Does MS need "fans" anymore?

[rodneyej]

Does MS need "fans" anymore? Do technology fans need to be fans of MS? Has MS become just another tool that is necessary for technology to work in the background? I mean, screwdrivers are necessary for maintaining computer hardware, but I don't see anyone claiming to be a Stanley Tools fan. At what point can we remove MS out of the consumer facing electronics side, and place them with the likes of Cisco, IBM, and Siemens?

 

[rodneyej]

Of course there's still Windows, and Surface, but Windows is rarely used for pleasure, and Surface is most likely the last product MS has keeping consumers reminded that MS still exist. I'm not sure 10 year olds even know what MS is.
Could my questioning stop if MS released Andromeda? Possibly

 

[tgp]

I don't see anyone claiming to be a Stanley Tools fan.

My colleagues who work in the PC service department seem to be fans of Precision miniature screwdrivers. :winktongue:

 

[rodneyej]

Touché... I'll bet more than fans of Microsoft

Originally posted by tgp

Originally Posted by rodneyej
I don't see anyone claiming to be a Stanley Tools fan.

My colleagues who work in the PC service department seem to be fans of Precision miniature screwdrivers. :winktongue:

 

[Old_Mil]

Microsoft in 2018 under its current leadership is Sears in 1985.

 

[rodneyej]

You should've said Sears in 2018... I was there in 1985, and Sears was hella popular. Lol. You must be a yungin

Originally posted by Old_Mil
Microsoft in 2018 under its current leadership is Sears in 1985.

 

[Golfdriver97]

I think it can depend on the use case for each individual. Say gamers and content creators, I think MS is almost a necessary evil. For one who just surfs the web, watches YouTube, checks email, almost any OS will be just fine.

But that doesn't really answer your question....MS has gotten to the point where I guess they don't need them, but at the same time, they shouldn't turn a deaf ear to what people criticize them for, either.

 

[Old_Mil]

Well, Sears in 2018 is basically dead and waiting for its final liquidation. Microsoft isn't there yet, but repeated the mistakes of Sears' management as they rested on their laurels, failed to correctly diagnose where the market was headed and ended up in a position that was not future proofed and was fundamentally noncompetitive.

Unless Google is broken up by antitrust action in the next couple if years, they will be the demise of Microsoft.

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

Every business needs fans to thrive. No fans = no sales and revenue to keep afloat.

 

[theefman]

Every business needs fans to thrive. No fans = no sales and revenue to keep afloat.

You're confusing "fans" with "customers", pretty sure very few in enterprise use Microsoft software because they are "fans" of Microsoft but their tools mostly run on that platform so they have no choice but to be customers of Microsoft. Huge difference.

Sent from mTalk

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

You're confusing "fans" with "customers", pretty sure very few in enterprise use Microsoft software because they are "fans" of Microsoft but their tools mostly run on that platform so they have no choice but to be customers of Microsoft. Huge difference.

Sent from mTalk

True, but some customers are indeed fans.

 

[fatclue_98]

Well, Sears in 2018 is basically dead and waiting for its final liquidation. Microsoft isn't there yet, but repeated the mistakes of Sears' management as they rested on their laurels, failed to correctly diagnose where the market was headed and ended up in a position that was not future proofed and was fundamentally noncompetitive.

Unless Google is broken up by antitrust action in the next couple if years, they will be the demise of Microsoft.

Have you seen Microsoft's valuation? They're in a neck-and-neck race with that giant-slayer Google (Alphabet) to be the 3rd company to reach the trillion club.

 

[anon(10531858)]

While I don't think "fan" is quite the right word, it's not the wrong one either. All makers of products and services have a need to build a loyalty base. These are repeat customers because they believe in the product, and offer invaluable free "word of mouth" advertising to their friends and family.

We still see this strategy in cars/trucks today, even though sure a car is really just a "utility" that gets us from point A to point B. But when guys say things like "I'm a Chevy man" or "I'm a Ford man" they're really saying their "fans", loyal repeat customers, of the company and their products.

That said, MS has screwed the pooch in the last excruciating painful 3 years under Nadella. That guy doesn't understand even the remote concept of building a loyal customer base. He never would have canceled Windows Mobile without first having Andromeda (running Core OS) sitting proudly on store shelves as Windows Mobile proud successor. If or no other reason than by doing so you royally tick off developers and fans who invested heavily in your platform. That anger only boils over and ends up with them spurning MS to all their friends and family.

