Fixed it for you - as you say, it was history.
And of course, none of it was illegal at the time it happened...
...until the term "monopoly" was decreed, then all the legal stuff that MS had done became illegal.
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Microsoft Targeting Apple Stores With New Retail Store Concept
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Fixed it for you - as you say, it was history.
And of course, none of it was illegal at the time it happened...
...until the term "monopoly" was decreed, then all the legal stuff that MS had done became illegal.
Gateway = hardware
Microsoft = software
If you buy a PC, you're buying from Microsoft. Oh, and whoever happens to make the hardware.
The GuruBar logo reminds me of that Microsoft self-parody of its take on iPod packaging. Microsoft fan-boys on this forum aside, this logo tells me that cooler heads within Microsoft as sending up flares hoping for rescue.looks like they copied the logo idea too!
..just kidding.. something i made due to boredom.
I am not at all convinced that Ballmer has a sense of humor. Certainly, he is not laughing after publishing Microsoft's latest financial report or reading Apple's. This is not the time for him to be wasting money "just for fun."
My take on all of this is that Mac users and fans are concerned by the wrong thing. We have known this for years. However, the Microsoft Store confirms it. The GuruBar logo removes all doubt. Microsoft is completely bereft of ideas. It isn't going have any new ones for years to come. As a result, it will continue to decline.
Like the old General Motors, Microsoft has massive assets that will allow it to survive for foreseeable future. It may survive long enough to find the strength and vision to find a new path. What Mac fans should be concerned about is maintaining a viable competitor for our favorite platform. On its current path, Microsoft will not be it.
Perhaps they will sell their own software products, windows, office etc and their own hardware like mice and keyboards. Just not PC's.
by the sounds of it, these will just be 'showcase' stores, to motivate other vendors etc, put around key apple store sites, not a proper chain.
It seems you believe that when unethical business practices take place before they are deemed illegal, this makes them somewhat less egregious. The repercussions of their monopolistic behavior happen to continue well beyond the time that they were decreed a "monopoly," nevertheless.
I think "coercive contracts" is a perfect fit for a lot of stuff from Cupertino as well. (AppStore in particular)
Did I say anything about that? No, I simply corrected the tense of your post.
Honestly, the surface table is really cool. If there are really surface tables in the store, it'll be worth the drive to see one.
Just one drive, though.
Honestly, the surface table is really cool. If there are really surface tables in the store, it'll be worth the drive to see one.
Just one drive, though.
Not really. The Surface tables at Disneyland tend to crash a lot. Just like any other MS software. (sigh)
Once I did manage to get some time with one, um...they are okay. They just didn't wow me as much as the video makes it seem like it would. They seemed too clunky. Perhaps after a few more versions. The kids sure do love them though, I will say that. Even the simple make ripples in the water demo, keeps them entertained for a LONG time.
looks like they copied the logo idea too!
..just kidding.. something i made due to boredom.
It looks like something Microsoft would do: copy something and make it ugly.
Not true. To even approach a mere fraction of the magnitude of coercion afflicted by Microsoft, Apple would first need to preinstall iTunes on all Creative Labs Zen MX, Creative Labs Mozaic, Creative Labs EZ300, Sandisk Sansa Fuze, Sansa Clip, Samsung U5, Samsung Q2, Samsung P3, Samsung YP-P2JCB, Sony Walkman, Microsoft Zune, et.al. MP3 players as well as MP3 playing phones and consoles. All in all, Apple's solutions do not even come close to entering the realm of the incomparably grandiose levels of Microsoft's monopolistic, unethical, and abusive business practices of the past.
I never claimed that you did.
Absolute nonsense. You are not a designer if you can come up with only one design.
If they were really "gurus" and knew what they're doing they'll have MacBook Pros and run Windoze using VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop just to check options, etc.
10 Ways Microsoft Stores will be Different to Apple Stores
Microsoft announced plans to open retail stores, hoping to boost visibility of many of its products and its brand. The move seems to be an effort to mimic the success that Apple has had with its retail stores. The news is just too tempting not to have some fun with. So here are some yet-to-be-officially-revealed details about the Microsoft stores.
1) Instead of Apple's sheer walls of glass, Microsoft's stores will have brushed steel walls dotted with holes -- reminiscent of Windows security.
