[LISTEN] 096. Ultraseven (Launching Windows 7)
“A luxurious super huge burger with 7 113g beef patties in an American size bun with a diameter of 13 cm!” —advertisement for the Windows 7 Whopper (translated from Japanese)
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Release to manufacturing was a super special moment in the era of “boxed” software. The software is done, and the bits permanently pressed onto a DVD disc. That disc, the golden master, is then shipped off physically to duplicators around the world and then combined with another artifact of the era, a box or in the case of Windows 7 a plastic anti-theft DVD contraption. With Windows 95, the excitement of computing and the newness of internet set a high-water mark for launch events, the completion and launch of Windows 7 was a major worldwide business event. The industry was looking for optimism as we emerged from the Global Financial Crisis and the ensuing slump in PC sales. Windows 7 was just the ticket and the launch would prove to be part of a massive uptick in PC sales or as some hoped a return to ongoing up and to the right curves. But could that really be the case?