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A Microsoft store?

26 07 09 - 17:07 O Rly? So you've seen by now the initiative by microsoft to open their own stores. As I hate microsoft, this seems like the perfect time to further mock them because that is what makes me happy. You do want me to be happy, right?

First I have to question what exactly microsoft thinks it needs to bring to the table in the form of a store. I can throw a rock and hit a place that sells everything microsoft makes. But wait, what does microsoft make? Apart from Office, Windows, and the Xbox. I'm glad you asked! They also make nearly impossible to configure web server software, a crappy music player I've seen two people actually have, and keyboards. Is the average person going to walk into a microsoft store looking for behind the scenes server type software? No, I think not. That leaves Office and Windows. I can go into any office supply store and buy that. Same with keyboards. And there's a whole shop dedicated to video games, it's called Game Stop. They are all over the place. So that leaves that out. And even staples sells, well, displays for sale, the zune, so maybe they sell one or two.

Do they feel they need to compete with Apple in service? Again, I can throw a rock and hit a PC service man- heck, I don't even have to aim, I can just throw it straight up! There are all kinds of shops, from independent guys like myself to big guys like the hideously named "geek squad". And while some, like the aforementioned Geek Squad are not so great, others like myself are in fact excellent. And I'll even come to the customer, not something a microsoft store employee will do. Are they going to go into business taking malware off machines now? Of course, unless you change people's behavior and give them firefox, the next week the machines will just be full of crap again. Hey wait, that may actually be their business plan. After all, their crappy OS let the stuff in, they should be the one to clean it out. I just they do it for free. And they are staffed with about 100-200 people, because that's the kind of volume they'll see if they did offer such a service.

Perhaps they are afraid with all the negative press surrounding Vista, no one will be interested in Windows 7? So they feel the store would be great for telling people the "truth" about how "great" 7 is? Doubtful. They shouldn't worry about that though. If Vista didn't scare them to Apple, they're microsoft sheep, I mean, customers, for life.

And it's not like they're going to be able to sell PCs. Can you imagine them selling HPs? Toshiba might get pretty upset at that, demanding equal shelf space to their products, after all, that would be only fair. So microsoft pays a bunch of employes to man a store no one needs to visit, to sell products they can buy anywhere (so microsoft gets the same profit no matter where they buy from) and this plan went through? Hey, I guess anything that loses money for microsoft is okay in my book!

So last night was Shadowrun and Shaun of the Dead. Zombie movie, kind of funny, worth watching. The run went pretty well, just pickup up some info from a server on an island off the mainland. Pretty easy, but then it was an all magic user party, and I had never used my witch before, so we needed to get a feel for how magic in the system worked. Well, I did. It actually works quite differently then HDL. But the magic system is still under testing, so I can't tell you how. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Oh, you didn't actually care? Right, sorry.

I get to see them again tonight when they bring over their animals for me to watch. Tomorrow and Tuesday Mizzy takes the Bar Exam and then they leave for their honeymoon. Sadly, only just marrying a US citizen (she's Jamaican) means Mizzy doesn't yet have a driver's license, apparently she only got the documents to get her enough points for a permit recently, and haven't had time to go present them. Which means he has to do the driving through populated areas. I feel for him, just driving to canada makes me crazy, he'll be driving for 11 days. (Their trip around the eastern states of the US) Still, I hope they have fun.

And speaking of the Bar, what exactly is the point of that exam? It can't be to make sure you know the law, because laws change all the time, so one would always have to be making sure of the specific laws in force concerning a case anyway. There's no speaking part of the exam, so it's not to test how good an orator you are, something extremely important to winning a case (i.e. winning over the jury). One page I found reads this "they ensure that all lawyers have at least a minimal level of legal knowledge." Minimal? Sheesh, if it takes two whole DAYS of testing to make sure you have a "minimal level" I'm glad it's not testing to make sure you have a "average" or even "slightly below average" level of knowledge.

Well, I wish Mizzy success, because luck has nothing to do with it.

In more personal news, I cleaned so Sean doesn't think I'm a total slob. Cut the grass. Make some yummy Mackerel Burgers. Yesterday was another Win98 machine with the exact same problem as this machine I'm trying to fix currently. Zone alarm error message. Weird, that two Win98 machines within a week of each other failed in the exact same way. I convinced them to pick up a decent system on ebay, which they did, so one less 98 system in the world, thank goodness.

Finished putting the last VHS tape to DVD for Drew, and started digitizing the last of my stuff. Three episodes of Lost In Space, which I watched as a kid. Interstellar travel by 1997? Yeah, that didn't happen. Not in 2007 and probably not in 2017 the way we're going. And the props they used, that they thought would look "futuristic". Wow, does our vision of the future change. I mean, look at Farscape, another "lost in space" premise, vs the original "Lost in Space". Quite a difference there, and not just in costumes, I mean the whole concept.

Sean and Mizzy are taking me out to dinner in thanks for watching the animals, but I'm not sure when they are going to arrive, hence the early entry today. I have a couple of calls, so looks like at least monday is taken care of work wise. More fun begins, as the end of July draws near.

Current Mood: Cat sitting in front of my iMac, makes hard to see words!