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So the Microsoft Store looks pretty much like the Apple Store.
cloudeagle
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Microsoft Corp announced plans Thursday to open its own chain of branded stores as it looks to catch up with rival Apple Inc's successful move into retailing.
The world's largest software company, which also makes the Xbox video game console and the Zune digital music player, did not say how many stores it was looking to open, or when, or which of its products would be on sale.
That is to be decided by David Porter, a former DreamWorks Animation executive, which Microsoft named as its new vice president of retail stores.
Turner, a former Wal-Mart Stores Inc manager, will report to Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner.
The long-rumored move to open stores comes as consumer spending is under severe pressure due to the recession, which has already pushed electronics chain Circuit City into bankruptcy. A similar attempt by computer maker Gateway to open its own stores some years ago was not successful.
Microsoft, bruised by the poor reception of its latest Vista operating system, is facing increased competition from Apple, which is eating into the personal computer market and dominates the personal digital music player market with its iPod line.
Apple's stylish stores, now numbering more than 200 worldwide, have been crucial in attracting customers in recent years.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090213/tc_nm/us_microsoft
Huh. Unless Microsoft finds a way to make them absolutely awesome I really, really don't see this working.
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I'm inclined to agree with you fully here, but I'll pose it another way:
Unless Microsoft can convince at least a portion of its customer base to be as chic and hipster-obsessed as the people targeted by the Apple Store, I don't see this working.
hiyoooooooo!
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
I wasn't going to go there! :winky: Nothing good can come of this.
Seriously, though, I know it's not true for all Mac users, but we have to acknowledge, part of the Mac popular "chic" is this sort of hipster, trendy, elegant/vain aspect that has made a handful of businessmen very wealthy. It's not just "It just needs to work," but "It just needs to work and look good".
Microsoft already has their 'elemental' stores--they're called software retailers. Throw in OfficeMax and OfficeDepot while you're at it. They've been around way longer too.
But I can't see Microsoft successfully cultivating a cult of the chic (see what I did there?) the way Apple has done with its inescapable advertising campaigns, "Hi, I'm a Mac", crazy psychedelic musical ads, sexy iPod supermodel orgies, etc. It'd fail disastrously. I think the best Microsoft can do is have Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates exchange discussions about how much they love cake.
computing in the 21st century is going to be all chic and trendy no matter what. It's an inevitable backlash against the stereotypical nerd and geek culture that has for too long held a stranglehold on the computing world. Computers don't belong to the nerds anymore, they are for everyone. Now it's time to look the part.
I'm pretty sure they said the same thing about cars, specifically larger sedans, a couple decades before I was born. And there are many good lookin' cars. Yet, I still find myself surrounded by ugly, utilitarian, yet entirely functional automobiles. Above all, small, utilitarian automobiles. :winky:
It's now time for horrible analogies! Huzzah!
Wait, we aren't?
Apparently they also want to start making their own PC's that look like iMacs :P
It's crazy because for Microsoft users it gives them better products and other things that they will like, while at the same time validating Apple's strategy so that all us Apple users can feel smug and secure with our choice... o_O
Wait... aren't Apple and Microsoft business partners?
Well, I remember that Windows XP was a popular target of scorn among many Mac friends, and then when 'Boot Camp' was made available, it became the best thing since sliced bread. People are finicky. I think. Not sure.
The official Mac Elitist policy is that Windows XP is only good for games and the occasional programs that can't run in Mac OS :P
Honestly, though. Booting XP has become a real chore. It's really slow. I have been playing with Windows 7 though and it is much much quicker. It's actually usable with 512mb ram :O
I have a P3 500Mhz desktop with 256MB of RAM that runs XP just fine. If you have issues with XP on 512MB of RAM then you might want to think about defragging and doing some heavy spyware checks, because there is no reason why you should be having sluggish performance running XP on a machine capable of running 7.
I'm not really sure how a Microsoft store would really work. Would they sell Windows, GFW games, Zunes, and Xbox 360s? It would be cool to have actual demo machines of Windows 7 up and running so people can try it out (and subsequently see through all of the retarded Mac ad bullshit/Apple Elitist blogs), but other than demos, what exactly are they offering that I can't get elsewhere?
