Microsoft just made available Beta-1 of the Visual Studio Express range of software developer tools. For some reason the C++ guy in particular made me think of the marketing/web people that created that particular web page. The choices of people/models used to represent each of the different express product options may give an insight into what Microsoft Marketing thinks of each of the target developer markets for the Express range of products:
- Visual Basic dude. Young, clueless and not really paying attention.
- C# Dudette. Young, capable and way too serious.
- C++ Dude. Late 20s, Early thirties. Bohemian. Gonna stick with his esoteric ways. Likes being in a niche area because it makes him feel special.
- Java Dude. Middle aged guy. Uses a blackboard which implies being more academic (and hence not so practical and realistic).
- Web Girl. Young and it looks like she’s focused on what she’s doing - when in reality she’s actually snoozing at the keyboard from a hard night out on the town with the girls.
- SQL Dude. Middle aged guy - wears a tie, so he must be dependable and serious about business.
I’d love to see a causticTech interpretation of the page. He’d do it way more justice than my pathetic attempt.
PS: Programming language wide, I’d class myself as a C#, C++ and Java dude - in that order.