Video: Gape In Disbelief At Microsoft’s Shameless Copying of Apple’s Stores

By Leander Kahney (4:47 pm, Oct 22 2009)

Here’s a video of the opening of Microsoft’s first retail store in Scottsdale, Ariz. As the video proves, Microsoft’s business plan is to shamelessly copy Apple, right down to the whooping and high-five ritual when the store first opens. If you blur your eyes slightly, you’re inside an Apple store. From the wood floors and tables to the staffs’ brightly-colored tshirts. Shameless.

48 comments »

About the author

Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, News, Retail Stores |

txpunk
GAPE??? Ouch!
Victor Kovacs
Shameless doesn’t even say half of it. If you should a random non-techy person off the street this video and ask them where this was I guarantee you they would say a Apple Store. Sad.
Paul
Wow, they have no shame. Absolutely disgusting. How do these morons sleep at night. Well once a thief always a thief. M$ has been stealing for years and not just from Apple.
altopod
Would you really call that a ‘big’ crowd? How many of those people were recruited by Microsoft to fill the room? Let’s come back in a month and see how busy the store is.
James Lyons
Who would actually apply to work at this place? These people must have been turned down by apple first. Pretty pathetic.
http://www.toxicspark.com Andrew Macdonald
LOL, i cant believe they’d do that so openly. Cant Microsoft be at all creative?
I mean with Windows 7, they have pretty much copied the layout of the mac toolbar at the bottom of the screen, now they are opening retail stores (presumably because it did wonders for Apple’s business).
Microsoft. THIS is why your “Im a PC.”
http://gilest.org Giles Turnbull
And best of all: *no-one in the store is playing with the computers*.
You can see from about 0:50, the camera owner pans round the store. There’s a couple of guys holding cameras or phones, and there’s the line of staff whooping, and the customers just milling around. But none of them are peering at a computer screen.
Chris
it seems M$ is finally feeling threatened by apple…
MrJones
What a bunch of morons. Suck it Microtards!
Allan
Is this news? MS has been aping Apple for decades. Unsuccessfully, in most cases.
Bejn
They copied Apple down to the High-five? Oh, my…
Though it IS a dead ringer for an Apple store, did Apple invent minimalism?
Cheers,
-Bejn
greg
this too shall pass. it’s an odd phenomenon why Microsoft tries to keep up with Apple. they are in different businesses, Apple is hardware and a little software, Microsoft is all software.
the Apple store is there so you can touch and play with hardware. the Microsoft store is there for you to … uh … play with hardware from 5 different companies and well … uh … i’m not sure why the Microsoft stores are there. i don’t see them lasting long … especially if the economy doesn’t pick up steam any time soon.
i would love to sit in the board room and hear someone “spin” the return on investment for the Microsoft Store.
DCJ001
Here’s a reply to what has happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=rqRWYHGxpPc
http://www.szilveszter.ca WS
Microsoft can copy all they like. The fact is it’s Microsoft. And it’s a copy. Apple didn’t become Apple by plucking success where it found it. You need more in life to be an innovator. You need something that none of the CEOs in Redmond have.
Who cares what they do. They’ll never be Apple.
And one more thing. They aggressively market to the “average”, non-hip, non-trendy consumer. The moms, pops, and those not too concerned with looks or pizazz. Apple, on the other hand, creates classy products that have even been displayed as art. Those two ideologies don’t mesh. To copy Apple’s store seems “off brand” for Microsoft. It seem to alienate the average user that was quoted in one of their ads as saying, “I’m not cool enough to own a Mac.”
But I never credited them with much brains…
macfanboi
Actually, the history of Apple and Microsoft is quite lengthy and complicated. What made Microsoft one of the most dominant and cash-rich companies is something Apple can only dream of.
To claim MS always copies and never innovates is very, very simplistic.
So what if they copied the store. Do any of you know about what patents, technologies, ideas, and innovations MS has begun?
Fact is, MS has be wildly successful and also has a different obligation – to allow its OS to operate millions of legacy software, devices, and systems developed over the years.
