Microsoft sets sights on providing an Apple-like experience

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.



"In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving," Ballmer wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal. "Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."



Going forward, Ballmer said Microsoft will be changing the way it works with hardware vendors to mimic the experience offered by the Mac maker in which there will be "absolutely no compromises." His plan calls for a similar approach in the mobile phone arena, where he hopes the company can create "great end-to-end experiences" akin to that afforded by Apple's closed ecosystem, where it maintains tight control of nearly every aspect of a product's design.



Ballmer's memo and his comments about the mobile phone industry arrive amid reports that the Redmond-based software giant this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone. A report published by jkOnTheRun suggests such a device would be based around the company's struggling Zune media player, but run a variant of Windows Mobile 7 with heavy tie-ins to Windows Live Services.



Still, Ballmer acknowledged in his memo that Windows and the public's perception of Vista remains Microsoft's No. 1 priority. He said the recent release of Windows Vista SP1 and teamwork with PC manufacturers have largely addressed the device and application compatibility issues that plagued the operating system in its early going.



"Now it?s time to tell our story," he said. "In the weeks ahead, we?ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you?ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 118
    aheneenaheneen Posts: 75member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    [Microsoft] this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone.



    What are they talking about, the R&D for this device has already been completed...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek
  • Reply 2 of 118
    minimoeminimoe Posts: 14member
    "...mimic the experience offered by the Mac..."



    Microsoft's been trying to do that since Windows 1.x, for more than 20 years now.



    Nothin' new here.
  • Reply 3 of 118
    So, they finally feel inferior? The day that Microsoft can provide an "Apple like experience" is the day that Apple goes under... which is never. This is just another rescue mission to save the sinking ship. I cannot wait to see what they come up with. If it is anything like the "World is Flat" ads on their website, we are in for a laugh.



    Steve
  • Reply 4 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.



    Amazing - that's Ballmer's Big New Idea that's going to turn Microsoft round & save his job

    - Copy Apple!

    - the man's a genius!



  • Reply 5 of 118
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,007member
    Microsoft has been called out before for being "inspired" by Apple's endeavors when developing some of their own products, but I think here, Ballmer is saying Microsoft will try and copy the entire company this time



    This is astounding in certain ways, and speaks volumes to the idiocy of Dancing Monkey Boy.



    This will be the largest copy and paste attempted in the history of computers.
  • Reply 6 of 118
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AHeneen View Post


    What are they talking about, the R&D for this device has already been completed...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek



    That's an amazing spoof. But, on a more serious note, they may actually try something like this... and it will fail as much as the Zune has.
  • Reply 7 of 118
    justflybobjustflybob Posts: 1,337member
    Monkey Boy must be getting ready to dump more of his MSFT stock options....
  • Reply 8 of 118
    thrangthrang Posts: 1,007member
    And Apple's ad agency must already be busy whipping up a new Mac/PC tv ad with THIS gem as its theme...
  • Reply 9 of 118
    thomprthompr Posts: 1,521member
    Balmer said:



    <...more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers.>



    This quote says so much. First of all, it says that Microsoft feels that it is necessary to define the meaning and value of windows to the customer. Shouldn't the customer just naturally sense the value, if the product is any good? I know with most good products, the value is inherently obvious from the get-go. If the company has to TELL me why it is valuable even after I have tried it, then the product most likely stinks.



    The second thing the quote says is that Microsoft has to REdefine the value. In other words, not only do they feel it necessary to define in the first place, but they failed at it once and need to try it again... presumably with a different - but somehow better - definition.



    Balmer STILL doesn't get it!



    Thompson
  • Reply 10 of 118
    banalltvbanalltv Posts: 238member
    Why wait? Get an Apple and enjoy the experience today.



    People who can only copy and not innovate are forever stuck, mediocre and producing only limited things.



    But that's not to say they can't crowd out the market with their landfill and squeeze out or consume the innovator.
  • Reply 11 of 118
    banalltvbanalltv Posts: 238member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    ...heavy tie-ins...





