Joe Wilcox at eWeek said it. I've always thought it, but it's tough to get through to software vendors. Microsoft isn't the only company that wants to move the newest version off store shelves. But doing so at the expense of user confidence backfires.
Wilcox writes,
Product marketing often is much more about perception than reality. Negative perceptions, once they set in, are tough to shake. For companies with multiple, closely associated brands, negative perception of one product can affect another. Based on dissatisfied reader feedback about Internet Explorer 7, negative perceptions about the browser reflect poorly on Windows Vista.
So software vendors came up with another idea.
"We'll create a market channel where the end user doesn't talk directly to us. That'll insulate us from the bad reputation."
So Data Guidance Group clients call us when they have a problem with IE7 or Vista or ACCPAC or a dozen other products. And that's what we're here for...to help with product problems. What our clients don't realize is that the product problems frustrate us at least as much as they do them. After all, clients probably deal with product problems two or three times a year...we deal with them daily.
Is software perfect?
Not on your life.
Can we usually make it work for our clients?
Yep.
But have patience with us...we're imperfect human intellects dealing with the products of other imperfect human intellects.
To put it succinctly: we're doing the best we can!
Should you upgrade to Vista? Eventually (as I've written elsewhere) you won't have much choice. For now, have a few really nice dinners with your significant other and save the Vista investment for another day....or week....maybe month...
Microsoft Watch - Web Services & Browser - Will IE 7 Perception Problems Hurt Vista?
