Thursday, April 10, 2008
Microsoft Retails Stores on the Horizon?
Posted by Jason Dunn in "Digital Home News" @ 05:00 PM
"Sources close to Fudzilla stated Microsoft indeed does want to forge a stronger bond with their retail consumers. Much like Apple has done with their Apple Retail Stores, Microsoft seems as though it will be following the same pattern. Anyone not familiar with the Apple outlets: they essentially offer a more personalized experience, giving you the most accurate and expert information for whatever product you need assistance with. Occasionally presentations and workshops are featured as well. Essentially, it's a forum for Apple to show off their stuff, and not just products. It's effective, kind of like technical support without all the annoyances of phoning fifty different lines or waiting a day or two on an e-mail response while your main computer is busted."
I'm not sure how much veracity I place in this, but if true, I'm not so sure it's a good idea. From a purely consumer perspective, Microsoft doesn't have as much to bring to the table in terms of their own hardware and software as Apple does. Yes, their software runs on a huge number of devices out there, but you can count on one hand the number of products where Microsoft controls both the hardware and software experience from end to end (Xbox, Zune, Keyboards, Mice, Webcams - did I miss anything?).
Plus, because such a huge percentage of people run Microsoft software in one form or another, the related number of people with problems is proportionately just as big. The level of product expertise and trouble-shooting knowledge that the staff at a Microsoft store would need to have would be staggering - and where does the troubleshooting end and the finger-pointing begin? If a laptop is crashing, is it the OS or faulty hardware? The level of diplomatic skill required to explain a customer that you can't help them without upsetting them is typically beyond the skills of your average minimum wage worker.
This just seems like an all-around bad idea to me - unless, and this is a big "unless", the stores were purely focused on home and entertainment. A store with Xbox 360s and accessories, Zunes and accessories, maybe a bunch of "Games for Windows" titles, etc. If the store was obviously focused on home entertainment, Joe six-pack probably wouldn't bring in his Windows 98 Dell laptop with its 89 viruses and 149 spyware programs looking for help...
I'm not sure how much veracity I place in this, but if true, I'm not so sure it's a good idea. From a purely consumer perspective, Microsoft doesn't have as much to bring to the table in terms of their own hardware and software as Apple does. Yes, their software runs on a huge number of devices out there, but you can count on one hand the number of products where Microsoft controls both the hardware and software experience from end to end (Xbox, Zune, Keyboards, Mice, Webcams - did I miss anything?).
Plus, because such a huge percentage of people run Microsoft software in one form or another, the related number of people with problems is proportionately just as big. The level of product expertise and trouble-shooting knowledge that the staff at a Microsoft store would need to have would be staggering - and where does the troubleshooting end and the finger-pointing begin? If a laptop is crashing, is it the OS or faulty hardware? The level of diplomatic skill required to explain a customer that you can't help them without upsetting them is typically beyond the skills of your average minimum wage worker.
This just seems like an all-around bad idea to me - unless, and this is a big "unless", the stores were purely focused on home and entertainment. A store with Xbox 360s and accessories, Zunes and accessories, maybe a bunch of "Games for Windows" titles, etc. If the store was obviously focused on home entertainment, Joe six-pack probably wouldn't bring in his Windows 98 Dell laptop with its 89 viruses and 149 spyware programs looking for help...
