..going so far as to poach Apple Store staff and managers and hiring former Apple retail executive George Blankenship who played an instrumental part in the growth and popularization of the Apple retail outlets..
...Microsoft intends to open stores next door to Apple..
..Microsoft plans to mirror many aspects of Apple's retail outlets, including using "Microsoft Gurus" for tech support and demos much like the Apple store "Geniuses."..
I'm sorry, but this makes Microsoft sounds like a spoiled and petty child. Why can't they ever come up with any original ideas?
OMG Microsoft is doomed and will die in two years. Apple's worldwide marketshare will grow and they will dominate the world and all the humans will think different!
In two years every corporation will stop using Windows and Office and instead play with iChat and iPhones all day long!
have you used a mac for work? do you own iWork? Have you written a resume in pages and saved it in PDF to share with interested parties? Have you organised your holiday using numbers? Have you put together a great but simple site using iweb or used your iphone to see the latest homes on sale in your area? I have - apple products rock for work and play.
and you know what, my office just upgraded to XP! the IT dept doesnt want to touch vista or 7.
google makes money from ads, ms makes money from software and apple makes money from hardware - they occasionally overlap with each other but not as much as we think. all their core competencies are different from each other.
MS should not be competing with Apple. And Google is no where yet - all they have is a bunch of dodgy web apps - google search, maps and mail are good - everything else is OK. Android feels like a rehash of iphone to me without the polish.
have you used a mac for work? do you own iWork? Have you written a resume in pages and saved it in PDF to share with interested parties? Have you organised your holiday using numbers? Have you put together a great but simple site using iweb or used your iphone to see the latest homes on sale in your area? I have - apple products rock for work and play.
and you know what, my office just upgraded to XP! the IT dept doesnt want to touch vista or 7.
That is all so true. Windoze and Office is what they know and that is the end of the conversation. It is amazing how people cling to something so hard when better solution are available just because, I assume, they feel safe in what they know. As an example, I recall the amazing hostility the graphics user interface and mouse met from the 'want to key everything in' types. My staff were demonstrating the early Lisa and then Macs to many university and corporate MIT (read IBM main frame) types back in the day for Apple and try as they may at times these people refused to see any advantage. Even as they drew and edited graphics in seconds and asked exactly how would you do that with a key board these bone heads refused to see the light stating such drivel as "We can type coordinates!"
Then prove it-Walk the Walk. Provide a link. You sling BS.
Wil Harris (January 30, 2007) Windows Vista review:
"Well, it's a massive improvement over Windows XP"
"The new Glass interface does look pretty natty."
"The driver set that ships with the operating system is pretty impressive, and assuming you're not using some cronky old bag of bolts, you should find the upgrade a fairly simple process."
Phil Windley "Detailed Windows Vista Review" Technometria January 9, 2007
"So, it doesn’t really matter what the features are frankly. Eventually, you’ll buy it." Pull the other one Windley; it plays jingle bells.
Forbes was one of the few who saw Vista for what it was back then. Stephen Manes' "Dim Vista" Feb 26, 2007 is a total laugh riot. "The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump." It then goes down from there.
Since I'm the Guru in these parts, I'm tickled that I've managed to "upgrade" the most of my closest friends to Macs. Those half a dozen left though on Windows... I am NOT looking forward to getting a call from(!)... regardless of free beer and schnitzel.
PS. I'll humbly consider myself a "Genius" the day I'm able get those left-over hard-heads on to Macs
Yeah, I know that one. People call me a computer guru, too.
Sorry if I missed it in the thread somewhere, but is there a date given for the MS retail store opening? Any known specifics of appearance, features, etc., besides vague rumors of Apple-like design and a "Guru Bar"?
Wil Harris (January 30, 2007) Windows Vista review:
"Well, it's a massive improvement over Windows XP"
"The new Glass interface does look pretty natty."
"The driver set that ships with the operating system is pretty impressive, and assuming you're not using some cronky old bag of bolts, you should find the upgrade a fairly simple process."
Phil Windley "Detailed Windows Vista Review" Technometria January 9, 2007
"So, it doesn?t really matter what the features are frankly. Eventually, you?ll buy it." Pull the other one Windley; it plays jingle bells.
