"Look at Google, for example, which has faced plenty of accusations over privacy concerns in recent years, and is now dealing with numerous investigations over possible anti-competitive behavior. Consider Apple too, which had to deal with the iPhone 4 'Antennagate furor and the embarrassingly poor quality Maps app. Yet in these instances, and others, consumers have quickly moved beyond these companies’ controversies, and returned to faithfully buying their products in the millions.
But consumers seem to have curiously long memories when it comes to Microsoft. The company’s frequent brushes with antitrust regulators, and its monolithic and often arrogant reputation, remain etched in the broader consumer consciousness as an affirmation that Microsoft is the big, evil conglomerate attempting to control and manipulate its way to the top. It’s perhaps fair to say that few consumers would articulate their impressions of Microsoft with specific reference to its anti-competitive actions of yesteryear, but fewer still would have kind words to say about what the company has since become if ‘antitrust’ and ‘Microsoft’ were uttered in the same sentence (...) Perhaps the only major Microsoft brand that consumers have any strong, positive emotional connection with is Xbox. For years, the company kept it at arm’s length from the rest of its operations, with only limited references to its Microsoft lineage, evidently recognizing that drawing a connection between the two might do more harm than good. More recently, Microsoft has seen the value of the equity it has built in the Xbox brand, giving the console’s dashboard a Metro-style update, and rebranding and integrating its entertainment services into its phone and PC offerings."
Sorry, Microsoft, but consumers just don't like you - Neowin
But consumers seem to have curiously long memories when it comes to Microsoft. The company’s frequent brushes with antitrust regulators, and its monolithic and often arrogant reputation, remain etched in the broader consumer consciousness as an affirmation that Microsoft is the big, evil conglomerate attempting to control and manipulate its way to the top. It’s perhaps fair to say that few consumers would articulate their impressions of Microsoft with specific reference to its anti-competitive actions of yesteryear, but fewer still would have kind words to say about what the company has since become if ‘antitrust’ and ‘Microsoft’ were uttered in the same sentence (...) Perhaps the only major Microsoft brand that consumers have any strong, positive emotional connection with is Xbox. For years, the company kept it at arm’s length from the rest of its operations, with only limited references to its Microsoft lineage, evidently recognizing that drawing a connection between the two might do more harm than good. More recently, Microsoft has seen the value of the equity it has built in the Xbox brand, giving the console’s dashboard a Metro-style update, and rebranding and integrating its entertainment services into its phone and PC offerings."
Sorry, Microsoft, but consumers just don't like you - Neowin
