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Microsoft Targeting Apple Stores With New Retail Store Concept
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Sadly still a non-portable dual core notebook.
3.0 GHz on a Core 2 isn't all that amazing when Core 2 Quad and i7 out there. I expect more disparity once Lynnfield/Clarksfield roll out.
I think Steve Jobs should jump off the Brooklyn Bridge because I want to see if Steve Ballmer would jump in right behind him.
It gets my work done quickly, quietly, and with aplomb. And looks (and feels) good doing it.
Yet manages a great game of Left4Dead when the work is done.
Some of us aren't obsessed with mhz at the cost of crap software and OS.
That's good for you. Sadly I need expansion and more than two cores. Appearance is only skin deep.
A reasonably priced Q9000 iMac would be a step in the right direction. You'd get more work done with less MHz as well. Apple is terribly obsessed with showing off clock speeds. On the notebook side if they can't show off more MHz or minutes of battery life it's not worth the update.
I wonder how Apple is going to spin Arrandale with the clock speeds nearly cut in half over Core 2.
And you show me a Microsoft fansite like WinSupersite that isn't 99% Apple bashing.
Why doesn't MS innovate with their stores.
They should have drive through and instead of a big clown to talk to when ordering burger and fries they can talk to a big Steve Ballmer version when ordering their Zune or Windows 7.
Although Steve Ballmer and big clown is kind of repetitive!
They should have drive through and instead of a big clown to talk to when ordering burger and fries they can talk to a big Steve Ballmer version when ordering their Zune or Windows 7.
Although Steve Ballmer and big clown is kind of repetitive!
Interesting comments about the stores being more "education centers" than anything. I like the idea. I haven't had a home Windows machine since XP and really have no idea what Vista even looks like, I've just heard all of the negatives. So I suppose it could be helpful in that it will help MS overcome some longstanding myths.
But I still have to wonder about the concept... retail space - especially in some of the malls that Apple places it's stores - is not cheap. I know Microsoft has plenty of money, but unless they are actually SELLING a significant amount of product at the store itself - and not sending them down the road to Best Buy - I'm still not seeing how this can be a money making proposition.
But I still have to wonder about the concept... retail space - especially in some of the malls that Apple places it's stores - is not cheap. I know Microsoft has plenty of money, but unless they are actually SELLING a significant amount of product at the store itself - and not sending them down the road to Best Buy - I'm still not seeing how this can be a money making proposition.
Not only does Apple rent in high end Mall and locations, you have to remember not only does Apple pay a base rent, but they have to pay a % of their sales. So if Microsoft is only going to pay rent because they will have limited sales...Zune, Xbox360 and software, then their rents will be higher than their neighbors. This is way they have to charge so much for their software, seem like everything else is a cash drain.
I didn't read all of this thread so maybe what I'm about to say was said before but...
If Microsoft isn't going to sell anything here is what I see in the store:
A section showing office.
A section showing zune.
A section showing XBox360.
A section where computers are set up where you can "learn".
What Microsoft expects:
Shoppers coming in each day, wooing over the new windows products that launch once a year or less, kids playing at the xbox 360/natal station, old people learning the computer from the "Windows Expert" that will be there, and corny shoppers leaving the store feeling "more informed" with coupons in their bags to go buy a laptop for $50 off at Best Buy.
What is probably going to happen:
An annoying "greet within 10 ft/ 30 second rule" employee will be on you "welcoming" you before you even get into the store to look around. There will be a few computers set up with office on them. Poor kids will be hogging the xbox 360 all day after school, and all you have to look around at in the store is a few zunes, a few windows pcs, lots of pamphlets, and the sad face of the person your with telling you that you should have stopped at best buy first because theres a better selection and you can actually BUY stuff.
Sorry MS, this has failure written all over it. Too many people are familiar with windows, they aren't familiar with mac which is why the apple stores work.
If Microsoft isn't going to sell anything here is what I see in the store:
A section showing office.
A section showing zune.
A section showing XBox360.
A section where computers are set up where you can "learn".
What Microsoft expects:
Shoppers coming in each day, wooing over the new windows products that launch once a year or less, kids playing at the xbox 360/natal station, old people learning the computer from the "Windows Expert" that will be there, and corny shoppers leaving the store feeling "more informed" with coupons in their bags to go buy a laptop for $50 off at Best Buy.
What is probably going to happen:
An annoying "greet within 10 ft/ 30 second rule" employee will be on you "welcoming" you before you even get into the store to look around. There will be a few computers set up with office on them. Poor kids will be hogging the xbox 360 all day after school, and all you have to look around at in the store is a few zunes, a few windows pcs, lots of pamphlets, and the sad face of the person your with telling you that you should have stopped at best buy first because theres a better selection and you can actually BUY stuff.
