“Microsoft on Thursday opened its first East coast store at the Tysons Corner Mall in McLean, Virginia,” Electronista reports.
“The company’s location, deliberately located just moments away from Apple’s first-ever retail store, saw an eight-hour line to get in,” Electronista reports. “As with most of Microsoft’s openings, though, the queue was primarily to get free tickets for a Microsoft-run Joe Jonas show the following Saturday, which only went out to opening day visitors.”
Electronista reports, “The opening also carried an unintentional irony for Microsoft, since it revealed in a photo that the DJ hired to entertain the waiting line was using a Mac. Microsoft had him cover the back of his MacBook Pro with a ‘Microsoft Store’ sheet.”
Read more in the full article, with full photo, here.
MacDailyNews Take: The only thing stunning about Microsoft is the level of ineptitude.
BTW, rumor has it that, in their unending quest to copy Apple, Microsoft hired Don Johnson to run their retail store division. Detail-oriented, Microsoft’s not. “D,” “R,” whatever. It certainly would explain the garishly colored t-shirts.
Unstructured blazers, designer stubble and sock-less loafers can’t be far behind.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David F.” for the heads up.]
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This guy has some guts to show up at a MS store opening with a 17 in macbook. The funny thing is that MS paid him to show up.
Brilliant move by MS. Now, people see a gorgeous laptop and, from a distance, think it’s a Windows machine.
“Wow, that laptop’s as nice looking as a Mac! MS is finally catching up!”
It isn’t so much guts as it is necessity. DJing live on a laptop is a mission critical app. If the app crashes, you’ve got silence. Ouch.
So true. A colleague who DJs had no shortage of problems with his Windows laptop’s DJ software, even though it was stripped down to the bone software-wise–no additional programs, no non-system background services, zilch. Still hiccuped on him.
Got a 13″ Macbook Pro, loaded to bear, not a single problem.
You can still see the Apple logo shining through…
We got our iMac at the Tysons store. I bet there will be more visitors at the American Girl store than at M$.
So let’s see… Apple opened it’s store at that location in 2001. Yeah, that’s about right, Microsoft is now about 10 years behind Apple in the copying department.
Yep, and I had the day off so I could drive the three hours and attend that Grand Opening of Apple’s east coast store. Store was packed. No concert tickets to be had there but was given a free t-shirt in a tube.
Now I just drive 15 minutes to my fav store!
Does anyone think MS will ever try a Grand MS store opening without any enticement of free concert tickets or whatever to draw a crowd to see what really happens? The results would be interesting to know. Does MS really have a fan base or just people using their stuff out of economic circumstances or employment circumstances versus ‘I’ve got four words for you! I. Love. This. Company! ompany… ompany… pany… ny…” – S. Ballmer
+1
Can we start the wow now?
“As with most of Microsoft’s openings, though, the queue was primarily to get free tickets for a Microsoft-run Joe Jonas show the following Saturday, which only went out to opening day visitors.”
that and the DJ had to cover up his Mac…. sad MS, just sad.
If I were the DJ… I’d have a Prop malfunction 😉
“what do you mean the MS Store cover fell off…”
This guy is a master of disguise, I would’ve never tought that was a Mac…
The DJ could have still been running windows….. Jus saying – he could have been but we all know he isn’t
You’d struggle to find any professional musician using anything other than a MacBook or Air with OS X and Pro Tools. I can’t tell you how many bands I’ve seen over the years with a Mac laptop of one sort or another sitting by the keyboard player or drummer. I have never, ever, seen a Windows based machine. And I’ve been going to gigs for forty years this year.
That’s right. It’s Pro Tools. The only way a professional goes. And it’s always on a Mac. The only time you see a pc in a Hollywood movie studio or recording studio out here is at the receptionist’s desk. It’s a Mac/Pro Tools world. I didn’t say Garage Band I said Pro Tools!
Actually, my experience is that the majority of musicians who dare to take their laptop on stage tend to be running Logic Pro and not Pro Tools.
“could have been running windows” HA HA HA HA HA
Not to be rude, but sounds like this poster doesn’t DJ much or know much about music and macs.
‘Jus saying”…
tired old phrase still used by my uncle and his buds who try TOO hard to be hip. He always gets this grin when he posts it when I’ve been over there. It’s actually funny.
Poor MacBook! There needs to be a hotline you can call to report such abuse!!
I’m surprised they didn’t ask the DJ to put a sticker of Ballmer’s grinning face on the back of the MBP.
always loved your nickname, you nut ; )
creatively ingenius.
damn.