Forbes was one of the few who saw Vista for what it was back then. Stephen Manes' "Dim Vista" Feb 26, 2007 is a total laugh riot. "The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump." It then goes down from there.
Raves only mean anything post-release and 3-6 months into the release. Pre-release buzz, especialy when it comes to MS, can't be trusted completely. I'd be very wary of any company that spends 8 years fumbling the product in its core area of (in)competency.
It all depends on Joe Average's verdict. The market wil render its own judgement, just like with Vista.
Microsoft has always ruled their hardware "partners" using the very real threat of jacking up the unit price of OEM copies of Windows to install on their hardware. If the manufacturer displeases Microsoft, watch out.
With PC hardware margins being as razor thin as they are, a jump in a few dollars per machine for a Windows license could threaten a company's survival.
I'd guess that MS granting a space for your hardware in their stores would be presented as some sort of showcasing opportunity.
MS' hardware partners will do as they are told and like it.
In the past, Microsoft certainly has treated the OEMs like so many vassal states, but they lost some ability to leverage the OEMs against each other, at least temporarily, in the antitrust trial settlement. However it's not clear to me whether featuring one or more of the OEMs in their stores would be covered by any of the terms of the settlement, which I believe is expired now anyway.
Still, I wonder whether Microsoft has any plans to deal with unhappy OEMs other than taking a "like it or lump it" approach. They're going to have trouble getting cooperation from any of their partners if they're too high-handed. I think this is a tough line to walk, and I have my doubts about Microsoft's ability to navigate it successfully. A light touch has never been their speciality.
Microsoft's retail and hardware partnerships may hinder its expansion into the retail space, as it seeks to compete with Apple's brick-and-mortar locations.....
In the past, Microsoft certainly has treated the OEMs like so many vassal states...
Still, I wonder whether Microsoft has any plans to deal with unhappy OEMs other than taking a "like it or lump it" approach. They're going to have trouble getting cooperation from any of their partners if they're too high-handed. I think this is a tough line to walk, and I have my doubts about Microsoft's ability to navigate it successfully. A light touch has never been their speciality.
What other choice do OEMs have but to take whatever Microsoft dishes out?
How many average users are lining up to buy computers with Ubuntu or some other Linux derivative pre-installed? Not many, I'd wager. Can they spell compile?
Anti-trust rulings or not, it's Microsoft's way or the highway.
What other choice do OEMs have but to take whatever Microsoft dishes out?
How many average users are lining up to buy computers with Ubuntu or some other Linux derivative pre-installed? Not many, I'd wager. Can they spell compile?
Anti-trust rulings or not, it's Microsoft's way or the highway.
I hear you. I know this approach has worked for Microsoft in the past, I just wonder whether it works so well for them now. I think they probably don't want the stores to be a hodgepodge of products (trying to emulate Apple's retail image, or so it seems), so this suggests the need for cooperative OEMs. We'll see!
Comments
You probably will die from laughing
..going so far as to poach Apple Store staff and managers and hiring former Apple retail executive George Blankenship who played an instrumental part in the growth and popularization of the Apple retail outlets..
...Microsoft intends to open stores next door to Apple..
..Microsoft plans to mirror many aspects of Apple's retail outlets, including using "Microsoft Gurus" for tech support and demos much like the Apple store "Geniuses."..
I'm sorry, but this makes Microsoft sounds like a spoiled and petty child. Why can't they ever come up with any original ideas?
OMG Microsoft is doomed and will die in two years. Apple's worldwide marketshare will grow and they will dominate the world and all the humans will think different!
In two years every corporation will stop using Windows and Office and instead play with iChat and iPhones all day long!
have you used a mac for work? do you own iWork? Have you written a resume in pages and saved it in PDF to share with interested parties? Have you organised your holiday using numbers? Have you put together a great but simple site using iweb or used your iphone to see the latest homes on sale in your area? I have - apple products rock for work and play.
and you know what, my office just upgraded to XP! the IT dept doesnt want to touch vista or 7.
WOW- pure genius!
