Comments on: A Microsoft Store? Um Isn’t That Kind of Like a Procter & Gamble Store?

By: 1999 Microsoft Store vs. 2009 Microsoft Store | Technologizer

1999 Microsoft Store vs. 2009 Microsoft Store | Technologizer — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:03:17 +0000

[...] Nobody accused Micorosft of aping Apple with MicrosoftSF–because that first Redmondian storefront opened almost two years before the first Apple Store did, and closed a few months after the Apple Stores got rolling. I visited the store several times, but don’t remember it very well, which might be part of the problem; it didn’t have a lot of personality. (If anything, it was in the mode of Sony’s Sony Style stores–in fact, it was actually operated by Sony, not Microsoft.) We’ll see if the new effort takes off–I’m still trying to figure out whether the world really needs a store devoted to the disparate stuff that Microsoft sells. [...]

By: Microsoft Stores Won’t Fall Far from Apple’s Tree | Technologizer

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 01:23:46 +0000

[...] When Microsoft announced its intentions to open store, I wrote that selling software in retail stores should be about as successful as opening a video rental business in 2010 (and made a crack comparing its stores to Wasabi flavored ice cream). My colleague Harry McCracken believes that a Microsoft store makes as much sense as a Procter & Gamble store. [...]

By: freespaces

freespaces — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 10:03:35 +0000

Most of thier stuff is downloaded anyway from the internet but if they want to pay more for a storefront I’m sure they can afford to do so!

By: Harry McCracken

Harry McCracken — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:32:18 +0000

gp: When I lived in Boston, Micro Center was my computer store of choice. Not perfect, but a lot less imperfect than much of the competition. There’s one out here in the Bay Area in Sunnyvale, but it’s a tad far for me–I usually go to Fry’s.

–Harry

By: gp

gp — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 07:48:42 +0000

here in chicago we have a store called Micro Center that is like a Best Buy on steriods,they sell everything Microsoft makes plus everything else including at least 5 different brands of PC including the house make and everything one could ever need to make your own. Every magazine,book, game,the place is a wonder and they have a very well stocked Apple dept that has kept me completely out of the flagship chicago Apple store.I can’t imagine how MicroSoft could ever compete with this place.

By: Top Posts « WordPress.com

Top Posts « WordPress.com — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:04:26 +0000

[...] A Microsoft Store? Um Isn’t That Kind of Like a Procter & Gamble Store? My colleague David Worthington reported on Thursday of Microsoft’s plans to open retail stores. I wanted to mull [...] [...]

By: Attack of the iClones: Microsoft Retail Store Edition — iPhone Tricks, Tips and Hacks

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:55:47 +0000

[...] A Microsoft Store? Um Isn’t That Kind of Like a Procter & Gamble Store? (technologizer.com) [...]

By: Dibs

Dibs — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:46:16 +0000

There’s just so many things changing right now in teh world. I personally don’t think this is a good idea, but then again, it seems like tech companies are trying more and more to differentiate products that are less and less different.

Read about Google’s attempt to do just that here: http://youcanneverbehappy.wordpress.com/2009/02/12/google-knows-where-you-live/

By: ryanchadwick

ryanchadwick — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 06:52:44 +0000

I think they could do well to have several stores. One targeted at home use and another targeted to business use. You might say why not just combine the two but in the case of MS I think their offerings for these segments are different enough that to try and serve both in the one shop would create a not focused enough brand.

Though I also wonder what MS can do differently from all the other stores that currently sell MS products? In the case of Apple it was easy as they have a very distinct image so it was easy to differentiate.

By: Marc

Marc — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:14:33 +0000

Sounds like a good idea to me. A lot of retail outlets give Microsoft a bad name. The stores are usually are messy, understaffed, items are labelled wrong, or shown with the margin high finance option’s monthly price made more prominent, there is often too much choice due to manufactures offering incentives to stores to place certain items on the shelf to make their other products look more appealing.

Also most stores don’t “sell” windows. People just assume it’s there, and don’t know half about what it can do. Microsoft obviously don’t want to be the wall underneath fancy Google patterned wallpaper.
In fact a lot of stores don’t want to advertise the fact that you get photo editing, movie making and basic word processing capabilities, as the the staff are targeted to sell these bits of software as add-ons.

Contrast that with an Apple store. Lots of staff, who, while not in the slightest bit technical, know about the features and how to sell a product, without resorting to “hard sell” tactics. All the *key* products (can you buy an XServe? I didn’t see in it the two stores I’ve visited, one in LA, and the other was the main NYC one) but you can buy iWorks etc, and all the consumer hardware.

Microsoft obviously don’t want to get a bad name, and want people to know they are getting Windows. They also probably want to flog a few copies of Office with laptops while they’re at it (just like Apple try and sell you iLife). So fair play to them for wanting some sort of end-to-end control over how people buy their stuff.

Of course Microsoft don’t want to sell enterprise software this way, that’s why you won’t see SQL Server or Dynamics. The requirements for the average enterprise are too complex and would require someone with specialised training. Much better for them to simply say to people “please call our volume licensing team”.
Sounds reasonable.
Visual Studio, unlike SQL Server and Dynamics might be something hobbyists would want to use. You could argue they might want SQL Server too, but the Express version is enough for most people, and Visual Studio Pro comes with a Developer Edition of SQL Server (exactly the same as the enterprise version, but not licensed for a production environment).

So this makes sense to me on many levels. Lets hope some UK stores crop up soon (we still don’t even get Zunes yet).