Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi: We Need To Educate Consumers

[TiberiusEsuriens]

Ultimately he has good points, so long as there's a strong internet connection and their servers hold.

But last conference Microsoft held they said only 1 sharable copy, now 10? Get it together Microsoft.

 

[Krantos]

"In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details," said Mehdi. "We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

....

"In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details"

..........

" people don't pay attention to a lot of the details"

.......................


REALLY!?!?!

You realize he just admitted that what people have been saying. Microsoft is counting on people not paying attention to what the console does. It's "in the data".

They are legitimately gambling on people not paying enough attention to be bothered by this. I mean... shit. That's what the conspiracy nuts have been saying since this thing was released, but he just admitted it was true.

That also explains why MS is being so uninformative about the questions surrounding the console. They don't want people asking questions and are just trying to deflect them long enough for the flames to die out. They don't want people to know the details, just to buy the thing.

This guy just admitted they are counting on consumer ignorance to sell the console. Good god, if MS doesn't get hurt big time this generation, I'll have seriously lost hope for the consumer.

Captch: Internet Explorer, Please Type: "Great for Win 7." god dammit Microsoft.

 

[rasputin0009]

"In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details. We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

I think he's seriously underestimating the power of the internet, and especially social media.

Maybe five years ago the criticisms of the Xbox One would have been limited to obscure specialised gaming sites, but when MS's every blunder is being splashed across Youtube, Facebook and Twitter at lightning speed even casual consumers are going to sit up and take notice.

It's all over my Facebook right now. And most of my Facebook friends aren't gamers. They really don't like the mandatory connection here in Canada. Mostly because it costs $100 a month for an internet connection that can support the Xbox One. And no one living in an apartment complex will be able to get a 1.5 mbs connection. Almost everybody is on a slow connection or not at all. My one friend has the fastest connection you can get in our small city and it peaks at 5 mbs and costs $150 a month. That's not slow by any means but it's expensive as fuck.

 

[BeeGeenie]

"There's a lot of education we have to provide to make sure that people understand,"
"the folks who don't really pay attention and who just want a fancy box will be fine with Microsoft's Xbox One."

translation: Con the rubes who don't know any better, that'll teach 'em!

Good Guy Microsoft: teaching consumers to do their research.

 

[oliver.begg]

I seriously cannot comprehend how rapidly they are going down hill, it's like a guy from Sony took over and is making them crash and burn but it's worse, it's actually themselves basically committing business suicide.

\

crash and burn implies some kind of period (no matter how short) between impact, and fire. (in the case of a console, a honeymoon period)

this isn't that. these guys seem to have thought that a lead bomb dosn't fall fast enough, so they straped more rockets to it.

this baby gonna explode


the captcha is "heartache" exactly what MS fanboys are fighting down right now as they try and defend this POS

 

[Zer0Saber]

So we need to be educated. Microsoft have been doing a great job of not answering questions, and if we really need to be educated then they should really start. I'd love to hear what they have to say about why the $100 extra is worth it, you know besides things and stuff.

 

[Vivi22]

And the negativity? Well, it may not matter so much to Microsoft. Sure, core gamers complain, but the folks who don't really pay attention and who just want a fancy box will be fine with Microsoft's Xbox One. "In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details," said Mehdi. "We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

It is absolutely disgusting that they're admitting to relying on consumer ignorance to sell consoles.

But you know what? They're wrong in thinking that the core gamers don't matter. The core gamers are your early adopters. They are the ones who line up on day one to get a console. They are the ones who spend the most money on games. They are the ones who, when asked by their less informed friends months or years down the road which console they should get and why, are going to be answering PS4. They're the people who are going to keep you going in the early days and influence friends decisions later on. If they honestly think they don't matter at all then they really are the idiots I think they are.

And if Microsoft doesn't think that what friends say they bought matters to the less informed users out there, I will point them to the Xbox 360 and it's success. I know an awful lot of people who bought 360's because it was what their friends had and it was going to let them play games together online.

 

[geizr]

..."In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details," said Mehdi. "We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."...