It is almost laughable how strong the MS hatred is here. No brains, no ideas, no creations, morons, …?
Maybe a little history would help you, like when MS bought a ton of Apple stock to keep it alive.
http://tadasearch.com Bryan G
Any self respecting Mac employee would not be caught dead at a Windows store.So they hire the Real Estate guy from Apple, they steal the store designs, they steal the uniforms and with every new update Windows looks more like OS X.
I see this all too often in Silicon valley. When you can’t compete, confuse. When you don’t dominate your re-iterate and put you own logo on it.
How sad for Uncle Bill and cousin Steve….they must be so proud.
Steven
You’ve got to be kidding me. I attended a grand re-opening of the U-Village Apple store here in Seattle about a year ago and it was EXACTLY like this. What a joke. I cannot believe how shamelessly Ballmer runs that company.
I cannot rejoice more in my decision to turn to Mac 3 years ago. This has got to ice the cake. Microsoft, you guys and all your 12 yo fanboys need to get some real humility. I think Steve Jobs said it best a few years ago…..” They lack creativity at every angle possible”…..
Steven
I’ve gotta comment again after watching….what a joke of a company. Are they really THAT un-creative? EVERYTHING is copied!! This is like watching a little punk kid copy your son’s prize winning research paper and not being able to do anything about it. Man thats so unattractive….
RayCon
There’s nothing wrong with copying here and there. Microsoft copies Apple, Apple copies Microsoft (well, yes, there are elements of each operating system that have been copied from the other), but this? Next thing you know, Ballmer will refer to the store as Microsoft “innovation.” Ooh, just the word spouted by Ballmer sounds like squeaking chalk on a blackboard.
katiepea
apple spends just as much time copying microsoft, it’s just not touted around like this. get over yourselves.
c
this is going to fail. why r ms bothering with a store, all they sell are discs
and a shit mp3 player .
http://www.datamobilitygroup.com josephmartins
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery is it not? Frankly, who cares about this?
Folks, look, you only get one life to live and a relatively finite one I might add. Do you REALLY want to consume any more than the few seconds you have already wasted putting thought into this?
The mere fact that I just wasted 30 seconds of my life writing this to point out the obvious disappoints me.
John Statton
Its sounds like a bunch of monkeys!!! So embarrassing…
Bejn
Bryan G.:
You are terribly mistaken: Windows is running on just over 95% of ALL computers on this planet. Apple is competing with Linux. You shouldn’t confuse mindshare with reality.
However, it is true that if you can’t beat them, criticize them. That applies to most Apple news sites like this one. And Apple in general. How many Mac ads don’t criticize Microsoft? Not. Many.
Cheers,
-Ben
http://adrianhoe.com/adrianhoe Adrian Hoe
“Redmond has a Copycat.” That’s a slogan during one of Apple’s events, isn’t it?
This is good because it shows that Apple’s retail strategy is successful and even Microsucks feels threatened! Let see if MS retail store can be as successful as Apple’s. The more they copy, the more failure they get. Let see… :)
Ben
The only thing missing is the quality products…
Anson
Sadly, upon viewing, my 10 year old thought this was the Apple store.
Jim
What, Microsoft have an original idea? BAH!!
ãã‚ã—ã¤ã˜ã•ã‚“
this is hilarious, the funny part is that there is no one using the computers lol.
Julian
Ha ha ! For me it is not shameless at all ! It is just hilarious !… It looks like a desperate move from MS but do they really believe they can compete with the Apple Store’s philosophy ? The packaging is almost the same but what comes inside is a different story !
I was in Ginza Apple Store for the release of the brand new iMacs and the very expected magic mouse (at least by me), the people were just in love with both hardware and software.
A lot of people are PC because they never tried Mac. I used to be a PC too. I took the red pill, and I am so glad to be in Wonderland now :)
micro$ucks
How can a corporation be so psycho as to elicit comparisons to Norman Bates? How can a corporation be so completely soulless, empty, and unimaginative? How could a company be any more creepy than Micro$oft is? It is boggling.
