Filed under: iPhone, App Store
Microsoft: Worried about the App Store?
Our friends at Microsoft have produced a video [YouTube link] making fun of the iPhone app store. Well, it's not that funny. In the video, two supposed MS employees talk about all the apps they have rejected for the new Windows Marketplace, including a Sun Dial app, a virtual handshaking app, and a mustache app.The point is that the Windows Mobile store won't be offering frivolous apps, just the serious stuff. Of course it's true that plenty of the iPhone apps on offer are games, but there's no shortage of serious apps for business, photography, astronomy, navigation, and so on.
It's all a little strange; MS has always dinged the Mac on the issue of software choice, because there were far more programs for Windows than Mac OS. Now that the tables have turned and Windows Mobile users have a bit of a drought compared to the Apple app store, I guess that old comparison will be ignored. By the way, there are fart apps for Windows Mobile.
Anyway, take a peek at the video, and see if you can follow the logic.
[via TechCrunch]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
xxdesmus said 10:17AM on 10-21-2009
um ... that's one way to read into it. Yeesh, you fan boys are always so damn defensive when it comes to anything Apple. They could actually just be poking fun at Apple for the fun of it. Such things to happen. Microsoft missed the boat on the app store idea. They know it, and now they are trying to make up ground. Will it work? Who knows -- probably not -- but they definitely don't make stupid videos like this because they are "worried". Stop trying to read into anything that Microsoft does.
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Mike said 10:21AM on 10-21-2009
I think they're only presuming that it's a pot-shot at Apple because, though the evidence for that from this ad is really only anecdotal, there hasn't been a Microsoft ad for several years that DIDN'T attack Apple in some way, thus it's natural to assume that what looks like another ad by Microsoft that instead of calling their own merits, it puts huge focus on their opponents demerits actually is. It's like the rich bully taking the poor nerd's lunch money.
Fred said 10:25AM on 10-21-2009
Yes, clearly MS is just hunting laptops and frolicking in the clover. It couldn't be that the App store is a great way to distribute software and MS (being MS) is trying to rain on that parade. This isn't fanboyism, it's just a fact. Honestly, I didn't know that MS didn't just have an app store like Apple did, and now that I do, I find it a little sad. My wife just got a really nice WinMo phone and I thought she'd be able to do the same kind of thing that I do as far as getting apps.
Christopher said 10:48AM on 10-21-2009
@Mike - Please tell me where in those Windows 7 commercials Apple is even mentioed. Those laptop hunter commercials are the first time I can recall Microsoft even acknowledging that there is even any competition out there. Yet I bet it is nearly impossible to name an Mac commercial (not iPhone) where they don't mention a PC (aka windows).
If this is Microsoft being worried what the hell would you call those "I'm a Mac" commercials? Apple executives must be on the verge of a mental breakdown according to this logic.
@Mel - Comparing the software gap between windows and os x to that of the iPhone and WinMo is laughable. The abundance of apps available for windows and not for os x is not mostly made of fart, mustache, todo, and flashlight apps. There are hundreds of useful and sometime business critical applications that are windows exclusive. Tell me one thing available for the iPhone and not WinMo that I "NEED".
And BTW, I'm a Mac, but you people are ridiculous.
Jordan said 11:48AM on 10-21-2009
@Mike: You've got to be kidding me, be a little bit more of a whiney fangirl will you? The good majority of Microsoft's commercials don't even acknowledge Apple. They hardly ever mention them, rather they talk about their own products. Apple on the other hand has directly made fun of Microsoft, and created false claims, for years, in almost every one of their ads.
And about this ad. Yes, Microsoft and PC users have for years gone on and on about Macs lack of software choice, however, they have gone on about lack of real games and real productivity software. What Microsoft is pointing out here is that their app store isn't full of fart apps or the latest queefing app. They're not saying they reject games or fun apps, just stupid pointless things.
