Was Microsoft's "Future" Video Copied From an Old Glass Products Sales Film?

Microsoft (MSFT) appears to have plagiarized its vision of the future from industrial glass products maker Corning, judging by a new video from the software maker. The video shows a future world where virtually any device or surface has a touch screen that allows us to check in, communicate and do business with others. Which is pretty much what Corning's viral sensation "A Day Made of Glass," published in February, shows. That video became an unintentional hit with the public after it was made as a B-to-B sales tool.

Here's Microsoft's new video:


Now check out Corning's:


Even the music -- light piano -- is similar.

The Microsoft effort follows a cheap, amateurish video it published previously, "Microsoft Home," which showcased prototype devices and software speculatively planned for 15 years from now, such as wall-sized video screens.

Style plagiarism in advertising is common, of course. But Microsoft's new "Productivity Future Vision" is also depressing. In the future, the company believes, no one talks to anyone else. We move through our world silently, navigating with our handheld mobile devices. Even voicemails are transcribed automatically so we don't have to actually hear another human voice. We don't speak, we just use text.

This virtual accessibility allows us to keep traveling constantly (for business, natch) even during our kids' birthdays, so we'll need our devices to message home. Children don't have human teachers -- they learn math on their tablets.

No one speaks to us, either, not even the person at the next desk in the office. There is some video conferencing, but overall the Microsoft future is a universe of loneliness. With lots of software.

Related:

• Why No One Is Interested in Microsoft's "Home of the Future"