Sorry MS, this has failure written all over it. Too many people are familiar with windows, they aren't familiar with mac which is why the apple stores work.
I've never heard of that. Mall stores pay a
percentage of their sales? Profits I assume. And just who is in charge of calculating those profits? And then who double checks those numbers to ensure the other party isn't being ripped off? Oh, and then who keeps the mall from releasing top secret sales data to the public?
I call BS. This doesn't happen. The logistics are ridiculous. Plus, why would a mall even let some crappy store even open up, knowing there would be no sales to get additional revenues from? There are plenty of low sales reject stores in malls.
IT IS 1999 if you are a window user
Not an issue since XP? Are you kidding?! Last I checked 75+% of businesses are STILL using XP, IT departments everywhere rejected the transition to Vista REMEMBER! The latest hot market segment "netbooks" are all shipping with.... yep XP BABY HAHAHA and Win 7 is not a solid release... because, it hasn't been released yet unless you want to risk a Beta. No thank you, not for anything that is mission critical, so perhaps in October, but perhaps MS will push back the release like they did with Vista, then again that might not be bad thing...
Sorry not BS. All stores have to pay a percentage of their profits to the area they rent from whether it be a plaza, mall etc. Its the way retail works trust me I used to try and negotiate payments for stores who weren't making it.
Problem is, what will MS be selling, other than Zunes or Xbox 360? Windows? Customers comes in, and see Windows 7 pro upgrade for $200, while Apple is selling Snow Leopard for $29. I don't think that's going to work. On the other hand, they better have on-the-spot replacement for Xbox 360 RROD.
The biggest attraction of Apple stores imo is the Genius bar. With most other PC manufactures, you have to ship the PC somewhere, while it is more convenient to bring a Mac yourself to a local Apple store. I don't think MS get it. They're not competing with Apple. Instead, this store will simply compete with other B&M like Bestbuy/Frys. We see CompUSA and Circuitcity come and gone. I doubt MS will achieve anything, especially since they themselves are pushing software downloads.
The biggest attraction of Apple stores imo is the Genius bar. With most other PC manufactures, you have to ship the PC somewhere, while it is more convenient to bring a Mac yourself to a local Apple store. I don't think MS get it. They're not competing with Apple. Instead, this store will simply compete with other B&M like Bestbuy/Frys. We see CompUSA and Circuitcity come and gone. I doubt MS will achieve anything, especially since they themselves are pushing software downloads.
IT IS 1999 if you are a window user
umm yes. they are still using xp because business software doesn't really require much horsepower to run. a lot of computers at my work are still running windows 2000. big deal. these computers are old, single core, 512 megs of ram, etc etc. obviously they wouldn't be running vista. they are still cheap, easy to maintain, and stable.
this has absolutely nothing to do with todays average tech/home user.
vista did have initial horrible impressions. big deal. mac users whined about moving from mac 9 to osx too. now its fine. just like how current day vista is running perfectly fine. i have not tried windows 7 yet but my roommate is currently running it on his workstation full time. he, along with several reviews all over the internet says its running like a dream so far.
no idea why you bring up the netbook and xp correlation. netbooks are obviously underpowered, little machines designed to do little more than light surfing/emailing, etc. naturally they'd use an older or lighter os. same reason many of them also run light installations of linux and probably google OS soon.
i like both mac and windows. you're clearly just a machead. so please don't talk about stuff you know nothing about.
Apple has a successful venue for selling their system that MS lacks. It's jealousy. The biggest way that MS gets the OS on the market is through OEM's. MS wants their system to be more visible to the public I suppose to encourage upgrading. Retail presence would do that (hypothetically)
Yes, they do thats what confuses me.
IBM is a partner with MS and doesn't really compete with Microsoft with consumers. Oracle is the same. Google - right now MS is doing that with Office online 2010. I think...Shouldn't they be more afraid of IBM, Oracle and now Google instead of focusing on little old apple?
Not an issue since Windows 2000 for the most part.IT IS 1999 if you are a window user
The Windows 7 Beta and RC have been solid in my book. It'd be a good idea to give it a try before making more comments on it.
lol thats an unfair comparison. snow leopard is hardly a new OS. in fact, apple is just basically charging you for a patch/update. windows 7 is only 10$ for upgraders. i like how you just conveniently left that out.
meanwhile i don't ever recall having to pay for a service pack from microsoft. another ridiculous and similar point is new firmware for ipods costing $10 each time which makes absolutely no sense. i don't know of any other piece of hardware that actually CHARGES you for firmware upgrades.
The WinSupersite is Apple bashing?
Paul Theroutte is one of the biggest Microsoft cheerleaders. It's widely known that despite owning Mac hardware, he is not a fan of Apple. It is his private site and that's his business. I don't frequent his site nor do I pay much attention to him.