2) The store will have six different entrances: Starter, Basic, Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. While all six doors will lead into the same store, the Ultimate door requires a fee of $100 for no apparent reason.
3) Instead of a "Genius Bar" (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsofties trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it's a problem with the hardware -- not a software bug.
4) The Windows Genuine Advantage team will run storefront security, assuming everybody is a thief until they can prove otherwise.
5) Store hours are undetermined. At any given time the store mysteriously shuts down instantaneously for no apparent reason. (No word yet on what happens to customers inside).
6) Stores will be named Microsoft Live Retail Store with PC Services for Digital Lifestyle Enthusiasts.
7) Fashioned after Microsoft's User Account Control (UAC) in Vista, sales personnel will ask you whether you're positive you want to purchase something at least twice.
8) Xbox 360 section of the store will be organized in a ring -- which will inexplicably go red occasionally.
9) DreamWorks will design a scary in-store theme park ride called "blue screen of death."
10) Store emergency exits will be unlocked at all times so people can get in anytime they want even if the front doors are locked.
Microsoft announced plans to open retail stores, hoping to boost visibility of many of its products and its brand. The move seems to be an effort to mimic the success that Apple has had with its retail stores. The news is just too tempting not to have some fun with. So here are some yet-to-be-officially-revealed details about the Microsoft stores.
1) Instead of Apple's sheer walls of glass, Microsoft's stores will have brushed steel walls dotted with holes -- reminiscent of Windows security.
2) The store will have six different entrances: Starter, Basic, Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. While all six doors will lead into the same store, the Ultimate door requires a fee of $100 for no apparent reason.
3) Instead of a "Genius Bar" (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsofties trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it's a problem with the hardware -- not a software bug.
4) The Windows Genuine Advantage team will run storefront security, assuming everybody is a thief until they can prove otherwise.
5) Store hours are undetermined. At any given time the store mysteriously shuts down instantaneously for no apparent reason. (No word yet on what happens to customers inside).
6) Stores will be named Microsoft Live Retail Store with PC Services for Digital Lifestyle Enthusiasts.
7) Fashioned after Microsoft's User Account Control (UAC) in Vista, sales personnel will ask you whether you're positive you want to purchase something at least twice.
8) Xbox 360 section of the store will be organized in a ring -- which will inexplicably go red occasionally.
9) DreamWorks will design a scary in-store theme park ride called "blue screen of death."
10) Store emergency exits will be unlocked at all times so people can get in anytime they want even if the front doors are locked.
Meanwhile..........
"Microsoft is dangling prizes to entice developers to slap together some applications for the company's cheap, uncool customers who've shortsightedly saddled themselves with underpowered, laughably-outclassed Windows Mobile devices that offer myriad screen sizes, untold hardware configurations, and an OS that only Steve Ballmer could pretend to love.
Developers who are desperate enough to submit their little slapdash programs to Microsoft's "Windows Marketplace for Mobile" are eligible to win what Microsoft calls the "Race to Market Challenge" (remember folks, as usual, it's a mad rush to catch up to Apple, so forget about quality; hurry up!). "Winning" could net the developer a "prize," including:
One (1) Microsoft Big Ass Table: So hapless WinMo developers can get a faraway glimpse of what real mobile developers all have in their pockets in a convenient 9-ton coffee table; optional carrying cart with trailer hitch sold separately.
Online marketing and promotion: Ooh, goody! A sample: "This is Lauren. She's too stupid to get a real phone. (Lauren) 'Let's go to the iPhone store. I'm not cool enough or smart enough to think more than 15 seconds ahead. Where's the hair dye; "Unnatural Crimson," please? Uh, I mean (reads off-camera): '$800. for. an. iPhone?! This. L.G. phone. looks. like. the. same. thing... Good. enough.' We told Lauren, 'You bought it. You're stuck with it. Dumbass.'"
A one-of-a-kind trophy: No, we're not kidding. Microsoft claims to have actually had some sort of trophy made up; their own mini-monument to stupidity. Unfortunately they don't show the thing on their site, but we do have an "artist's" conception below." source
Attachments
First two store locations:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10296393-56.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10296393-56.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0