Does Microsofties Understand Internet ?? | The Coffeehouse

xgamer
Two Sides to Everything

May be this is the last time i harp the same old tune ( http://channel9.msdn.com/forums/Coffeehouse/257083-Microsoft-Too-US-Centric-/)..

Yesterday two companies MS and Google released their visual search products for testing .. Bing Visual Search and Google Fast flip.

Google Fast Flip is available everywhere in the world (though I should say that the content is predominantly US/European), whereas Bing Visual Search is not even accessible outside US ( unless you change your region to US on bing ).

Though not logical I can still understand some reasons for limiting availability of things like Zune HD to a country/region but what about a webbased product ... its beyond me...

From my perspective MS decision makers still fails to understand the ubiquity of internet ... Sad

stevo_
Human after all

Yep, imo Microsoft is one of the biggest offenders for focusing their products/servers towards the US.. I know there are reasons why- but they suck.

giovanni
...

In reply to stevo_

#Sep 15th @ 9:38 AM

I agree with you, there is no reason the Bing Visual Search should be US only even if most of the topics are US only. By the way, for the rest (at least) of the world Bing is still in Beta... I am getting really tired of this US only thing.

CreamFilling512

In reply to stevo_

#Sep 15th @ 9:38 AM

Because globalizing something that has market share the size of a fly burp makes a lot of sense.

xgamer
Two Sides to Everything

In reply to stevo_

#Sep 15th @ 9:38 AM

Though not directly related to the topic i think MS Top Brass should read important lines from the blog posts like

http://mark-lucovsky.blogspot.com/2005/02/shipping-software.html

" I would argue that Microsoft used to know how to ship software, but the world has changed... The companies that "know how to ship software" are the ones to watch. They have embraced the network, deeply understand the concept of "software as a service", and know how to deliver incredible value to their customers efficiently and quickly."

http://www.scottberkun.com/blog/2007/does-google-2008-microsoft-1998/

Common mistakes employees of dominant companies make:

Believing no one has been at the center of the tech-universe before.
Inability to take a non self-centric view of the world.
Depending on power and intimidation, more than intelligence and wisdom.
Failing to find ways to stay humble & hungry while being dominant.
Focusing more on beating rivals than satisfying customers.
Underestimating how decisions will be received by the rest of the world.

giovanni
...

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Sep 15th @ 10:17 AM

I think the rest of the wolrd is a little bigger than a fly burp. There is no need to translate everything, beta programs can be in English, but they should be accessible to the whole world when possible (i.e. when they are not restricted by painful media rights etc.).

xgamer
Two Sides to Everything

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Sep 15th @ 10:17 AM

I feel if you dont allow a product to be tried in another market, you will never know whats the response going to be ...

Anyway for your information .. % of students using PCs to Macs is larger in non-US region compared to US...

The largest user base for Windows Live Space ( which has a market share of fly blurp in US ) used to be in China ... and the largest percentage of Windows Live Messenger user base was in Asian region ... and same can be said about Google products such as Orkut...

PerfectPhase
"This is not war, this is pest control!" - Dalek to Cyberman

In reply to giovanni

#Sep 15th @ 10:22 AM

the only reasons I can think of for a beta product is limiting the number of people using it, and providing a easy period of low to no use by limiting it to one region where most people will be asleep at the same time. Still lame though.

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

Basically, I realised Microsoft sucks at international markets when we weren't able to download the Live apps betas because they were in English... The download page just redirected to the default Dutch Live page.

stevo_
Human after all

In reply to CreamFilling512

#Sep 15th @ 10:17 AM

Check it out, I just put a website together in 5 minutes, theres like 5 buttons on the page and if you click them it shows happy pictures.. and guess what! the entire world gets to enjoy it! wow!

Oh whats that licensing bur bur bla bla garble garble effort? oh thats fine then.