I can go buy Windows, Zunes, and PC/Xbox 360 games at any department store.
Maybe they will partner up with a manufacturer and start selling prebuilt Windows machines?
Steam / Bus Blog / Goozex Referral
That said, I'm not really seeing the plus side to having a Microsoft store, unless they use it to undercut retail competitors and sell their products that much cheaper--which they won't.
Have you seen the ad for Songsmith? It takes the notion even further.
But for some reason, I can only see it being like a cell phone outlet. Lots of overpriced shit that you can get everywhere else anyway.
Though who knows. Maybe they'll surprise me.
A lot of brand-specific stores (I would make the case the Apple store included) are already like this. I can't really see how Microsoft would be all that different. You could combine computer software with computer hardware and the Xbox 360, but that's pretty much every BestBuy or similar store out there.
Microsoft is obsessed with following Apple because Apple will probably have like 50% of the OS market in a matter of years if they don't do something.
There is a reason Sony is closing its Playstation store in San Francisco.
I'm not kidding. What do you think the OS market might look like 10 years from now? That's like an eternity in technology time. You still think Microsoft is going to have it's 88% of the market? It was around 96% a few years ago and it's been going down exponentially.
What if Windows 7 is a flop? Unless they do something drastic like make it very cheap or give it out for free, stillbirth is still within the realm of possibility.
They sold that stock off 9 years ago, and even when they owned it, it was special non-voting stock.
360s? Games? I get those elsewhere, or in the case of games usually have them mail-ordered straight to the mail box.
Zunes? OK, maybe a point there. Do people buy those?
edit: and for the record, Apple has 10% of the OS market now. And the growth isn't slowing.
It's just an Apple store. Microsoft sell a lot of hardware and non Windows/Office products. Enough to warrant an entire store perhaps.
Also, in 5 years, Surface I can see being part of a Windows/Office/Surface trifecta forming the backbone of Microsoft. It will be everywhere.
Yes, ma'am, you had a 60-day Norton trial that came with your computer. It expired 4 years ago. It was probably pretty annoying before you opened that "BRITNEY-SPEARS-GIVIN-BURTH.JPG.EXE" trojan, which disabled its incessant tray messages.
I mean, for 10 years I never bought a single Microsoft product, the PCs I bought came with an OEM operating system. Now though, both with my 360 and the much broader variety of MS products I find myself much more often actually purchasing product from them as a direct consumer sale.
Which makes a Microsoft store kind of surprising but also kind of predictable.
They really need it. For the last 20 years it's been "Okay, now I've bought your OS and Office, now fuck off for five years."
Though Windows will be paying Microsoft bills till the end of time, even with encroaching OS competition from OSX I'll still be getting Windows 7. And eventually so will half the world. Eventually. But that spurious 'eventually' isn't a business plan MS can build upon. They need immediate, solid sales and a Microsoft store I guess does this.
Those make me want to go to one. Shame they'll never build one in my town, though.
Though, strangely enough, there are still more computers running Vista in the world right now than all versions of Mac operating systems combined--twice as many in fact. The number of computers in the world as a whole is still growing, so naturally, the number of Windows users is also growing. What is more complicated to say is how it compares to the number of new Mac users.
(I'm using Market Share at Hitslinks for that.)
The photographs are cool, and it does seem to capitalize on one of Microsoft's strengths--a huge library of video games that it distributes (and even helps develop sometimes), unlike all other OS and indeed software manufacturers. It's....really big, but I guess if you wanted to get everything (including Microsoft's hardware division--mice, keyboards, other peripherals), it'd have to be.
I guess it doesn't sound quite so implausible now. Of course, I'm speaking as someone who thinks the Coffee Table, "Surface" application is really cool, so I might be deluding myself.
I clearly don't know what an uncluttered store looks like.
Then again, my entire hometown would probably be considered a nightmare of clutter by these sort of standards.