Microsoft to permanently closes all their stores

Well that further seals my departure

https://www.theverge.com/platform/a...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

Sent from my SM-N9600 using Tapatalk

 

That's unfortunate on multiple levels. I used them primarily for right now service on my surface devices. I wonder if this portends other changes in MS.

IMHO it's a mistake too especially considering their new devices and OS changes they are hoping to get people to adopt. The ONLY place I got a good demo of what a surface could do was at a MS store. At BB what I got was basically here it is, and oh it has a kickstand.

 

That's exactly how I feel... That was the major benefit of their store fronts

Sent from my SM-N9600 using Tapatalk

 

I won't be necessarily leaving Surface since I prefer the tablet form factor and (in my view) quality of craftmanship of the Surface Pro. Of course, this comes as a huge blow for consumers, who come in for the personal, more attentive support and quicker warranty service, but employees are really feeling it now. It makes me wonder if a certain earlier, politically motivated announcement which suspiciously came just days before this one was to downplay this far more devastating one. Thousands of employees are being terminated and will be jobless thanks to this widespread closure. I will say this: if another tablet maker comes around that offers AMD in a Surface Pro form factor before Microsoft that does not skimp on quality, I will be walking away from Surface without thinking twice.

Consider yourself warned, Panos Panay and Microsoft executives. I do not take this move lightly.

 

My quote from over on the Go2 thread:

The one thing I loved about Surface technology was the ability to immediately exchange it in case of a malfunction and the ability to speak to a human being about my issues with the unit. I have been as happy as a clam and have used the Delaware MS Store as a source of my office equipment.

To top it all off was my Go2 debacle and the horriffic service I got from the Online store. No one in the physical store would have treated me as the online folks did and get away with it. Good move Microsoft!

 

Conspiracy theory 1,000,001:

The two champions of the Surface - Panay and Groene - have BOTH been moved to head the Windows design team. Does not bode well for Surface devices in light of things like this. You have to wonder if the C Suite has come to the clonclusions that:

1. Intel has run out of gas,
2. The OEM's can't do much more in pushing design than MS can, and
3. Up, up and away
   My beautiful, my beautiful balloon
   
   Suspended under a twilight canopy
   We'll search the Cloud for Azure to guide us
   If by some chance you find yourself loving me
   We'll find the Cloud to hide us
   We'll keep the Office beside us, so we can fly...we can fly...above the crowd

 

The article did say they are keeping alive 4 stores as "experience centers":

"New York City (Fifth Ave), London (Oxford Circus), Sydney (Westfield Sydney), and the Redmond campus location"

So I guess we'll need @darkmagistric to do cutting-edge Surface reporting from now on.

Ok my question, how is this NOT a statement of total loss of confidence in their own hardware business? Why would they do this right before the Series X and Windows 10X device launches?

Yo Microsoft chiefs, sunk cost ain't always a fallacy! You spent billions setting up a retail presence. Pulling out right now just blunts the momentum of so many internal initiatives just as they're coming out of the block.

Somebody explain the 4D chess move here. Even if MS was planning to go cloud-only in 10 years, why would you pick now to announce it?

 

Plus they were ahead of the curve for once. For as long as I can remember people seemed to be socially distancing in Microsoft Stores.

 

They truly have. François Piednoël, Intel’s fanboy #1 and past principal engineer, recently said just as much and his words now have been headlining everywhere. I have watched him for years go into maniacal fits trying to defend Intel this and Intel that where he is usually among the first if not the first to rush to their defense. Here is why we should believe François:

Source (myself):
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/c...insider_claims_it_finally_lost_apple/fvytkqt/

Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/c...insider_claims_it_finally_lost_apple/fw10nhv/

Source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/hardware/c...insider_claims_it_finally_lost_apple/fw2pk2u/

 

So on a more serious note, it doesn't take a crystal ball to predict that retail stores are going to be suffering for a good while. Holding on to all those retail locations while people stay in the safety of their homes is probably not a wise move, especially if the plan was to wind the stores down eventually anyway. I think this timing makes perfect sense.