Buying Microsoft – An Abusive Relationship
It was a summer day when it happened again. The sun hung high in the sky, the temperature found itself comfortable around 75, so naturally I was inside playing Left 4 Dead. Ever since the Survivor DLC, my Xbox 360 had been acting, well… weird. Freezing on the loading screens became a daily occurrence. Frustrating, but bearable; at least it wasn’t a Red Ring of Death. That is, until it was. Call me an idealist, but I thought that Microsoft would never let the same customer get Red Ringed twice — No way, they’d fixed it. Sure there were horror stories buzzing around message boards of gamers who had Red Ringed six, seven times, but of course that could never happen to me, right?
Twice? Really?
If the term “fangirl” is appropriate here, I’ll take it, but I truly had faith in Microsoft fixing my Xbox when it broke the first time. I didn’t know the word “fixed” meant, “yeah we got it working, but it’s hugely likely that it will break again next year”. Just like I’ve accidentally bought almost every Nintendo system without even realizing it, I make sure that if there’s a choice that I go with the Microsoft version of whatever is being offered. I traded in my iPod nano for a 30g Zune, I bought a new PC instead of a Mac, and I staked my claim in the 360 being superior to the PS3. These decisions have been based on how I perceive Microsoft as a company. I liken this to people talking about how Star Wars is so widely popular because of the potential appeal that universe has. No matter how badly George Lucas abuses and embarrasses his fans, they come back because it could be good again.
Perhaps it’s an unfair and far-fetched comparison (because George really needs to just knock it off), but when you’ve spent your whole life continually buying a product that breaks, maybe there is something wrong with loving an ideal. And it’s not even that the products break, but having a support system in the absolutely likely event that something goes down seems like common sense. December 31, 2008 (better known as Dead Zune Wednesday), all 30g versions of Microsoft’s Zune went into a day-long loading mode. I guess when you’re designing something that has dates in it, you’d better make sure it can process the idea of a leap year. When the Zune couldn’t, it simply stayed in its loading mode until the batteries died. The response from Microsoft? “Oops. Wait until tomorrow, it should be fine by then”.
Really, Microsoft? One day the Netflix service on Xbox Live was acting a bit glitchy, so guess what? The very next day Netflix offered a 2% discount off of the current monthly bill due to its customers not being able to use their service. They didn’t have to do this, but they did because they value their customers and are apparently not beyond admitting when a mistake is made, followed by doing their best to make up for it. It’s like some kind of commercial alchemy, where if a customer doesn’t receive what is promised, you offer something equal to make up for it.
Pictured : Things that break.
Now, Dead Zune Wednesday was a disaster for those of us who rely on their mp3 player to make it through the day, and Microsoft’s apathetic response to the glitch (I didn’t know “wait it out” was a customer-friendly option?) was different than their response to a broken Xbox; at least when you Red Ring, you receive a month of free Live service every time. But has this ever been a problem for Apple? Or Sony? Or even Nintendo, for crying out loud?
All of this brings me to my main point : Why keep buying broken products? I’d like to blame the console wars, which create an environment where a speedy delivery is favored regardless of how faulty the product turns out to be later. But then what about the Zune? And why can’t Windows Vista go into screen-saver mode when someone uses it with a wireless mouse (which I might add was purchased directly from the Microsoft store)? Do people and departments at Microsoft even talk to each other?
In the end, I suppose all of this complaining amounts to nothing; I’m still going to invest in the lesser of two evils, which in my opinion is Microsoft’s family of technologies. As consumers, do we have an obligation to hold corporations feet to the fire and demand a better product? I WANT to buy Microsoft… I think Xbox Live is pretty much the greatest thing ever. My Zune is superior to an iPod in every way that I’m interested in. I enjoy getting more computer for my money than I would with a Mac. I don’t think it’s too much to ask that my experience in even one of these venues be fail-free.
PS – Disagree? Let me know. I’d love to have a discussion about this.
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7 Comments
Point well taken, Rach and I have to say I can empathize with this “abusive relationship” as you so eloquently put it.
