The World According to Mitch

Yesterday morning as I walked up to the Maple Leaf Lounge at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport (YYZ) I was greeted by Tony Falcone, one of the Air Canada agents that I meet from time to time. As he looked up my Aeroplan number I fumbled with my Samsung Focus phone (barely avoiding dropping it), and he asked me how I liked it. I told him that I loved it… so much so that I actually have three of them – one on my Canadian carrier, one for my American carrier, and one for my wife. When he told me that he was familiar with Samsung phones but not the Focus I told him that this was the Windows Phone 7 version of the model he knows. His eyes lit up!

Tony, it turns out, is a computer hobbyist who builds and ‘soups up’ the computers for his family. ‘I have a computer at home that runs both Windows and Mac OS X, and I have to tell you… my kids wanted the Mac, but I love Windows.

Of course, these are words that make me smile… as a Virtual Partner Technology Advisor for Microsoft Canada, my job is to get people excited about Microsoft technologies, including Windows 7. I asked Tony what he loved so much about Windows. He had a great answer:

‘You know, I realize that some people these days seem to prefer Mac, but I really love Windows, especially Windows 7. I have been trying to figure out why, and I came up with a really great slogan that I want to send to Mr. Ballmer – maybe they’ll use it, and who knows… maybe I’ll get a free copy of Windows out of it!’

He told me what his slogan was, and I loved it. I am not going to share it with you here… he went on to say how he hates having a great idea that others take credit for. However I made him this promise: I am sending an e-mail to Mr. Ballmer introducing him to a real Windows enthusiast, and for the idea I am going to send him a book on Windows 7.