One hour in the life of a tech reporter with a hot tip, and a dream that there’s actually something to it.
12:01 p.m. The tip comes in that the Rolling Stones’ plane was spotted yesterday at the airport in Seattle. Could it be that the iconic band that was once the very definition of cool was in town for some sort of Windows 10 launch appearance?
After all, the Stones were the ones who first introduced us to Microsoft’s beloved Start Menu in a nostalgia-inducing Windows 95 ad campaign.
Their 1981 classic Start Me Up had been the official soundtrack of America’s favorite desktop button. And now, as the Start Menu gets ready for its encore, could Microsoft be bringing the Stones back to film an epic recreation of the 20-year-old commercial?
12:05 p.m. The Rolling Stones have no scheduled appearances in the Seattle area and haven’t tweeted anything about being here.
12:10 p.m. GeekWire’s John Cook speculates that the Stones are the “mystery guest” scheduled for Tune’s Postback conference on Thursday night. Others are more skeptical. Would the Stones arrive three days in advance for a corporate gig?
The GeekWire newsroom comes to a consensus that it’s simply too big of a coincidence: Apple may have had U2 on hand when it unveiled the iPhone 6, but Microsoft was about to one-up their California rival with one of the greatest bands ever for one of the company’s largest product launches ever.
And it will be epic.
12:34 p.m. The Redmond Police Department says it hasn’t had any recent road closures for a surprise concert or filming session.
12:41 p.m. Washington Filmworks hasn’t heard anything.
12:48 p.m. Seattle’s Office of Film and Music hasn’t heard anything. And I’m assured if the Rolling Stones were coming to town, they would know.
12:50 p.m. Confidence is waning, and this tech reporter is a little upset about it.
What better way to prove Microsoft has rediscovered its mojo than with an ad campaign that harkens back to the glory years and reintroduces us to the Windows we all know and love.
12:55 p.m. An advanced search on Twitter doesn’t turn up any Mick Jagger sitings in the area.
1:05 p.m. A colleague notices a tweet from Manchester United that shows a picture of the team boarding the Rolling Stone’s plane below the message, “Traveling like rockstars.”
Travelling like rock stars… #MUtour ✈️?? pic.twitter.com/u5b2wdkS56
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) July 21, 2015
A quick search confirms that the Manchester United soccer team has been in town to kickoff their pre-season tour — and they’re borrowing the Stones’ plane.
1:06 p.m. Calling off the hunt.
We return to the relative humdrum of Microsoft’s earnings report, just hoping the company has something big planned for the July 29 launch of Windows 10. Will it be as cool as what the rumor mill is able to come up with? We can only hope.
