Archive for category Tech
Knowing Your Place
The big news from the blogosphere this week was that the leaked Powerpoint presentation showing store concepts for Microsoft were legitimate. Looking through the presentation, I get a very strong sense that Microsoft is trying to foster a similar experience as Apple has in their own stores. Then stories started breaking that Microsoft had hired Ex-Apple real estate guru George Blankenship who is known for finding ideal locations for retail. And today we find out where Microsoft is opening their first stores which are reportedly in “hot markets.” After reading these stories and looking at everything else Microsoft is trying to achieve, I’m more than a little perplexed by these actions.
Apple has had tremendous success with its stores and with their recent products. But the success came after they had focused on creating a premium brand. Apple is supposed to be in the most upscale retail locations because their brand is on par with other high-end, premium brands. Their stores would have failed in the local Home Depot shopping center. The Mac, iPhone, and iPod are all devices that carry the premium brand and are sold for a premium. The company continues to grow their revenue and report positive earning statements quarter after quarter. Even in this recessed economy Apple managed to post another record-earnings quarter for Q3.
Microsoft, on the other hand, posted their first loss in revenue in 23 years. It would seem that the executives in Redmond have become infatuated with what Apple has done and have decided to beat Apple at their own game. But why? By Microsoft’s own admission in a series of “Laptop Hunter” ads, they are the more affordable platform. Not to say “cheap” necessarily but they are certainly driving home the point that if customers choose to stay with Microsoft, they won’t pay as much. So why would Microsoft be positioning their upcoming stores in premium retail locations? This would be analogous of Lee Jeans opening a store in the swanky SoHo district in New York City. People accustomed to premium brands would find that brand laughable and walk on by. It would seem that a better strategy would be to open approachable stores in malls and shopping centers that cater to people looking for the most bang for their buck. The crowd they are already going after in their advertising.
And why are they getting so bent out of shape over consumer spending anyway? Microsoft’s bread and butter is their enterprise customers. And, apparently, enterprise is just fine with sticking with Windows XP. It’s not just Vista that businesses are shunning, it’s even the well-reviewed Windows 7 that businesses are deciding to pass on. Something I find interesting with both Vista and Windows 7 is that they seem to be trying to achieve a slick, consumer-focused operating system similar to Mac OS X. To me that seems very strange since their enterprise customers aren’t looking for slick, they’re looking for efficient and reliable. Microsoft needs to focus their attention back to the market that helped them create their empire. Microsoft should be focusing on very real competition from Google.
But they aren’t. Instead they seem to be focused on trying to out-Apple Apple even if it means reporting loss after loss. If Microsoft needs to learn one lesson from Apple, it’s that you need to stay true to your company and your brand. Apple got away from being Apple in the 1990s and it nearly cost them everything. Apple almost fell into oblivion until Jobs returned and helped them refocus. Microsoft can stop this skid if they get back to basics and focus on where they belong.
Music Subscriptions Feel So Wrong
I rent movies because I might watch them once. Maybe twice. I have about 40 DVDs of movies I know I’ll watch more than a few times. The way I consume movies is much different than the way I consume music so renting or subscribing to Netflix makes sense. Music matters to me. I have over 5000 tracks in iTunes, most of which are from my CD collection, and all of that music matters. The very idea of being able to listen to all the music ever made in exchange for a subscription sounds ridiculous. There’s only so much music a person can enjoy. And if you are the type of person that needs to hear the latest and greatest song by whatever hot teen the labels are pimping then you aren’t the kind of person that really likes music. You like synthetic garbage.
So I hope that this plan the Financial Times is reporting isn’t a mandatory thing. I hope they keep pushing for more songs to be in the non-DRM iTunes Plus format for purchase. I don’t ever want my music hijacked by a company because I don’t want to pay the monthly extortion for their subscription anymore.
UPDATED: 3/24/07: According to CNet, sources say it’s Universal who is putting this on the table. I seriously should have know that, after all Doug Morris would love nothing more than to put his hand in every music buyer’s pocket every month for the rest of their lives. Here’s my favorite quote:
“These guys at Universal,” said one music insider, “are so obsessed with this subscription thing…but there are publishing issues involved with bundling and I don’t think they make much money off it.”
Understanding People
Dennis O’Reilly wonders why so many people use IE, if it’s such a crappy browser:
Part of the reason may be that it’s so tightly integrated with Windows: It takes an effort to download Firefox or another alternative browser, while the little blue “e” icon is omnipresent on the desktop, start menu, quick launch toolbar, and elsewhere in Windows.
Ya think? Maybe if you understood human beings at all, you’d understand that people choose the path of least resistance. When Microsoft decided to embed Explorer into the operating system, they created an anti-competitive environment which is why they’re being watched for another 2 years. And IE is a crappy browser, no one should be using it.
Too Many Email Services
I’m in email hell. I’ve got my own Domain account, a .Mac account, a Yahoo account, a Gmail account, and I’ve even got a Hotmail account. They all do some things really well, and they all lack in other areas really badly. The only one that is a complete and total waste of time is Hotmail, it honestly offers nothing. I don’t want to keep several email accounts open and operational, I don’t want to just forward everything to one account (which is my current solution) and I don’t want to keep track of all of this crap anymore.
The Pros and Cons
Gmail (Pro)
Gmail has the best spam detection by far. And Gmail finally offers IMAP which makes me a happy camper.
Gmail (Con)
Google is starting to scare the shit out of me. I’m not fanatic about privacy, but Google goes too far the wrong way and I would very much like to drop off of their grid. I also think their web interface looks awful.
Yahoo (Pro)
The Daddy of ‘em all. I freaking love the AddressGuard (email aliases) and use them for everything, from buying to services to blog registrations. It’s a great way to keep my actual email out of the hands of no-good jerks.
Yahoo (Con)
They only offer POP which is completely useless. When I access my email on my iPhone, I can’t use all of those great email aliases to send the email.
.Mac (Pro)
.Mac’s email is pretty seamless with my Mac. It offers IMAP. And .Mac offers 5 email aliases.
.Mac (Con)
The .Mac service for me has been way too sketchy to be relied on for my main email.
My Domain (Pro)
What else can I say? It’s my domain. There’s also the professional feel to having chris [at] myowndomain [dot] com.
My Domain (Con) My domain uses a web interface that looks and behaves like the last time it was updated was 1999. For someone that must access their email through a web browser while at work, this is just a gigantic deal breaker. This is the account I want to use the most, but it’s the least useful.
What I Want
I want Gmail’s spam filter. I want IMAP. I want email aliases. I want a ton of space so I never have to worry about clearing out old emails. And I want to send to and from my own domain. Unfortunately, there’s not a service out there that can give me all of that. And what I have to choose from are too close to choose from. I bounce from service to service hoping to find the one that will work for all of my needs but I know I’ll never find it. Yahoo is probably the closest but their use of POP is maddening. POP is a terrible way to access your email.