Fuzzypig
Fantastic! I love it! This is the best thing ever!
You know why?
Because it proves one thing. Apple have it so perfect as to threaten MS! When people copy Apple, it proves a) they have no ideas of their own b) Apple have it just perfect.
As the old adage says, “…the sincerest form of flattery.”
theflb
have a look at the right when the videographer first enters. Is it just me or does that poster look like a rip off of app store promo’s. Thousands of tiny colourful mosaic images. & those tables wow, just wow. If I worked for apple I would take a quick look around my shops to make sure that nothing was missing.
The only thing of Apples they never copied was their motto. “think different”. I reckon their brainstorming marketing team said “ok, how can we create a motto that thinks different?” & 1 guy said “hey, what about, think same” “thats, different” yeah & it will appeal to the masses that will appreciate our lazy attitude that you can make millions by waiting for someone to do it first & then just copy it
Definition: Apple – The highly successful research & development team for Microsoft
Ictus75
Why can’t Microsoft be innovative in anything? Everything they do is always 3 steps behind Apple or someone else. For all the market share they have, they seem to be bankrupt of any creativity. #microsoftfail
Ictus75
After watching it again, I thought I spotted a “Sub-Genius Bar” in the backâ€¦
NFMS
OMG msft is soooooo lame! hahaha maybe they think because no one noticed they knocked off an operating system that this should be any different.
Frank
Is it just me or was the “Infinite Possibilities” poster at 0:10 written Lucida Grande?
iFanboy
“I’m a PC” is an abbreviation for “I’m a Persistent Copier”
Can any Piece-of-Crapper now even try to claim that Microsoft does not copy Apple?
How is this supposed to work? If I am a PC manufacturer, how do I get my machines on display in these stores? If I offer more money, will that do the trick? “Why have they got more tabletop than us?”
What happens when users come in with hardware problems? “I wanted to buy the Toshiba but I don’t see it” ~ “Well, we have Office.”
“My hard drive fried!” ~ “I think you’ll find that Windows 7 Ultimate will fix it.”
joe
this fucking disgusts me.
XYZ
I can’t belive it what are they selling dells. I mean come on what is the point besides wanting to be like apple. Why does Microsoft feel threatened by apple, it’s not like they own the PC market. However I do have to say the Mac Book Pro is a better PC than dell could make in their wet dreams. It runs windows 7 flawlessly. I just wished I didn’t have to devote hard disk space to Windows.
George
Oh right so you all think this is shameless but to be honest its pretty shameless that all of Apple Mac ads have to be entirely based on slagging of windows rather than focusing on there own product. That is not being creative, this is just a company opening a store.
Nobody has a go at Walmart for copying Safeway or whatever. Anyway dont most stores look the same these days anyway?????
Charli
if I had the cash i would pay someone $100 to go camp outside of the Mission Viejo store with a camera (even a nano will do) and when the Microsoft Store opens, ask the first high fiving staff member where the copies of Snow Leopard are. and then he stutters say “what this isn’t the Apple Store. It sure looks like the Apple Store”
get it all on tape and youtube it
Richard
the worse learn from the better.
or not :-)
Church of Apple
Who are those three old dudes around 0:46.
*one of these things is not like the other…*
ged
are there more employees than customers?
Steven
@ George:
“Oh right so you all think this is shameless but to be honest its pretty shameless that all of Apple Mac ads have to be entirely based on slagging of windows rather than focusing on there own product. That is not being creative, this is just a company opening a store.”
Your right, making fun of MS in Apple commercials is not being creative, but they are not copied now are they? EVERY SINGLE one of Apples PRODUCTS and STORES and WEBSITES is creative by they way. Did you see Apple EVER copy MS for software, hardware, store, website, anything?? Dude, if you cannot put this together, I feel for you.
Obed Tewes
I think Im going to puke after seeing that! Its not only shameless its disgusting! How uncreative can one be!
Elliot
Lol at 4 seconds that lady in the green shirt.
:)
Just saying.