    With strong emphasis on the word 'heavy', like running through syrup, maybe.
  • Reply 12 of 118
    It was funny...as I was reading the article the ad for the Toshiba ToughBook was running and they had a laptop on top of a copier. That is exactly what they will do with Apple. I can't believe Microsoft still calls the "Control Panel" the "Control Panel" a name stolen a long time ago.



    On another note. I love using my Mac and filling out forms with the Spell Check turned on. My Windows machine does not have that feature out of the box.
  • Reply 13 of 118
    lakotalakota Posts: 2member
    I can see it now! The MEphone. Building on the success of Windows ME!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer on Wednesday issued a company-wide memo outlining his battle plan for the new fiscal year in which he singled out the Apple experience as a benchmark for future success.



    "In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving," Ballmer wrote in the email, a copy of which was obtained by the Wall Street Journal. "Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."



    Going forward, Ballmer said Microsoft will be changing the way it works with hardware vendors to mimic the experience offered by the Mac maker in which there will be "absolutely no compromises." His plan calls for a similar approach in the mobile phone arena, where he hopes the company can create "great end-to-end experiences" akin to that afforded by Apple's closed ecosystem, where it maintains tight control of nearly every aspect of a product's design.



    Ballmer's memo and his comments about the mobile phone industry arrive amid reports that the Redmond-based software giant this week held its first concrete meeting to begin mapping out a rival to the iPhone. A report published by jkOnTheRun suggests such a device would be based around the company's struggling Zune media player, but run a variant of Windows Mobile 7 with heavy tie-ins to Windows Live Services.



    Still, Ballmer acknowledged in his memo that Windows and the public's perception of Vista remains Microsoft's No. 1 priority. He said the recent release of Windows Vista SP1 and teamwork with PC manufacturers have largely addressed the device and application compatibility issues that plagued the operating system in its early going.



    "Now it?s time to tell our story," he said. "In the weeks ahead, we?ll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you?ll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers."







  • Reply 14 of 118
    I welcome any improvements to "The PC Experience" and any other area of computer technology, but I'd much rather see these improvements happen through innovation rather than through the "mimicking" of your competitor.
  • Reply 15 of 118
    An article by Darren Morph in engadget jan 18, 2007 was titled 'Steve Ballmer laughs off the iPhone" came right after the WWDC in 2007. the article can be found here:



    www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/01/18/ steve-ballmer-laughs-off-the-iphone-deems-it-most-expensive-i/



    It would seem the Value of Vista would be going down since SB's IQ is on the rise!



    V=SqRoot of 1984/SBIQ=.6455378
  • Reply 16 of 118
    buzdotsbuzdots Posts: 452member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AHeneen View Post


    What are they talking about, the R&D for this device has already been completed...

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRLRjKCGHek



    That was then, this is NOW!!!



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRKIDdIaFyE&NR=1







    And................... don't forget the master sales promoter to provide the pitch



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvsboPUjrGc
  • Reply 17 of 118
    For the sake of mankind, I hope they succeed... but why do I get the feeling they won't? They need to rebuild that company from the ground up - a memo just isn't going to cut it.
  • Reply 18 of 118
    lundylundy Posts: 4,466member
    Quote:

    Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience."





    CHOICE??? Windows or .... what else??? They've been saying that for decades and it never made any sense. They said it with the non-iPod music players - "CHOICE!!" ..... as long as it was WMA....



    Can they EVER be the first one to do anything? Copy the Mac, copy the iPod, copy OS X, copy the iPhone, copy the "end to end experience".....



    Redmond, start your copiers.
  • Reply 19 of 118
    If a ZunePhone is going to be based on Windows 7, that puts it at least a year's away. By that time, Apple would have announced, if not released it's next iPhone model, which will probably be a more of a redesign rather than mainly a feature addition as the iPhone 3G was. Microsoft is going to find itself up against entrenched competitors with the iPhone for consumers and the Blackberry for business, just like the iPod was against the Zune, and they'll likely find the results disappointing.
  • Reply 20 of 118
    minderbinderminderbinder Posts: 1,703member
    30-to-1? What fantasy world does he live in where Apple has 3 percent market share and Windows 97%?
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