Michelle Steiner <
mich...@michelle.org> wrote:
> And this is what he saw:
>
> <snip>
>
> Then I went to the Microsoft store, ready to buy Windows 8 and a Surface
> tablet.
>
> I did not buy either.
>
> There was a nice display of different machines running Windows 8, but the
> booth was otherwise mostly deserted. There was no line. But two different
> "sales" personnel came up to tell me not to touch the keyboards, to step
> away from the product, and to wait in line. How about "May I help you?" or
> even "Isn't that a great little tablet?" Nope -- it was "Go away, you're
> not following my rules."
>
> I don't deal well with self appointed nazis.
>
> So I didn't buy Windows 8 or a Surface tablet. Anyone reading this who
> works for Microsoft, you need to tell upper management that your front-line
> trolls are chasing customers away. They're making enemies for the company.
>
> Meanwhile, a short distance away, the Apple store was crowded and nobody
> was chasing people away from the iPads and iPhones and iStuff.
>
> (For those who don't know, he is a science fiction writer; he wrote "The
> Trouble with Tribbles" for Star Trek, and the novels _When Harlie Was One_
> and _The Man Who Folded Himself_, among others.)
Yesterday I stopped by the local JB HiFi store (an electronics retailer
in Australia and NZ) and while buying a toner cart, I enquired about
interest in Windows 8 since release. The helpful and polite salespeople
I spoke with didn't think there had been much interest, compared to say,
the latest triple A game release. There also seemed to be a lack of
interest in Windows 8 from Windows 7 users on non-touchscreen computers
(almost all the PCs out there), and I could only find a couple Windows
touchscreen devices on sale, with only one person trying one out for a
couple minutes, vs half a dozen trying out iPads, during my 20 mins in
store. Again a lack of interest by the public was expressed by the
salespeople I know.
I may be biased by my own disinterest in touch UIs encroaching on
desktop OSes, but this and other similar experiences recently suggest to
me less interest in Windows 8 vs Windows 7's anticipated launch.
Personally I'm not seeing any compelling reason to upgrade from the very
good Windows 7 on the desktop or laptop. I do think upgrading from WinXP
to 7 is a good idea, but there's absolutely no rush unless the user
requires one of the rare Windows 7 only apps, or the user is buying a
new system. Speaking of buying new systems, I anticipate many users I
know having issues with Windows 8 when they buy a new system. Yes there
are ways to access the old UI, but it's still going to confuse people
used to established Windows default UI conventions, IMO.