MS thinks it can outsmart everyone. just like it’s ugly rear head Ballmer screamed it’s a Windows World, not Post-PC era, yesterday at their annual schmeeting.
it just is astounding how tasteless MS is, be it a Windough world or not, just as Steve said it in 1985.
it’s as astounding to witness how dumb MS is, to think it can fool the public in hiding the DJ’s Mac with a stupid MS sticker, which is used to creatively attract the queues into the MS Store – as without a DJ, there’s nada inside to attract in the 1st place! how condescending & insulting to its visitors.
then, of course, there’s not just the bad taste, the condescending attitude, but the stupidity of thinking it can attract clients away from Apple’s Retail store, when in fact, it will only ridicule the MS Store + if its clientele have any sense & sensibility or taste and/or intelligence or sanity, they will hover over to the opposite store anyway.
the only advantage the MStore has over the AppleStore is that it has no windows, as in either Camus’ existentialist hell description, or as in Windows™ to jump out of & commit suicide from its built-in frustration syndrome (lest you are inhuman & don’t feel you wish to jump out of your skin ; )
Billy, Billy Gates of Hell,
Steve Bold Ball Ballmerlein,
keep this up & you’re both ending up in hell – not on iSteve’s neighboring cloud…
Anyone know if any of these Microsoft stores actually turn a profit?
I still can’t believe Microsoft continues to fund this stupid idea. Have they no clue that they are the laughing stock of the retail community? The only good thing they are doing is employing people that need a job. Yes its probably embarrassing working there, I would have to take a shower twice a day if I worked at the Microsoft wannabe Apple Store. It’s so laughable that Microsoft continues to waste untold millions on this… oh wait, they have a Monopoly. No problem with the cash, but still stupid! lol
I bet now that the MS store is open it will draw more business to the nearby Apple than to itself.
msft, want crowds? stick with the free concert tickets or better yet give a buck for every ten minutes a customer spends in the store….
(the whole msft store idea is a money losing ego boost anyhow supported by Windows $$ so might as well DIRECTLY use the cash .. )
The funny part is that Microsoft apparently has an inventory of MacBook concealing stickers.
The funnier part is that, like most things Microsoft, the stickers don’t quite work as the lighted logo shines through.
Helvetica, wow! You almost never see that anymore…
A MicroSoft Store makes me feel the same way I do when Roseanne Barr sings.
Weather Report
slight chill in the air, with flying chairs in the forecast.
Ok funny BUT surely the professionalism of the Dj should have been to the level of professional.. And brought suitable equipment… Would they have played explicit music at a kids disco? Most pro Djs use either cd/vinyl or.cross platform pro software…. I run a small Dj company and run several systems mac/ pc/ cd so the Dj was being a unprofessional based on job specs… Microsoft store opening… Equipment Windows PC…
And out of those, which one works the best? Bet ya it’s 10:1 the mac’s, with cd/vinyl in a kinda-close second.
He wasn’t being unprofessional, he saw it as his professional duty to educate misguided people who may have been thinking about buying MS stuff.
Yeah, I’m sure he could just whip out his Windoze PC and do the gig with that. Uh, huh. Doubt he even has a Windoze PC. I’ve been DJing with PowerBooks/MacBooks since 2003 and would never trust my gigs to a PC.
I honestly wouldn’t put it past Microsoft to hire full time actors to play the part of interested shoppers.
Surely even a starving out of work actor wouldn’t sink to those depths?
Mimi Rogers shilled for Philip Morris. It happens.
Microsoft spin control.
Since Microsoft derives (not insignificant) revenue from Office for Mac, I think there should actually be at least one Mac on display at a Microsoft Store. They could also sell VMware Fusion and/or Parallels Desktop, bundled with a retail Windows 7 license, for a “special” price.
That would be one reason for locating a Microsoft Store next to an Apple Store. Recent “switcher’ buys first Mac at Apple Store. They still need to (or think they need to) run Windows for some things, so they walk into Microsoft Store to get a retail copy of Windows to run as a virtual machine.
As usual, Microsoft does NOT Think Different. 🙂
I was thinking the same thing. Why go through the bad publicity of covering up the Apple logo, when they could actually gain by promoting all the MS software that can run on a Mac? Idiots.
I think this is a reflection of Ballmer’s leadership. Ballmer’s mindset is entirely Windows-focused. He thinks Microsoft is a Windows company, not a software company.
This explains why MS Office has no presence in the exploding smartphone and iPad markets, thus cutting themselves out of a lot of software sales they could otherwise be making.
(Well, on the iOS side at least – Android users would resort to finding a “free” version of MS Office that’s actually disguised trojan sending all their personal data to servers in China.) 😉
Today’s magic word is:
PATHETIC:
A person who is so stupid that you feel sorry for him.
That’s a shame, what a waste of a nice laptop.