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CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

money.cnn.com

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Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#21

Post by sprout »

cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

I stopped reading the article after they wrote that the browser is almost more important than the OS, and then in the next paragraph said that Windows Phone 7 shows promise.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#22

Post by stuhacking »

alanthonyc wrote: post #13
cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

They're also scared of phones. Check out their Phone 7 commercials. They appear to be catering to people who think people with phones are douchebags who walk around staring at their screen all day. I'm not sure how well this marketing strategy will work, because I am one of those douchebags, but it doesn't make me want to get one.

It really is a strange market niche to aim for... People who don't want to use a smartphone but want to own a smartphone... Is it even there at all?

I know people who don't like phones and they buy the minimum phone necessary to suit the need... A £30 handset on a top up based tariff.

I don't know people who will spend a lot of money on a phone they intend to use as little as possible.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#23

Post by trustfundbaby »

cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

This is an excellent point and to add to it I want to point out that Microsoft exacerbates this problem by not hiring the best web people to build their products.

They believe that they can put a bunch of smart people in a room and they'll come up with stuff people want to use, and this has largely been self fulfilling because of the dominance of Microsoft in the computing space.

Now that dominance is fading away, you are seeing the problem with the strategy. When Microsoft wanted to come up with a web Development framework for Web Developers they came up with .NET (built by a bunch of smart people for web developers), but it was a top notch web developer ... DHH who came up with Ruby on Rails. I remember using Rails for the first time and going "wow ... this just solves all the problems I have as a web developer" ... .NET never gave me that feeling, but to be fair ... it was a nice change from ASP spaghetti code days.

Why isn't Microsoft hiring the best Javascripters, CSS, html5, and backend web developers it can get its hands on? This is something that Google did like crazy when it started growing, and it has allowed them build badass web products like Google Maps, Google Calendar, Gmail etc ... while Microsoft is stuck playing catch up.

Even in releasing new versions of IE you can see this problem rear its head. Instead of listening to Web developers who actually determine the direction the web moves in, the IE team tries to come up with new bullshit web standards and with no buy in from digerati, it fails.

Microsoft is no longer calling the shots, and by the time they realize this, it might be too late ... which is a shame, when you think of all the good that would come from Google having some serious competition.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#24

Post by SoftwareMaven »

alanthonyc wrote: post #13
cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

They're also scared of phones. Check out their Phone 7 commercials. They appear to be catering to people who think people with phones are douchebags who walk around staring at their screen all day. I'm not sure how well this marketing strategy will work, because I am one of those douchebags, but it doesn't make me want to get one.

That was exactly what I thought about those commercials: "If you are the type who doesn't want a powerful smart phone, Windows Phone 7 is for you."

Then again, it will be interesting to see if that resonates with a less technical market segment.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#25

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

contentvoid wrote: post #4
cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

I'm more inclined to think the phone will fail for the same reasons the Zune did, too little too late. But then the media player market was much broader and more saturated in 2006 than the smartphone market is now so maybe it won't play out in the same way...

The worst mistake they could make is to kill it the way they killed the Zune. They're never going to launch a day one, version one product which will displace the iPhone or Android, it's going to take time and investment.

The real target should be that they've got 25%+ market share in three years time. That should be what they're aiming for rather than a success this year.

People replace phones every 12 - 24 months and that's rapid even in tech (most people don't replace laptops that often). Every expired contract is a new potential customer for Microsoft and that churn means that no-one can take their position for granted so it's realistic for MS to make solid inroads over time.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#26

Post by ZeroGravitas »

points wrote: post #12
cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

Agree. The fact the xBox gaming console has the power of a supercomputer, as evident from its fans and overheating problems, but doesn't even have a simple webbrowser is all the evidence we need. MS has never understood or indeed wanted the www to happen. They were able to hold back www development for 5 years+ with their IE6 shenanigans, but the cats out of the bag now.

The bizarre lack of spell-check in IE has always been my personal indicator for when Microsoft stops holding onto the past and fighting the web.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#27

Post by Xuzz »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #20
points wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. The fact the xBox gaming console has the power of a supercomputer, as evident from its fans and overheating problems, but doesn't even have a simple webbrowser is all the evidence we need. MS has never understood or indeed wanted the www to happen. They were able to hold back www development for 5 years+ with their IE6 shenanigans, but the cats out of the bag now.

Really? The XBox uses the web in the best way possible for a games console - on-line gaming. Maybe it's just me but I find a console a rubbish browsing platform - I've got browsers on my PS3, PSP and Wii and never use them. It is possible that Microsoft just don't have a browser in the 360 because it's not a great place to put a browser. Microsoft own Hotmail, they've ported Office on-line, XBox supports on-line gami…

The Internet is not the web. Native games with Internet multiplayer aren't the web, they are the Internet.

I don't know a single person using the online Office versions, because, well, they don't compare to the desktop ones.

Yesterday, I saw a graph showing Hotmail losing about 10% market share, mostly to Gmail.

Their new Xbox website broke every existing link on the domain.

Mocrosoft does not get the web, even if they might get the internet.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#28

Post by brudgers »

Saying "Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand" is somewhat analogous to saying "Mitsubishi is a Dying Consumer Brand."

Though the structures are different, consumer products are only a part of their portfolio. Both have successful industrial lines, and both have flagship consumer lines that often draw flack. Importantly, both own highly successful consumer brands e.g Xbox and Nikon, respectively.

What the article misses is that Microsoft has an asset that it's competitors often don't: trust. Because of their B2B orientation, being trustworthy is a necessary strategy...that's not to say they don't make mistakes, but by and large they support they support their customers well beyond the typical three year upgrade cycle companies such as Apple enforce. Companies like Google and Facebook change their products in ways that are in conflict with the user's interests even more regularly.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#29

Post by iterationx »

cryptoz wrote: post #14
iterationx wrote: post #8

Microsoft can afford to fail many times before succeeding. It beat Lotus Notes, Borland C Compilers, Playstation, people continue to pay for Windows even though Linux is free. You don't measure what's going to happen in the future by taking a tiny slice of the present and projecting forwards.

> people continue to pay for Windows even though Linux is free 99% of that is only because Windows is available in stores and Linux typically is not. I think this will all change in about a month when Chrome OS comes out and is preinstalled on cheap computers in stores like Best Buy, Futureshop, or wherever people buy computers these days. Most consumers no longer care that they are running a specific OS; they want t…

I can appreciate your optimism but I don't think that's how its going to play out. I think you are so technical that you have lost touch with the everyman user.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#30

Post by lkrubner »

cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

"since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office"

I would think that the real problem is Microsoft's unwillingness to become something completely new, something other than Windows and Office. Apple was a computer company, then it became a cell phone company, a music company, a lot of other things.

Microsoft now sort of reminds me of Sun circa 1999: yes, they would sort of like to innovate and do something new, and they make the occasional try at it, but right now they have an insanely profitable product, so the easiest thing to do is to just keep milking it.

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