I thought it was Google.
google makes money from ads, ms makes money from software and apple makes money from hardware - they occasionally overlap with each other but not as much as we think. all their core competencies are different from each other.
MS should not be competing with Apple. And Google is no where yet - all they have is a bunch of dodgy web apps - google search, maps and mail are good - everything else is OK. Android feels like a rehash of iphone to me without the polish.
i know right? talk about insecurity issues no pun intended lol
You should have claimed the best pun joke of the week there! Brilliant
I'm sorry, but this makes Microsoft sounds like a spoiled and petty child. Why can't they ever come up with any original ideas?
Agreed, but then why would they start now after 30 three decades of never doing so?
But they have come up with original ideas: the registry, DLLs, and laissez-faire security to name just three.
My favorite is ... make sure the dialog window you really should see during an installation remaining behind the one you don't need to see ...
... or see how many times you can tell the user that their anti virus application isn't running while it is and actually checking for updates.
This would be a fun list to expand, kind of like Dan Quail's smartest remarks list.
have you used a mac for work? do you own iWork? Have you written a resume in pages and saved it in PDF to share with interested parties? Have you organised your holiday using numbers? Have you put together a great but simple site using iweb or used your iphone to see the latest homes on sale in your area? I have - apple products rock for work and play.
and you know what, my office just upgraded to XP! the IT dept doesnt want to touch vista or 7.
That is all so true. Windoze and Office is what they know and that is the end of the conversation. It is amazing how people cling to something so hard when better solution are available just because, I assume, they feel safe in what they know. As an example, I recall the amazing hostility the graphics user interface and mouse met from the 'want to key everything in' types. My staff were demonstrating the early Lisa and then Macs to many university and corporate MIT (read IBM main frame) types back in the day for Apple and try as they may at times these people refused to see any advantage. Even as they drew and edited graphics in seconds and asked exactly how would you do that with a key board these bone heads refused to see the light stating such drivel as "We can type coordinates!"
Then prove it-Walk the Walk. Provide a link. You sling BS.
Wil Harris (January 30, 2007) Windows Vista review:
"Well, it's a massive improvement over Windows XP"
"The new Glass interface does look pretty natty."
"The driver set that ships with the operating system is pretty impressive, and assuming you're not using some cronky old bag of bolts, you should find the upgrade a fairly simple process."
Phil Windley "Detailed Windows Vista Review" Technometria January 9, 2007
"So, it doesn’t really matter what the features are frankly. Eventually, you’ll buy it."
engadge had a collection of largely possitive reviews regarding vista. Boy wonder what some of those guys were on.
Harry McCracken "Windows Vista: A Review Recap" Back in late 2006 and early 2007, most appraisals of Vista were fairly kind.
Forbes was one of the few who saw Vista for what it was back then. Stephen Manes' "Dim Vista" Feb 26, 2007 is a total laugh riot. "The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump." It then goes down from there.
"Be wery wery quiet I'm hunting troll he he he."
Since I'm the Guru in these parts, I'm tickled that I've managed to "upgrade" the most of my closest friends to Macs. Those half a dozen left though on Windows... I am NOT looking forward to getting a call from(!)... regardless of free beer and schnitzel.
PS. I'll humbly consider myself a "Genius" the day I'm able get those left-over hard-heads on to Macs
Yeah, I know that one. People call me a computer guru, too.
Invariably someone asks me to "fix" their PC.
My response:
Step 1: Buy a Mac.
Step 2. Then I'll help.
They stop asking. Works every time.
Wil Harris ?
Phil Windley?
Harry McCracken?
"Be wery wery quiet I'm hunting troll he he he."
Sounds like March of the Shills. (cue Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from Peer Gynt)
Part of the Microsoft development process is to feed the shills. Funny how even the Windows Stockholm Syndrome suffers didn't buy into it.
I saw this concept sketch online http://www.microsplot.com/blog/2009/...concept_sketch
but somehow I suspect it's not real.
Just curious as to what form these stores will take. Though to be honest, I'm more curious about the "under renewal" Apple store(s)!