Holy fucking hell!!! Microsoft executives truly just don't learn! Apparently the firing of Mr. "Deal with it" didn't get the message through the concrete skulls clearly enough.

..."Ultimately consumers will decide which is better," Mehdi said. "It's a big market."..

Yeah, it certainly is a big market, one that you are apparently hell-bent on exiting. Tell you what, as one Ars Technica poster put it, we'll educate YOU on how not to treat your customers (by not buying your shit)! Let's see you deal with it!

I mean the outright conceited arrogance is beyond shocking. Well, as I have continuously said time and again, a company hears and understands only two sounds, the creak of your wallet opening and the slap of your wallet closing. All other sounds are just noise to be ignored. Mr. Mehdi's response to the public outrage seems to bear this out quite clearly. Microsoft will not hear or understand a DAMN thing until the entire game community collectively closes their wallets. Only then will they finally get the message.

Also, Balmer needs to be fucking fired, too. This shit starts at the top and trickles down. I didn't like Microsoft all that much under Gates, but, at least, you had to respect the man and his company for how they were able to steer the computer industry and be somewhat responsive to the needs and desires of the customer base. However, now, they're just a collective of arrogant fuck-ups who just blindly throw shit at the wall in the hopes that something sticks.

 

[KeyMaster45]

Microsoft just needs to be quiet and sit in it's corner until launch day, because every time one of their representatives opens their mouth I feel a primal urge to punch my monitor so hard that it creates a wormhole directly to their face.

 

[kajinking]

"In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details. We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

I think he's seriously underestimating the power of the internet, and especially social media.

Maybe five years ago the criticisms of the Xbox One would have been limited to obscure specialised gaming sites, but when MS's every blunder is being splashed across Youtube, Facebook and Twitter at lightning speed even casual consumers are going to sit up and take notice.

I'm a PC gamer with $2000+ custom rig and I've heard about all the flaws despite having no interests in consoles, a friend of mine is a casual gamer who got a 360 and not a PS3 and he's heard about all this nonsense and plans to get a PS4, this begs the question about who HASN'T heard about what's going on with the nextbox.

Who is this media blind loyal army of customers Mircosoft is counting on to win this war? WHat the hell are the advantages of the cloud?

PS. Anyone else's chat box being blocked by a AD popup? I can't fix the WH above because it's under a AD for some football thing.

 

[Adon Cabre]

Their strategy better damn well out-gun Nintendo's flaky marketing for the Wii U.
But as Microsoft has yet to convince the world of Windows 8, I'm not placing any bets on them.​

 

[Dreadman75]

...That's disgusting. Stating that Microsoft is banking on the average buyer of the Xbox One not being informed about what they are purchasing.

There are no words to describe the amount of arrogance, stupidity, and sleaze that goes into a strategy like that.

And the terrifying part...he's not completely wrong.

 

[geizr]

"In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details," said Mehdi. "We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

....

"In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details"

..........

" people don't pay attention to a lot of the details"

.......................


REALLY!?!?!

You realize he just admitted that what people have been saying. Microsoft is counting on people not paying attention to what the console does. It's "in the data".

They are legitimately gambling on people not paying enough attention to be bothered by this. I mean... shit. That's what the conspiracy nuts have been saying since this thing was released, but he just admitted it was true.

That also explains why MS is being so uninformative about the questions surrounding the console. They don't want people asking questions and are just trying to deflect them long enough for the flames to die out. They don't want people to know the details, just to buy the thing.

This guy just admitted they are counting on consumer ignorance to sell the console. Good god, if MS doesn't get hurt big time this generation, I'll have seriously lost hope for the consumer.

Captch: Internet Explorer, Please Type: "Great for Win 7." god dammit Microsoft.

It really does beg the question: Microsoft, can you...possibly...fuck yourself...any harder? First we had Mr. "Deal with it", and now we have Mr. "Our customers are stupid". I mean, HOLY HELL! Even if this is what you think and believe (and can maybe even prove) behind closed doors around the water-cooler in the office, you just don't get up on stage in front of YOUR ENTIRE CUSTOMER BASE and actually tell them this stuff. It's just stupid!

