Microsoft Shopping Channel Slated

Oh dear, can you smell the fear? Watch the video.

It's like the Microsoft Shopping Channel. Has Ballmer really been reduced to this?

Judging by the comments on the BBC site page I think many consumers have seen the light. Microsoft has failed to deliver. They missed the internet, tried to stifle competition, spent too long on luke warm Vista, and now they're worried about losing market share because they've missed the mobile market. People don't want a PC on a slate. They want something fast, responsive, easy. You don't want to "go into PC mode" when you pull your phone or slate out of your pocket.

And I don't think it's even due to Bill Gates leaving. Microsoft just seem to be doing the same thing, but in a less savvy way now. Microsoft want to be everything to everybody, and you just can't do that. Microsoft have the desktop; it's a given, but Apple have exploited their niche very well, and quietly beavered away to create a great operating system which is part of a package that provides great software that is relevant to people today. For the average user, they hardly need to shell out for anything after buying a Mac. You get iPhoto, email manager, a proper web browser (HTML5?), Garageband, Xcode, and not forgetting Time Machine.

Personally, I'm totally sold on the Mac at home at the moment. I didn't want anything Vista on it. It seemed like a sideways move. What does Vista do amazingly better than XP? Ultimately, the thing that sold me on OSX was Time Machine. I went from one shop looking at Sony laptops with Vista on and then into the Apple store. There was picture on the wall of Time Machine and I suddenly realised that Macs aren't more expensive, and even if they are, they are worth it. You save time and have a more enjoyable user experience. To have fully automated backups on a Mac, completely transparently all you need is an external hard drive.

I'll probably be slagging off Apple one day when they become the complacent, greedy, corporate overlords that everyone hates, but for now I can't wait to see what the "iSlate" will offer. Microsoft are clearly rattled.