Microsoft is a company that seemed quite controversial a few years ago—but today, it almost seems antiquated and banal.
Once upon a time, there were lawsuits and monopoly concerns, but these days, Facebook, Google and Apple dominate the headlines. Now, even though most Internet users use their browser by default, Microsoft has rolled out an extensive marketing campaign for Internet Explorer 9—nearly a year after its launch—complete with a bizarre online campaign called "The Browser You Loved to Hate," including a website of the same name.
The concept of the campaign is a little difficult for me to get my head around. Microsoft seems to be aware that quite a few people hated the previous versions of IE, and that using IE signals some sort of online lameness. The ad even includes a person yelling, "The only thing it's good for at all is downloading other browsers."
Maybe Microsoft thinks there's something admirable in admitting defeat in the hipster court of public opinion, but it's not like most people give their choice in browsers all that much thought, and that means Internet Explorer will likely be the frontrunner until we're cruising the web using our mind.
I mean this as no insult to the numerous delightful people who visit TucsonWeekly.com every day using IE, but I can't imagine any context in which I'd go back to that browser after switching to Firefox and now Chrome.
The week on The Range
We wondered whether Tony Diaz should have been the superintendent of Tucson's largest school district; followed the latest developments in the Mexican-American studies controversy; made an attempt to understand Cathi Herrod's move to kill an anti-bullying bill; watched surveillance footage of Martha Vazquez's very bad day; looked at the results of the Oro Valley election; kept up with another week of Daniel Patterson news; and examined the evidence pointing to a resurgence in the Latino vote in Arizona.
We let you know where you can find Tucson's food trucks, including Bunz, on Fourth Avenue; informed you that Pizzeria Vivace became Scordato Pizzeria; reminded you that pie is part of every happy person's life; marked our calendars for a forthcoming Thai feast; and tried some sushi, Mexican-style.
We gave you the opportunity to win boxing tickets; kept up with the weekend's weather related drama; watched Brazilians dance around in superhero costumes; reviewed shows by Bruce Springsteen in Austin and Radiohead in Glendale; tried to figure out what Batman and Juggalos have in common; suggested that you listen to Mari Herreras interview John Pedicone on the Buckmaster show; asked why the Maricopa County attorney is threatening porn studios that are considering a move to Arizona when he hasn't done anything about the ones already in his county; announced a show by subtle indie-rockers Caveman at Club Congress; used an article about Arizona's birth-control legislative nonsense as an excuse to post a Loretta Lynn video; talked to Omaha, Neb., band Other Lives; made plans to book Frank Roberts, professional Leonardo DiCaprio impersonator, for our next party; counted the contents of our change jar to see if we could buy our own ZIP code; watched Will Ferrell and Jimmy Kimmel mangle the Spanish language; and politely asked you to consider those with DVRs when talking about the show you watched last night.
Comment of the week
"'Drugs don't have a place in a university environment.' Did this person never go to college?"
—TucsonWeekly.com user "moyla75" seems befuddled by the Arizona Legislature's attempt to keep medical marijuana off the state's college campuses ("Arms Over Meds," Currents, March 1).
Best of WWW
You might think that our quest for local media dominance would end at having the finest publication on newsprint in this town, and a great website with a bunch of fascinating posts going up all day long ... but no! We will not rest on our laurels. This city needs us. So, every week, we do Tucson's media landscape a favor, and show up on various TV and radio shows. Whether it's Jim Nintzel hosting Arizona Illustrated's Political Roundtable, Mari Herreras on Steve Leal's show, Dan Gibson on KFMA with Fook, or Margaret Regan and Jimmy Boegle on the Buckmaster show (including Boegle hosting the show on Friday, March 23), the only way to catch it all is to constantly refresh The Range.
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