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[LakeEarth]

When researching his article, Kurt Eichenwald asked TechCrunch for their fax number.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/03/can-someone-send-techcrunchs-fax-number-to-vanity-fair/

I enjoyed the article, but this is hilarious.

 

[richiek]

You also have to give MS credit for the 360. That was one piece of consumer tech where they were cutting edge and saw where the market was going. I think Kinect is shit, but it was obviously a big hit and unlike anything else I had seen before it so they should get credit for that as well.

You have take points off for the Red Ring Death though. And the shitty way they handle canceling Xbox Live subscriptions.

 

[Daydream Sequence]

You have take points off for the Red Ring Death though. And the shitty way they handle canceling Xbox Live subscriptions.

I give them points for RROD. That should have sunk them, but they only got more popular. A perfect opportunity for Sony to capitalize on Microsoft's gaffe and they failed miserably to do so. How they handle subscriptions is smart business. Bad for us, good for them.

 

[btkadams]

I disagree with the article on some points. Balmer is a definitely a buffoon and has no vision for the future. But at the same time I think MS has really turned things around in the past few years. They are still not innovating, but they are working their asses off and putting out good products.

I switched to a Mac when they introduced the first Intel laptops because at the time it was just so far ahead of XP (I believe that was Tiger at the time). MS totally fucked up with Vista. It was late and it did not bring almost any of the core features that were initially promised. But you have to give MS credit for Win 7. They caught up to Apple and knocked it out of the park. To such an extent that I could see myself switching back in the future if Apple fucks up. You also have to give MS credit for the 360. That was one piece of consumer tech where they were cutting edge and saw where the market was going. I think Kinect is shit, but it was obviously a big hit and unlike anything else I had seen before it so they should get credit for that as well.

I can't say whether Win8 is going to be a success or what it means for the tablet markets (I have never been into tablets, Apple, Google or otherwise). But to me this last decade was not all failures for MS. Balmer should have been fired for whatever the fuck they did to the Windows phone division while Apple and Google came in and ate MS's lunch, but you can't say that MS did not get a few things right in the past 10 years.

the 360? it certainly is awesome now, but the first release completely demonstrates what was talked about in the article. the article talks of microsoft throwing money at products/services to try and beat out the competition. they released the system a year ahead of the others, payed huge amounts of money for exclusives, and ended up having a seriously unreliable product for the first few years of its existence. kinect was certainly cool technology, but i don't see how it qualifies microsoft to have seen where the market was going beyond just seeing the success of the wii/ds... motion technology isn't new either.

i think they're headed in the right direction now though.

 

[bionic77]

the 360? it certainly is awesome now, but the first release completely demonstrates what was talked about in the article. the article talks of microsoft throwing money at products/services to try and beat out the competition. they released the system a year ahead of the others, payed huge amounts of money for exclusives, and ended up having a seriously unreliable product for the first few years of its existence. kinect was certainly cool technology, but i don't see how it qualifies microsoft to have seen where the market was going beyond just seeing the success of the wii/ds... motion technology isn't new either.

i think they're headed in the right direction now though.

I was talking about their online strategy for the 360 and they also made a great controller for the types of games people play on it.

I might have been reaching with the 360 because I have some problems with it personally (like paying for online), but you can't argue that it did become a big success for a company that has not had many on the consumer side for awhile.

 

[Stasis]

Great article.

I'm no Apple fan (I respect their products but don't own any), but I'm certainly no longer a Microsoft fan either. That's been a progressive change for me, to just no longer use any of their products and more importantly not want to. I still use Windows because it's the best option for me as a tinkerer and as a gamer, but if there's anything even remotely similar and worthwhile that's released and can run smoothly on a custom-build PC, I'll be all over it.

 

[Agent Unknown]

Edit: Sorry, wrong thread