Microsoft Exec on Always Online Consoles: "Deal With it"

[Shoggoth2588]

Orth's Twitter account has since been made private

Gee, I wonder why?

One day, most devices will be able to maintain a constant internet connection but that day hasn't arrived yet. In the meantime I'm living within a 20 minute drive of Washington DC and can't maintain a stable internet connection with all of my internet enabled devices. Luckily for me, they all have offline functionality (more luckily is that my laptop is the one thing that hasn't had any major connectivity issues). There are people far worse off than myself and, people better off than myself who have worse internet connections, especially with games consoles.

That isn't even the most important thing though...games consoles are toys of escapism. Shouldn't the core delivery system be accessible to as many people as possible? There are always people who have less restrictions than others but video games are (or rather were) meant for kids. Kids don't generally have control over how much access they have to the internet and parents wouldn't be happy to discover they just spent $500 or so dollars on a toy their kids can't use.

 

[piinyouri]

Sometimes, I miss the middle ages.

You guys knew how to light an asshole on fire back then.

This made my morning.
THANK YOU.

OT: Um, yeah he seems to be a bit of a dick. I would say something akin to "Please allow me to deal with it by not buying your product." but I already wasn't going to so there.
*shrugs and walks away*

 

[Dryk]

In our household we have a vacuum that comes apart into a smaller less powerful vacuum when it's not plugged in... games used to be the same way...

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Well, it looks like there will be a Jimquisition episode about this.

https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/320000751558602753
https://twitter.com/JimSterling/status/320001138608988160

(how do you insert twitter tweets on The Escapist?)

 

[F'Angus]

Well at the moment I have a terrible internet conection that goes down at least 4 times a day.

If my console was gonna keep kicking me from games if I was disconnected for more than three minutes then I would do what I do with Ghost Recon, which also keeps kicking me...I would not play it.

And when our house got robbed and they cut the internet line...which was down for 3 weeks...I was happily able to play my console still, something that I wouldn't be able to do with always online.

 

[luvd1]

"The mobile phone reception in the area I live in is spotty and unreliable. I will not buy a mobile phone," he added.
Well, of cause I wouldn't, I'd use the landline.
"Sometimes the electricity goes out. I will not purchase a vacuum cleaner,"
That's what brooms are for or cordless hoover's.
Your logic is simplistic and stoopid.

 

[Dr. Octogonopus]

how do you know it doesnt? have you read its code? do you know how it conducts its OS operations, how it plays games? it could very well be that it DOES require internet to function due to laws of nature.
There were mechanic vacuums, where you suck the air with a mechanic pump, therefore vacuum cleaners dont require electricity by laws of nature, still, would you use one?

Your logic is flawed. The move from mechanic vacuums to electric is a matter of convenience. Switching from offline to online consoles is not. Besides everyone that uses a gaming console or PC obviously has access to electricity whereas there is still a large percentage of gamers that do not have a decent internet connection. This is coming from someone that plays on consoles but only has a crappy 3g internet connection.

Also

You are wrong. simple as that. ANYONE can have private opinion on ANY platform, period. We can be stupid and react to it as an official statement, which is why most companies dont allow thier workers to do that, beucase of people who misinterpre what is official and what is not, like you. if i were to get a twitter account and say "hey i hate poland", woudl that make my organization officially racist? nope. but yet somehow you think it will.
If obama said that on hos personal twotter, i woudl treat it as a personal opinion. does not mean i must forget about it, but i wouldnt take it as an official stance of US.

I agree that anyone can have their own private opinion as long as it stays private whether they keep it to your self or among friends, but as soon as it becomes easily available to public viewing it becomes a public opinion and the DealWithIt tweet was directed at the general public. While Obama tweeting that he hates Poland would be his opinion and not of the official stance of the US it is not something you would want to hear from a figure that can influence the stance of the US. If its Adam Orthy's opinion that the NextBox should always be online then fine, but by sharing his tweet Orthy has influenced the general public into having a negative view of Microsoft. People with power/influence need to be responsible for what they say in public

 

[Jandau]

An exec speaks for his company, period. He doesn't get to make personal statements on a public platform regarding the work he does. I'm sorry, he doesn't. And the key here is the platform. If he wants to rant to his friends over a beer, sure, go fot it. But Twitter is hardly a private setting. It's a public platform and statements made on it are treated as such. Imagine if you will (since we're making examples up and all), if Obama tweeted how he'd personally really like to nuke the fuck out of North Korea. By your reasoning, it's a personal opinion and we shouldn't think twice about it...

An unprofessional exec speaks for his company just as a professional one does.

You are wrong. simple as that. ANYONE can have private opinion on ANY platform, period. We can be stupid and react to it as an official statement, which is why most companies dont allow thier workers to do that, beucase of people who misinterpre what is official and what is not, like you. if i were to get a twitter account and say "hey i hate poland", woudl that make my organization officially racist? nope. but yet somehow you think it will.
If obama said that on hos personal twotter, i woudl treat it as a personal opinion. does not mean i must forget about it, but i wouldnt take it as an official stance of US.

Oh, I never said that he can't have an opinion or that he can't express it. I'm just saying that it will be taken as reflecting the attitudes of the company he represents.

