Slashdot Mirror
Sony More Trustworthy Than Microsoft
DesertBlade writes "Forrester Research examined the trust that American households place in PC and consumer electronics. Sony, Dell and Bose all recieved a ranking of A+ while Microsoft recieved a C (I know most of you would say it is closer to a F). "Microsoft faces big consumer defection risk. One measure of consumers' dissatisfaction with Microsoft is seen in the 5.4 million households that give it a brand trust score of 1 [distrust a lot] or 2 [distrust a bit]. Compared with all Microsoft users, these at-risk users have higher income, are much more likely to be male, and are bigger online spenders.(see endnote 7) These households know they run Microsoft software but would be just as happy to leave it behind -- if they could." Does Microsoft face that big of a risk?"
Yep, I trust Sony. That's why I don't mind them installing a rootkit on my computer.
I don't much care for Sony nor Microsoft, but that distrust sort of falls by the wayside whenever the next Halo* comes out (or whatever your franchise of choice is). We tend to go with the evil we know and purchase as if we had no choice, even those of us that really ought to know better.
*Mock away. I like what I like. And more importantly, my wife likes it.
Anyway, its all 'Brand Potential' and 'Brand Trust' so its all tainted with the marketing veneer of bullshit. I've never worked out how marketeers can get away with 'statistics' that have so many holes they look like a lace dress - but a scientist delivers statistically valid climate data and 'there is too much uncertainty'.
We have a sick society
oh if only there were a way!
$META_SIG_JOKE
I disagree (that MS is closer to an 'F').
Microsoft is the ultimate 'C'. They have built an empire on being just good enough. I mean, a *lot* of very useful work is done on windows the world over, it can't be classified as an abject failure.... but man, it sure is lackluster.
Yup. The very pinnacle of mediocrity. That's the microsoft way.
They still have tremendous inertia in the marketplace. How long has it taken for the general public to have the same perception of Microsoft as a typical /.er? The biggest problem is that Microsoft has gotten people to believe that computers are inherently unreliable, unstable, and buggy - so that people EXPECT such behavior from any computer, not just one with a Microsoft OS or application software on it. As long as a large number of people expect crappily behaving computers, Microsoft's position is secure. In a similar manner, Microsoft has acclimated the business world to the idea that a standalone PC is incomplete without anti-virus, anti-spyware addons and a dedicated IT staff to maintain them.
On the other hand, businesses tend to hold onto computers and custom/favorite apps much longer than individuals do. Apple may have a shot of displacing Windows from household computers, as many people become more savvy about what they need a computer for, which can usually be covered by web browsing, email, document reading, picture viewing, video watching, and music listening, and are willing to pay a bit so they don't have to constantly tinker with their systems. I think replacing Microsoft in the enterprise world will be much harder.
Exactly what I've always thought - allthough I think Apple could blow away any market it chooses to enter.
To put this another way:
Apple chooses to enter only those markets it can blow away.
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
How is it biased? Like you said, the general public does trust and buy Bose, hence the survey got them an A+. It was a study of USian attitudes towards different brands, it wasn't a test of sound quality or anything.
What's the problem? And who modded you up?
Being trustworthy is not the same as being trusted. Some companies are not worthy of trust, but recieve it due to the ignorance of consumers (and vice versa).
Klipsch makes quality products that are equivalent to other mid and upper range speaker brands, along with Athena, Infinity, JBL, etc. They are certainly not the best of the best but they are priced what they are worth and sound good. Contrary to Bose, which literally sells $5 paper cone drivers for THOUSANDS, claiming "better sound through research", yet refusing to disclose their speaker's specifications.