. Do you remember the kid who was always trying to hang around at school but was completely devoid of personality - that's Microsoft.

It will be interesting to see what these stores are like. If they are like Windows you will be followed around by a security guard constantly asking if you actually wanted to do what you just did! In winter, will you get a virus just by going there? I am reliably informed however that rumors that Bill Gates is going to change his name to Cleve Bobs are wide of the mark.

This forms part of Microsoft's recent obsession with Apple. Their ads try to point out that you can get more features for your money with a PC (classic Traditional marketing). But despite massive marketing spend, their MP3 player (Zune) keeps being handed its ass by the iPod/iPhone juggernaut. Apple sales keep roaring without discounting while PC sales are in the tank and require huge price cuts to get them out the door.

Apple represents the sense of individuality at the core of the NEO typology. When the new economic order emerged as a force in 1991, a new social ‘wave’ began its ascendancy across the globe. It gathered up in its wake all the values and aspirations of NEOs and began shifting society from a traditional or institutional way of life to a decidedly individual focus.

Microsoft isn't going away but it represents a Traditional corporate model of the world that just really does not connect with the higher spending, more economically resilient NEO buyers.

My bet - discount posters in the window of Microsoft stores within 12 months.