Where does that leave Nadella and Microsoft? It leaves them with users who are FORCED to use their products during working hours. It leaves them with an entire generation of young people who see them as an old stodgy has-been. And when they grow up, and are the decision makers in the Enterprise they will one day replace all the Microsoft servers, desktops, and laptops with Google based products, just as surely as our generation replaced our IBM mainframes and dumb terminals with PCs.

 

[anon(50597)]

Have you seen Microsoft's valuation? They're in a neck-and-neck race with that giant-slayer Google (Alphabet) to be the 3rd company to reach the trillion club.

That’s not necessarily because of “fans” is it?

 

[fatclue_98]

That’s not necessarily because of “fans” is it?

That kind of cash would require air conditioners.

 

[anon(50597)]

That kind of cash would require air conditioners.

 

[rodneyej]

Holy Moly!! Exactly! What happens when they are replaced im enterprise? Then what??? And, that could happen in the future.

Originally posted by jp144
While I don't think "fan" is quite the right word, it's not the wrong one either. All makers of products and services have a need to build a loyalty base. These are repeat customers because they believe in the product, and offer invaluable free "word of mouth" advertising to their friends and family.

We still see this strategy in cars/trucks today, even though sure a car is really just a "utility" that gets us from point A to point B. But when guys say things like "I'm a Chevy man" or "I'm a Ford man" they're really saying their "fans", loyal repeat customers, of the company and their products.

That said, MS has screwed the pooch in the last excruciating painful 3 years under Nadella. That guy doesn't understand even the remote concept of building a loyal customer base. He never would have canceled Windows Mobile without first having Andromeda (running Core OS) sitting proudly on store shelves as Windows Mobile proud successor. If or no other reason than by doing so you royally tick off developers and fans who invested heavily in your platform. That anger only boils over and ends up with them spurning MS to all their friends and family.

Where does that leave Nadella and Microsoft? It leaves them with users who are FORCED to use their products during working hours. It leaves them with an entire generation of young people who see them as an old stodgy has-been. And when they grow up, and are the decision makers in the Enterprise they will one day replace all the Microsoft servers, desktops, and laptops with Google based products, just as surely as our generation replaced our IBM mainframes and dumb terminals with PCs.

 

[Kimmo Toivanen]

I'm still a bit confused/troubled/worried about someone being a fan. Supporting a company or a brand, not necessarily for what it is, but maybe for what those persons believe it should be?
Are fans the preachers when things look good to them? Do fans swear in public to move away from fully X to fully Y when X does not play with them the way it should, and try to take as many as possible with them? Can fans mock bosses and call them with (racist) names, in public, when product line Z comes to the end of it's technological or evonomical life?

Life is nicer, when phones, cars and other personal stuff are selected based on need, not based on image in your head what you want it to be or present. You don't get part of big boss' soul (and even if you did, it would be very, very, very small part without veto right).

 

[fatclue_98]

I'm still a bit confused/troubled/worried about someone being a fan. Supporting a company or a brand, not necessarily for what it is, but maybe for what those persons believe it should be?
Are fans the preachers when things look good to them? Do fans swear in public to move away from fully X to fully Y when X does not play with them the way it should, and try to take as many as possible with them? Can fans mock bosses and call them with (racist) names, in public, when product line Z comes to the end of it's technological or evonomical life?

Life is nicer, when phones, cars and other personal stuff are selected based on need, not based on image in your head what you want it to be or present. You don't get part of big boss' soul (and even if you did, it would be very, very, very small part without veto right).

������

Nice post.

 

[tgp]

I'm still a bit confused/troubled/worried about someone being a fan. Supporting a company or a brand, not necessarily for what it is, but maybe for what those persons believe it should be?
Are fans the preachers when things look good to them? Do fans swear in public to move away from fully X to fully Y when X does not play with them the way it should, and try to take as many as possible with them? Can fans mock bosses and call them with (racist) names, in public, when product line Z comes to the end of it's technological or evonomical life?

Life is nicer, when phones, cars and other personal stuff are selected based on need, not based on image in your head what you want it to be or present. You don't get part of big boss' soul (and even if you did, it would be very, very, very small part without veto right).

??????

Are you me? My thoughts exactly.

Nice post.

Yup.