What happened to the old fashioned way of creating a larger user base through actual improvement of the service or software? That’s how Microsoft did it in the past with Office, and it has dominated the market through being the best product.

Now it seems their  prevailing tactic of increasing market share is by throwing money in the form of prizes at the problem. Microsoft Live Club entices users to use Windows Live Search through prizes, Live Search Cashback gives cash back for purchases and Windows Live for Mobile is running a summer giveaway for sending emails with the service. While I’m not complaining about the opportunity to win free swag like Zunes and such, this seems like a highly ineffective tactic. After playing games at Live Club, my impression of Live Search was not any better than before playing the games, because its service just was not as good. After all, when has Google ever run a “summer contest” for using Gmail mobile? Ultimately, I still end up using Live.com only for its definition search, because it is actually better than Google’s.

While the prizes are just a drop in the bucket, wouldn’t all that effort be better spent improving the service itself? Google seems to be able to constantly churn out fantastic updates to its services like Gmail and Docs, while Windows Live services such as Spaces, Favorites, and SkyDrive just seem to sit neglected with no apparent updates. I would much rather use Live Search if the effort spent redesigning the Club homepage was spent adding even the simplest new feature to Live Search itself.

Why buy overpriced Apple products when there are plenty of superior alternatives? Buy This, Not That was inspired by the book Eat This, Not That and Michael’s tech products wishlist. So here are some alternatives to those overhyped Apple products.

Instead of an iPod Shuffle

Just about every music player is superior to this one, and there is absolutely no reason to buy a Shuffle. It has no screen, negligible memory at a premium and is nothing more than an expensive flash drive. The only notable feature is a headphone jack that doubles as a dock connector. Get the Sansa Clip instead, which matches the Shuffle feature for feature and then some. It is just as small as the Shuffle, comes with more memory at a lower price, actually has a screen and adds a radio. Plus, who can turn down that stylish blue on black?

Instead of an iPod Nano

Sure it may seem like a good buy, but as usual it is outmatched by underhyped competitors. Get the Samsung Y Line. As usual, these have the same stats as the iPod and more features all at a lower price. All this comes in a sleeker package and a sweet screen with the same resolution as the Nano’s.

Instead of an iPod Touch

$100 premium just for a touchscreen? Get a Samsung YP-P2JAB instead. The price looks good, the design looks good, there’s no reason you should be getting the Touch. The only bad feature on this player is the crazy alphanumeric moniker.

Instead of an iPod 80GB

It’s better than last generation’s, but the Microsoft Zune has caught up. Every one of the iPod Classic 80GB’s features are matched or topped by the Zune’s. Get a Zune 80GB, which has a bigger screen, radio, WIFI sharing features, better and a superior user interface! Plus you can receive free custom etchings on the back to customize it!

Instead of an iMac

Just try customizing the iMac with the same specs as the Touchsmart. Get an HP Touchsmart 2. The newly released Touchsmart is thinner, faster, and just plain better than the first generation. And of course there’s always those awesome multi-touch features. It’s the iMac for the Windows user, and your wallet will thank you.

What is the name of yet another time waster? Lively. With Google Lively you can create a virtual avatar for a virtual world to customize to communicate with other virtual characters. As if there is enough time to do that in reality, you can customize the virtual world to your liking.

This is probably the first time Google has spit out such a horrible product. All of its other services are top of the line and virtually indispensable, and suddenly, it slapped some kiddy game into everybody’s faces. As of now, I can’t really see any real methods they can profit through this. Maybe they will start selling virtual items to the people who use this service? After all, Facebook peddles virtual gifts that certain people actual buy with real money, which never ceases to amaze me. Maybe all this virtual junk does have potential.