“A Microsoft retail store is coming to the Mall of America and — get this — it’s directly across from one of Apple’s famed retail stores,” Julio Ojeda-Zapata reports for The Pioneer Press.
MacDailyNews Take: And that’s shocking why, exactly? Apple leads. Microsoft follows. As usual. So, the Mall of America will have one relatively empty store across from its Apple Store. That’s nothing out of the ordinary for most every mall with an Apple Retail Store. That Apple store will make at least 25 times the Microsoft store’s profit using just 25% of Microsoft’s retail footprint.
Ojeda-Zapata reports, “Here’s a nice Apple-vs.-Microsoft video someone shot at the Mall of America:”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Soon, there won’t be enough IT doofuses to fill that thing. A while back, we’d have said it’ll the perfect store for tech illiterate dads, but so many dads seem to have learned something about tech in the last few years and now own iMacs, MacBooks, iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
To open directly across from Apple only highlights Microsoft’s poor decision-making abilities, as Microsoft fares quite poorly in direct comparisons to Apple: Mac OS X vs. Windows; Unibody MacBooks vs. third-party screwed-together plastic junk; iPhone vs. third-party Windows Phone ’07 phones (eventually); iPod vs. Zune; iLife vs. ???; Steve Jobs vs. Steve Ballmer, etc. Besides laughably ill-conceived strategies that they nonetheless like / like a lot, Microsoft does beat Apple in something: Massive multibillion-dollar-plus write-offs on shoddy hardware.
All of these “moves” Microsoft makes could easily be achieved at a fraction of the cost: Simply buy billboards around the world that proclaim, “Microsoft will poorly copy everything that Apple does sooner or later. Mostly later. Way later.”
Bigger is better, right?
Remember the Big Ass Table computer?
Ya gotta put it somewhere..
Epic Titanic Failure.
Bigger is better, right?
Remember the Big Ass Table computer?
Ya gotta put it somewhere..
Epic Titanic Failure.
The smart people will look at MS then buy Apple.
The smart people will look at MS then buy Apple.
Well, if they can’t sell enough computers in their fancy new mall location, Microsoft can always turn it into a “dollar store”!
Well, if they can’t sell enough computers in their fancy new mall location, Microsoft can always turn it into a “dollar store”!
Now parents can tell their children, “if you don’t play nice while you are in the Apple Store, you’ll have to sit in the MS Store!”
Now parents can tell their children, “if you don’t play nice while you are in the Apple Store, you’ll have to sit in the MS Store!”
For what it’s worth. The mall of America apple store doesn’t get nearly the product launch lines that other stores get. This seems like a real dumb place for Microsoft to put a store compared to other locations. Just a hunch.
For what it’s worth. The mall of America apple store doesn’t get nearly the product launch lines that other stores get. This seems like a real dumb place for Microsoft to put a store compared to other locations. Just a hunch.
This is bold. It will ultimately fail.
This is like the loser kid (played by john hodgman) across the street throwing a lame party at the same time as the cool kid (played by justin long) throwing a party that people want to actually be at.
Ultimately some will show up to the MS party because, hey, how many of you have purchase MS products? How many americans have?
Googles. Gaggles. (is it googles or gaggles?)
Either way. I’m sure that party has been stacked with plenty of deck chairs to celebrate in style – Balmer Style.
This is bold. It will ultimately fail.
This is like the loser kid (played by john hodgman) across the street throwing a lame party at the same time as the cool kid (played by justin long) throwing a party that people want to actually be at.
Ultimately some will show up to the MS party because, hey, how many of you have purchase MS products? How many americans have?
Googles. Gaggles. (is it googles or gaggles?)
Either way. I’m sure that party has been stacked with plenty of deck chairs to celebrate in style – Balmer Style.
The unibody MacBook Pro design is awesome. It oozes quality from every port.
Microsoft must be trying to emulate Wendys, who figured (correctly) that McDonalds had already scoped out the best spots. Wendys simply looked for a location nearby to build their stores.
The difference is that Wendys had something to bring to the fast food table. For the consumer, Microsoft has the Windows 7 OS, Microsoft Office, the Zune, and the Xbox. That goes against Apple’s formidable array of hardware and software including the iPad, iPod lineup, iPhone 4, MacBook, MacBook Pro lineup, iMac lineup, Mac Pro lineup, Apple TV, Airport Express, iTunes marketplace, Final Cut Pro, etc.
In contrast, Microsoft has to populate its stores with hardware products from other vendors just to demonstrate its OS and Office products. What is compelling about a Microsoft store?
The unibody MacBook Pro design is awesome. It oozes quality from every port.
Microsoft must be trying to emulate Wendys, who figured (correctly) that McDonalds had already scoped out the best spots. Wendys simply looked for a location nearby to build their stores.
The difference is that Wendys had something to bring to the fast food table. For the consumer, Microsoft has the Windows 7 OS, Microsoft Office, the Zune, and the Xbox. That goes against Apple’s formidable array of hardware and software including the iPad, iPod lineup, iPhone 4, MacBook, MacBook Pro lineup, iMac lineup, Mac Pro lineup, Apple TV, Airport Express, iTunes marketplace, Final Cut Pro, etc.
In contrast, Microsoft has to populate its stores with hardware products from other vendors just to demonstrate its OS and Office products. What is compelling about a Microsoft store?
It looks relatively huge! Maybe the plan is to also use it to house Microsoft’s downsized corporate offices in the future. That should be all the space they’ll need.
It looks relatively huge! Maybe the plan is to also use it to house Microsoft’s downsized corporate offices in the future. That should be all the space they’ll need.
WTF. Did they also take over Lego land next to the new store? That store looks huge and will probably look empty compared to the apple store.
WTF. Did they also take over Lego land next to the new store? That store looks huge and will probably look empty compared to the apple store.
Seeing in the video the huge size difference between the store footprint of the humble Apple Store, compared to the over-blown excess of their new Microsoft neighbor, seems to be a visual metaphor for the way Apple makes way more profit from a much smaller market penetration than “the big guys”.
Seeing in the video the huge size difference between the store footprint of the humble Apple Store, compared to the over-blown excess of their new Microsoft neighbor, seems to be a visual metaphor for the way Apple makes way more profit from a much smaller market penetration than “the big guys”.
WTF R they gonna fill that store with?? Boxes with Winblows 7 & antivirus-sofware???
WTF R they gonna fill that store with?? Boxes with Winblows 7 & antivirus-sofware???
It will be great to see pictures of the MS employees going into the Apple Store on their breaks.
It will be great to see pictures of the MS employees going into the Apple Store on their breaks.
I have to figure that, at some level, this is all ego. Surely no one with a working brain could believe this would be anything other than a complete disaster. But someone, perhaps a certain bald moron at the top of the company, will be damned if Apple will show Microsoft up in marketing, no matter how much money is lost proving the point.
——RM