Wil Harris (January 30, 2007) Windows Vista review:
"Well, it's a massive improvement over Windows XP"
"The new Glass interface does look pretty natty."
"The driver set that ships with the operating system is pretty impressive, and assuming you're not using some cronky old bag of bolts, you should find the upgrade a fairly simple process."
Phil Windley "Detailed Windows Vista Review" Technometria January 9, 2007
"So, it doesn?t really matter what the features are frankly. Eventually, you?ll buy it."
engadge had a collection of largely possitive reviews regarding vista. Boy wonder what some of those guys were on.
Harry McCracken "Windows Vista: A Review Recap" Back in late 2006 and early 2007, most appraisals of Vista were fairly kind.
Forbes was one of the few who saw Vista for what it was back then. Stephen Manes' "Dim Vista" Feb 26, 2007 is a total laugh riot. "The result? A vista slightly more inspiring than the one over the town dump." It then goes down from there.
"Be wery wery quiet I'm hunting troll he he he."
good try but FAIL!
A one line blurt does not a rave make.
Nothing compares to a rave like this:
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007...lp-you-forget/
good try but FAIL!
A one line blurt does not a rave make.
Nothing compares to a rave like this:
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007...lp-you-forget/
Raves only mean anything post-release and 3-6 months into the release. Pre-release buzz, especialy when it comes to MS, can't be trusted completely. I'd be very wary of any company that spends 8 years fumbling the product in its core area of (in)competency.
It all depends on Joe Average's verdict. The market wil render its own judgement, just like with Vista.
Microsoft has always ruled their hardware "partners" using the very real threat of jacking up the unit price of OEM copies of Windows to install on their hardware. If the manufacturer displeases Microsoft, watch out.
With PC hardware margins being as razor thin as they are, a jump in a few dollars per machine for a Windows license could threaten a company's survival.
I'd guess that MS granting a space for your hardware in their stores would be presented as some sort of showcasing opportunity.
MS' hardware partners will do as they are told and like it.
In the past, Microsoft certainly has treated the OEMs like so many vassal states, but they lost some ability to leverage the OEMs against each other, at least temporarily, in the antitrust trial settlement. However it's not clear to me whether featuring one or more of the OEMs in their stores would be covered by any of the terms of the settlement, which I believe is expired now anyway.
Still, I wonder whether Microsoft has any plans to deal with unhappy OEMs other than taking a "like it or lump it" approach. They're going to have trouble getting cooperation from any of their partners if they're too high-handed. I think this is a tough line to walk, and I have my doubts about Microsoft's ability to navigate it successfully. A light touch has never been their speciality.
Microsoft's retail and hardware partnerships may hinder its expansion into the retail space, as it seeks to compete with Apple's brick-and-mortar locations.....
Best Buy and Micro Center can't be happy at all.
In the past, Microsoft certainly has treated the OEMs like so many vassal states...
Still, I wonder whether Microsoft has any plans to deal with unhappy OEMs other than taking a "like it or lump it" approach. They're going to have trouble getting cooperation from any of their partners if they're too high-handed. I think this is a tough line to walk, and I have my doubts about Microsoft's ability to navigate it successfully. A light touch has never been their speciality.
What other choice do OEMs have but to take whatever Microsoft dishes out?
How many average users are lining up to buy computers with Ubuntu or some other Linux derivative pre-installed? Not many, I'd wager. Can they spell compile?
Anti-trust rulings or not, it's Microsoft's way or the highway.
What other choice do OEMs have but to take whatever Microsoft dishes out?
How many average users are lining up to buy computers with Ubuntu or some other Linux derivative pre-installed? Not many, I'd wager. Can they spell compile?
Anti-trust rulings or not, it's Microsoft's way or the highway.
I hear you. I know this approach has worked for Microsoft in the past, I just wonder whether it works so well for them now. I think they probably don't want the stores to be a hodgepodge of products (trying to emulate Apple's retail image, or so it seems), so this suggests the need for cooperative OEMs. We'll see!
good try but FAIL!
A one line blurt does not a rave make.
Nothing compares to a rave like this:
http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007...lp-you-forget/
Pre-release reviews are fun.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...101600707.html
See? I can post one too.