At this point, Sony and Nintendo don't need to do a damn thing more. Microsoft executives have pretty much conceded the next console generation before even getting out the gate.

 

[Irridium]

I love how Microsoft is basically saying the exact same crap Sony was saying when they revealed the PS3.

 

[The Hungry Samurai]

$100 is a piddling amount? Who the hell are they selling consoles to? Last I checked a 20% price difference in a luxury object was not something to be cavalier about in this economy.

 

[UsefulPlayer 1]

"There's a lot of education we have to provide to make sure that people understand," says Mehdi.

Sure, core gamers complain, but the folks who don't really pay attention and who just want a fancy box will be fine with Microsoft's Xbox One. "In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details," said Mehdi. "We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

I'm honestly pretty interested in the Xbone. I kinda like the idea of games locked into my account, I have redownloaded Blizzard's games many times and appreciate how I will always have them. I think its cool as shit to command my xbox open apps. The thing does feel pretty futuristic, but too much for me. I mean I still have internet issues sometimes and still play on a standard TV most of the time. I mean I'm sure there will be the day where these issue are nonexistant, but its certainly not gonna be by the end of this year, for me atleast.

That said, a business model where you actively bet on people not paying attention to what they're dropping $500 on and write-off the nerds that actually do pay attention to the product....I dunno, sounds kinda fucking retarded.

I also kinda thought it was an accepted idea that nerds set the trends in this market. We decided what the fuck is good and people follow our lead because we would know, we live this shit.
(^I think I got this idea from MovieBoB, a lot of blockbusters are pretty nerdy)

Edit: Also, I feel like if you're banking on people not being educated on the Xbone, you shouldn't piss on core gamers so much because the one thing we're good at is bitching and harboring resentment. I think the internet is still on fire about how much the Xbone sucks and you just keep feeding the fire.

 

[somonels]

Bahahaha, that's rich.

I'd like to point out that form some perspectives education 'namely literacy and math' was to enable more and better control over those in servitude. From conditioning them form an early age for obedience and allowing indirect control over their doings by written orders.

It's disheartening to see fairly lukewarm reactions to the developments in the past decade that strongly indicate that what M$ is trying to pull is not unique but even now a fully fledged zeitgeistig development around the world. PRISM is essentially the same thing (and would also have access to your living room, complete with cameras and microphones.)

It can already be - has already been - argued to what an overwhelming say corporations have on the policies that 'free' countries -- who are supposed to serve the citizen -- make. Capitalism is no longer the bringer of choice, freedom and democracy. It has become the end goal, and democracy has become the enforcer of corporate interests and keeping the consumers in line.

This is paranoia. I don't believe it to be unfounded.

 

[luvd1]

... I quite like the sound of having my game library where ever I go and while my friends play one of my games, I can still play it too. That does sound nifty.... Shame about the DRM shit, used game shit, the kenict shit, always online to play shit, price shit, having my friends vetted shit (fek, I have friends that won't be on the list coz your not releasing the thing in their country), the pointless middle man tv shit.... Have I missed anything?

 

[Griffolion]

Microsoft creates a terrible console. And then proceeds to brand all detractors as half-wits in need of education?

Keep going, MS. Sony doesn't have to do any work at this point to drive PS4 sales.

 

[faefrost]

"And the negativity? Well, it may not matter so much to Microsoft. Sure, core gamers complain, but the folks who don't really pay attention and who just want a fancy box will be fine with Microsoft's Xbox One. "In a broader set of community, people don't pay attention to a lot of the details," said Mehdi. "We've seen it in the research, we've seen it in a lot of the data points."

What about the extra $100 you'll be paying for the Xbox One, over the PS4? Again, Mehdi doesn't see a problem with that. The Xbox One will deliver so much increased value over the PS4 that a piddling $100 will be neither here nor there. "Ultimately consumers will decide which is better," Mehdi said. "It's a big market."

XBOX ONE! BUILT BY STUPID PEOPLE, FOR STUPID PEOPLE!

Yep! that does indeed seem to be their chief marketing strategy.