To use your example, if you went on twitter and said "I hate Poland" - If you are a highly placed individual in an organization that distributes doughnuts in western United States, that wouldn't be a problem. Maybe Polish people wouldn't buy your doughnuts anymore. However, if the organization in question was set to handle an international arbitrage between Poland and some other country, you stating that you hate Poland and being in a position of influence in the said organization might not be the best thing for you to do, since it might raise the question of how that organization will do the work if people in charge of it have such attitudes.

Likewise, if an exec at Ford states that he doesn't see what the big deal with always-online consoles is and that people should just "deal with it", then whatever. But when an exec of a company that is responsible for one of the major consoles states it, then people will not just dismiss it and they shouldn't.

 

[Doclector]

I have a feeling most comments on this article are going to be directed toward Microsoft because of the title... instead of the Exec himself.

There's a difference between an exec like that saying it (who probably doesnt play video games), and the corporation saying it.

Yes, but him actually being bothered about this seems to confirm the rumours that the next xbox will be always on, and although it's not gonna stop some buying it, I'm betting a large chunk of players won't, and will jump ship to the PS4.

In short, whether or not his (may I say, completely fucking stupid opinion, my power goes out maybe twice a year if I'm unlucky, the internet simply isn't as stable) opinion reflects microsoft's real plans, this is really going to hurt microsoft's prospects for the next gen if they don't do some serious clear up soon, and that's forgetting how much they've already hurt their prospects by staying quiet for so long.

 

[greasedweasel]

These "always online" rumours have become so widespread, and are so destructive to Microsoft's reputation, surely they would have squashed them by now if they weren't true?

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I wonder how many countries Microsoft cuts from their potential consumer base if the next Xbox is always online?

...no. Strike that. I wonder how many countries Microsoft leaves for Sony and Nintendo if the next Xbox is always online...

 

[loa]

I have a samsung tablet with windows 8 on it.
Despite its incessant demands to download updates and fruitless tries to phone home, that thing has no and will never get an internet connection because I only use it to run sai on it for drawing.

That doesn't stop it from being super annoying and asking constantly though because it was designed with the "everything nowadays is always online herp derp" mindset so fuck that guy.

 

[FoolKiller]

if electricity goes out, you dont clame the cacuum creator, but if YOUR INTERNET goes out, you blame microsoft? double standarts FTW?

It would be double standards iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiif the next Xbox required, due to laws of nature, to have an internet connection to work.

It doesn't. Internet connection is an extra requirement put there to protect profits

The correct analogy in this case is that you need an internet connection to run your vacuum cleaner.

"Mom... I couldn't do the chores because the internet was down again"

Hey wait... I may be on to something here.

 

[FoolKiller]

More importantly... he must really hate Canadians. Our high speed is some of the most expensive in the world.

When I was away at school I liked having a console to play on even though I didn't have high speed internet in my home.

Luckily I can survive without Halo 5, Forza 5 and Gears 4 as those are the only games that you really need an Xbox for.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

All I'll say is this

If my tv can't connect to the internet, I can still watch tv.
If my kindle can't connect to the internet, I can still read books.
If my phone can't connect to the internet, I can still use it to call people.
If my mp3 player can't connect to the internet, I can still listen to music.
If the nextbox can't connect to the internet... What use is it then?

Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, what do you have to say about this?

Hello?

You ther-

Spoiler

HAHA Sony must be feeling pretty confident about their chances for the next gen.

 

[Dr. Octogonopus]

In the immortal words of Batman:

 

[Da Orky Man]

Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, what do you have to say about this?

Hello?

You ther-

Spoiler

I skiped the last console generation entirely and was likely to do the same with this coming one(PC Gamer). But after seeing this Sony CEO troll the MS exec, Im really tempted to get a PS4. This, ladies and gentlemen, is how you troll. Not be reciting some tired meme you saw on 4chan 3 yrs ago, but with the actual application of wit. And Sony CEO's profile picture was a nice touch. 10/10.

Must agree with this. I'm not planning on joining in with this particular console generation, but that guy's comment really makes me want to get a PS4. My internet connection is rather dodgy, giving out for hours and sometimes days at a time for no discernible reason, and a always-connected console just wouldn't be worth it.

 

[rodneyy]

whenever someone says things like this from a position of power it feels like our generations let them eat cake moment. people so disconnected from everyone else that they are baffeled by something they have never had to deal with.



"what do you mean these people cant get good connections to the internet why dont they upgrade their service provider or get a better modem?"

"well sir these people cant upgrade they have the best service that is avaliable to them"

"dear god what corner of hell do they live in everywhere has internet these days"

"again sir no only big citys have good internet connections the countryside still have very limited abilitys"

"why dont these people just move to the citys there we go problem solved"

"well thats only an option for people who can find jobs and places to live. also many jobs can only be done away from citys like farming for example"

"what you mean that growing things in the ground to get their food why dont they just get their butler to go to the supermarket to get food like the rest of us?"

"i dont think you..."

"no quiet now ive heard enough these people are just being obstinate if they wanted better in life they would do something about it, its not our fault they want to live in some stinky hovel instead of moving to the big city like normall people"




i know its a bit over the top but if they cant imagin a world without good internet connections they are acting just as selfentitled

 

[teqrevisited]

Well at least now I wont consider getting whatever their console ends up being. My PC doesn't care if it's offline and neither do I.

I didn't support Sony this generation but if they don't try to pull this kind of bollocks on their consumers then I hope they annihilate their competition in the next.