04.11.12
Microsoft Uses Marketing Tricks to Create Illusion of Windows (WP7) Demand
Summary: Another attempt by Microsoft to fake fanfare
THE MONOPOLIST from Redmond has already tried AstroTurfing to shore up sales of WP7. Here is one example we wrote about.
Having failed to gain even a respectable share, Microsoft then decided to game some numbers and now it gives little bribes. TechBytes’ host Tim writes:
“…Let’s face facts, Microsoft has gotten it’s hand into everything. Once there, they consistently become the 900lb gorilla in the room with a bad attitude that kills competition and is bad for consumers…. ”
Microsoft is gaming the ranks by offering little bribes or virtually no-cost presales — all just to create fake hype. We discussed this in the IRC channels when examples were given. Due to my connection being far worse than useless at the moment I may not be able to blog as usual (will keep everything short). █
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mcinsand said,
April 11, 2012 at 11:54 am
Win7 is its own worst enemy. A friend got sick of it on her laptop, but she needed versatility, so a MacIntoy wasn’t an option (besides, why settle for an overpriced imitation?). Ubuntu to the rescue, although, as with most people that I know, KDE was an instant winner after a couple of hours with Unity. Anyway, another converted from Win7 last weekend, and it looks like a couple more of our friends are getting envious of our ability to pick up speed and configuratibility. Until this year, I thought Vista was our best friend, but Win7 looks to be even better!
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
April 11th, 2012 at 12:39 pm
I saw its server sibling. The main difference is, it takes longer to render over rdesktop/vnc (some of our clients have some Windows boxes around). What is the practical advantage then?
NotZed said,
April 11, 2012 at 9:17 pm
Looks cold in new york.
It’s their last change hurrah and it shows. If such a US centric company like MS can’t cut it in the US they have no hope elsewhere apart from tiny markets like Australia (which seems to love everything ms, and even here it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast).
Even a total MS-fanboi friend of 20 years who has had a windows 7 phone since he could buy one just said he wouldn’t recommend it. But he seems to have a strong aversion to android and doesn’t like apple, so i’m not sure just what he would recommend – so i’ll believe it when he buys something else. His rational is based on the hardware being out of date with it’s low screen resolution and so on.
The locked-down hardware specs were a mistake google made with android in the early days – but it didn’t last long because things move so fast. If the only option a manufacture has to distinguish their phone is using a faster (single core!) cpu, then it just makes the whole thing so very very common. At best they can hope for ‘reliable work-horse’, but given it’s so locked down as a microsoft appliance I find that pretty unlikely.
More likely it’ll end up being the ‘no-name-brand’ cheap alternative to the device the buyer really aspires to.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 2:48 am
How much does Microsoft invest in this (programming and marketing) and is it viable to keep it going at all? Last time I checked, in mobile Microsoft was losing at an amazing pace; shareholders may pressure to abandon the effort altogether. Buying RIM wouldn’t help Microsoft, either (and it cannot buy Google or Apple). I think the plan is to just tax the competition using patent extortion, then offer an alternative so as not to be called patent troll.
NotZed Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 4:50 am
Well throwing money at it eventually worked to some extent for home games consoles (although given the total cost cost it seems like a poor ‘vanity’ investment), I guess it’s the same thinking here. Some of the company probably truly believes they have a winning product even if it’s only because they haven’t seen what’s going on outside of their little protected bubble of M$ comfort.
I don’t think they’d be worried too much about being called a patent troll: more that only being a patent troll wont make them the big money they’re used to. As their tried and true business model relies on having a crushingly dominant market position from which to throw their weight around, patents are only a tool used to suppress the competition not one to make big profits from. And that’s pretty much what patents are there for: protect the big boys who can afford the lawyers from competition.
Of course, none of this explains Nokia’s head-long rush into suicide. Tomi Ahonen’s latest post has him quite upset about it’s wanton and needless destruction which is only accelerating now they’ve unveiled their slow-to-market new products which have about as much excitement attached to them as a Honda sedan.
Dr. Roy Schestowitz Reply:
April 12th, 2012 at 5:13 am
Today in IRC I’m seeing links about Nokia’s latest collapse.