This isn't so much a tables have turned kind of subject. Microsoft's app store may have fewer apps, but the apps they're missing - who cares? A ten year old boy, maybe.
Fred said 12:23PM on 10-21-2009
I dunno Jordan, I see some of what you're saying but it really just breaks down to MS being scared of Apple again. It's the same thing over and over again. Apple intros a new thing>MS shits on that thing>MS emulates that thing.
Dale said 5:39PM on 10-21-2009
I don't think Microsoft ads follow any trend. The laptop hunters ads always have a specific dig about Apple being cool and expensive, but didn't talk about their own products. The Seinfeld ads, brief though their tenure was, didn't talk about any products at all.
Then on the flipside, you have the I'm A PC, Mojave and Windows 7 ads. The I'm A PC didn't seem specifically Windows-focused, but nor did they attack anyone.
I'm not really that insecure in my product choices that I care about anyone's advertising all that much. I mean, if I did, I would have spent far more time on the DROID DOES spots than anything Microsoft have put out.
Zane said 10:19AM on 10-21-2009
It is interesting to contrast this story with the preceding one on the Proloquo2Go program for speech synthesis.
Yes, there are many frivolous apps in the App Store, but the number of serious and truly useful apps is growing every day.
I would like to see a WinMo app that can match the innovation and functionality of something like the Proloquo2Go.
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Jason said 10:22AM on 10-21-2009
Yeah but your missing one key point about Windows Mobile... Anyone can put software up on a website for people to download and install... The MS App Store will not be THE ONLY PLACE where you can get WinMo software.
So if you isolate the APP STORE to just good quality apps then you greatly reduce the amount of crap out there... I hate looking though the app store on my iPhone... its just a jumble of crap... sure there are good things out there but the only way to find out about them is website reviews, etc... the app store is a good place to go download something you know about... but forget trying to look for something out there... if it isn't in the top 50 in a category your wasting your time.
Imagine if all the fart apps and stupid things were still available but just on a website somewhere... and all that clutter and crap was out of the app store... it would be MUCH more useful.
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jay said 10:26AM on 10-21-2009
Instead of creating ADs against Apple, they should concentrate in developing Windows properly.
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Jordan said 11:50AM on 10-21-2009
They've already done that. It's called Windows 7. You may want to look for it tomorrow.
Fred said 11:16PM on 10-21-2009
Credit where credit is due, 7 looks pretty great.
K said 4:14AM on 10-22-2009
Nothing like Windows 7 hype. It's still behind OSX, it's still extremely limited and slow compared to XP, yet offers nothing entirely new or worthy of my $200+...
Poor MS trying to pay out Apple in their ads, which are always really poorly done ads. Why is that? Can they not afford some decent marketing and ad people?
Jordon, wake me when WM7 is out and doesn't suck.
Dirk said 10:27AM on 10-21-2009
Not very funny which is a shame because there are many aspects of the current app store you actually could make a lot of fun of. Kind of a lost opportunity.
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Murphy Mac said 9:44PM on 10-21-2009
I didn't know when to laugh. The Windows 7 Release Party video definitely made me cringe more.
Chris said 10:36AM on 10-21-2009
That's the first time I've ever seen software engineers that wear lab coats.
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Ian said 5:30PM on 10-21-2009
Good point. I'm going to start wearing a lab coat to work for my programming job.
RPlatt said 10:40AM on 10-21-2009
Face it, Microsoft is desperate so don't look for any logical reasons for the behavior.
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Jordan said 11:55AM on 10-21-2009
Desperate for what? Their new OS is already being used, in beta form, by more people than the entire Mac community. It wouldn't call this desperation, I'd call it competition.
A Mac ad talking about Windows having legal copy? Do Macs not have legal copy? THAT is desperation.
julian said 10:40AM on 10-21-2009
saddly, i thought it was boring and dumb.
maybe i am just not smart enough to get how they are making fun of dumb apps
or maybe they just think wimo is that cool that they cant have any fun
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