I think in the end, a consumer simply has to ask themselves “when is enough, enough?”. Now lets be fair by saying that I am familiar with tech to a point but I came to realize this when my PC started getting so buggy that I simply couldn’t stand it anymore. In return, I bought a Mac and I love it. I had my little Ipod Shuffle 1 gig, tried a 30 gig Zune, hated it, and went back to my Ipod. Finally, I’ve gone through two RRODs on my 360 within a year of each other and surprisingly haven’t thrown my 360 out the window. Other than Office because its mandatory now a days, I think the 360 and its line are the only products I put up with by Microsoft anymore because of the amount of time I’ve invested in it.
I agree with you that Microsoft ought to really look at a better level of maintainability in its products because I have yet to have my Wii, my PS2, or any console prior fail on me or have as many issues as I have with the Xbox/Xbox 360 but like you, I continue to love it. So I guess I’ll have to continue gritting my teeth.
I completely agree. It’s so hard these days though, what with everything in the same family being compatible with everything else. You can play your Zune on your 360, and you can use your Microsoft points to buy music… Maybe it’s the convenience they’re taking advantage of?
I wouldn’t necessarily call it taking advantage of the convenience but rather, like Travis mentioned, people have made an investment in their desired console of choice. While the PC may get many things for free, DLC remains to be a huge factor for many to decide to stay with a console simply because of the money they have spent on XBLA games, Rock Band/Guitar Hero songs, or even movies/videos. Unless someone was literally brought to the brink of sanity (an extreme circumstance for sure), I believe it would be ridiculous for someone to get rid of a console they have bought a great deal for all together because of the amount of money they’ve put into it. After all, its not like they can trade or sell that content to someone else ya know?
Luckly, some systems, like the Xbox 360 and PS3 (please correct me if i’m wrong), have made it so you can get your content back via your registered gamertag but systems like the Wii have your DLC directly tied to that console. So if that Wii crashes and you don’t send it in to Nintendo to get repaired, you are out of the money you spent on VC, Wii Ware, and DLC for that system. So I believe cost/loss factor has a lot to determine one’s loyalty to a particular system.
I like the point of Netflix rising up to only one day of failure. The popularity of Xbox Live is really what keeps Microsoft 360 from failing. Did you see the recent CNet article that stated their informal poll showed 60% failure rate on 360s? That’s just horrid and most companies would fail if they put up those numbers.
When I got the e-mail from Netflix the next day (containing a link to my discount), I sat there stunned for a second… I was so not used to getting good service for SO LONG, ha ha.
And can you even imagine if ANY OTHER product had a 60% failure rate? That is unbelievable.
Microsoft’s had major problems with keeping their consoles in the hands of their consumers with that high failure rate. Rachel, I can tell you that all of my friends who own an Xbox have had their’s Red-ring at least once, if not twice. My xbox red-ringed a year and a half ago, and it’s still kicking (Knock on wood). Everyone has had a problem with their 360 at one point or another, whether it was the Red Ring or the newer problem that Xbox owners have to fear: The E-74 error.
The reason I haven’t jumped ship is because I’ve already invested in this item, and Microsoft continues to support me with their warranty incase something should ever go wrong. I know that these newer xboxes with the smaller chipsets are supposed to be better, and have a lot less of a chance of having problems, but they still have that 3 year warranty on it. It’s pretty safe to say that the Xbox has a 100% failure rate, because no matter what, an Xbox owner’s system will die at some point.
Check this story out. 2 years ago, when I first got my xbox, and My best friend received an Xbox 360 arcade for christmas. He was setting it up, and went to go turn it on. To both of our horrors, His brand new Xbox 360 had a Red-Ring right out of the box. He’s on his 4th xbox now, having returned his first one, got a used one, that one was also red-ringing, returned that one, got another used, and it red ringed on him a year and a half later.
Every Xbox 360, at some point during it’s lifespan, will Red Ring.
While I will admit there is a high-probability of that, Travis, I have to disagree with you there. Friends of mine have first-gen 360s (I like to call them lemons) that have not had a red ring, much less a single issue. Much like 1st-gen PS2s, don’t ask me how or why. Its simply the way the world works.