Bad Science in the Mojave Experiment?
Posted by Nirav | Filed under Apple, Bay Area, Microsoft
Now, when Wil Shipley of Call Me Fishmeal writes something, I tend to listen. And not just because I like saying “Call me fishmeal” in my head. But I think he may be slightly missing the point in his recent article, “The Mojave Experiment:” Bad Science, Bad Marketing.
I do take a bit of offense when he characterizes all Microsoft products as shoddy (remember this little innovation, anyone?), but where we really differ is “Bad Marketing”. Because I think that this was, in fact, pretty good marketing. No one’s claiming that this is “science” (at least, I’m not). But it does start to change the perception that Vista is a piece of crap.
I won’t argue Wil’s main postulations; they’re sound. But I will argue that Microsoft has never tried to push the idea that its customers are “stupid and don’t know what they really want”. Or that Microsoft is dismissing complaints against Vista as “following the crowd”. As a Microsoft employee, I’ve found that engineers here are open about problems in their software, and receptive to bug complaints and problem reports.
Another place where I’d like to make a point is here:
Personal training is so important to customer experience that Apple thinks of it as a key asset of its Apple Stores. But Microsoft doesn’t have Apple Stores in real life. Or any analog. It’s you and a box with a holographic sticker on it. Good luck!
True, Microsoft doesn’t have Apple stores. But its main customer base, the enterprise, does have training programs, help desks, and IT support. So a lot of times, there actually is someone to walk you through the software.
I’m not arguing for Vista. Hell no. But I’d like a more balanced take on this effort to change perception. And this may be nitpicky, but I wouldn’t mind taking a second before labeling a post “mac community”. Not to get all ranty, but that’s probably my single greatest annoyance about being a Mac user: the people.
I’ll bash, critique, and complain about bad software when I see or use it, and only then. Not because people who use the same computer as me are doing it. The only community whose responsibility it is to systematically critique a piece of software is that product’s user base, and I’ve frankly seen very few good things come out of the kind of “holy war” that some would drive the Mac/PC debate to.
When listening to fervent Mac or PC users talk, I’m often reminded of this quote by Alexander Hamilton:
“Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.”
It’s not bad idea just because the other guy thought of it.