Microsoft Racist? - Made the News

[sarcle]

Well congrats to all that had the balls to go to MS and blog about their fall back on the Japanese IE7 AU.

Our own RD is quoted.

The long lag between the Japanese version's release and the time when Microsoft will begin pushing it via Windows' Automatic Updates sent some conspiracy theorists to their keyboards.

"I am just left to conclude that Microsoft is colluding in some CIA orchestrated plot to maintain America online economic advantage, whatever it takes," wrote a reader of the IE blog identified as David Wrixon. A few others went farther, even pegging Microsoft as racist for deploying European language editions months before the Japanese version.
Microsoft employees dismissed the charges. "The delay of Auto Updates for Japanese IE 7 has nothing to do with economic development or technical difficulties," wrote an IE team member identified as "TS." "The real reason is that, according to surveys by Microsoft, a lot of Japanese business users wanted to wait for IE 7 for six months to be distributed via Auto Updates so that they could avoid possible technical conflicts between their existing systems and IE 7 despite Blocker Toolkit. "This does not mean that Japanese [users] have to wait to download and install Japanese IE 7 until April or May, 2007. Those who want to use it can manually download its final version already."

http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/193501761

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by sarcle

Well congrats to all that had the balls to go to MS and blog about their fall back on the Japanese IE7 AU.

Our own RD is quoted.



http://www.techweb.com/wire/software/193501761

So, Microsoft are rushing Japanese version of IE7 in May as a High Priority Update. We all knew they were full of shit, but this really is taking the piss!

Besides the racism charge is incontravertible. I don't deny that the Japanese haven't been properly informed of the situation, but whose fault is that? Why have Japanese businesses not been provided with the same information that their American counterparts have? Couldn't Microsoft find a translator? Anyway, is it Japanese companies making a fuss or American Multinationals? I would like to hear the real truth about what is going down here.

[bwhhisc]

I have been pretty much out of the loop for the last few weeks but who from Microsoft said what about the Japanese to get this in the news? The blog link is to something else.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by bwhhisc

I have been pretty much out of the loop for the last few weeks but who from Microsoft said what about the Japanese to get this in the news?

You need to get down the latest IE Blog thread. Somebody is going to get one of the those Monday morning feeling in about 48hrs time!

[sarcle]

Seriously. This is just weekend news. Wait until the "big boys" i.e. larger news orgs catch wind of this. Any one feel like writing the bbc?

MS is getting grilled on questions for which they have no answer for. From RD, me, a few others, and even some Japanese.

The fact is they can't deny the search results, they can't deny that even the registry is promoting Firefox downloads. They can't deny the news stories from this.

[bwhhisc]

I just went up and down the Microsoft Blog thread for the last 2 weeks...not finding anything there.

[sarcle]

Originally Posted by bwhhisc

I just went up and down the Microsoft Blog thread for the last 2 weeks...not finding anything there.

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/200...available.aspx

There you go.

[bwhhisc]

Originally Posted by sarcle

Seriously. This is just weekend news. Wait until the "big boys" i.e. larger news orgs catch wind of this. Any one feel like writing the bbc?
MS is getting grilled on questions for which they have no answer for. From RD, me, a few others, and even some Japanese. The fact is they can't deny the search results, they can't deny that even the registry is promoting Firefox downloads. They can't deny the news stories from this.

Thanks

[sarcle]

Originally Posted by bwhhisc

Thanks

NP.

My final post on the blog.

Hm... Well it seems I realized something else.

When a japanese person is forced to put a website name in say msn.co.jp. Microsoft has ads plastered all over the place.

Say for instance.
比較.com

Instead of a japanese person being able to directly navigate to this website they are forced to go through search.

Here is a link to the msn search for 比較.com
http://search.msn.co.jp/results.aspx?q=%E6%AF%94%E8%BC%83.com&FORM=MSNH&cp=65001

At ten's of thousands of searches a month. How much are you Microsoft pocketing from the ads and taking away from the websites that are already established waiting for direct navigation in their url?

It seems to me that you are fleecing these established sites for all you can for as long as you can.

Had I not messed up and put a link to msn.co.jp I would have never noticed. You are directly responsible for this.

[shearyadi]

I'm disabled my auto update features on my computer and don't care about any version of IE because all of their versions was never been any good.

[sarcle]

And now it's getting syndicated.

http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.a...&src=site-marq


One story turns into two, then into three and so on and so on.


Few more hours and the real news orgs will be waking up. Someone has to look deeper into this.

[Alphamale]

Originally Posted by sarcle

And now it's getting syndicated.

http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.a...&src=site-marq


One story turns into two, then into three and so on and so on.


Few more hours and the real news orgs will be waking up. Someone has to look deeper into this.

yes. and these guys have picked it up as a feed and classified it under "Japan Racism & Xenophobia News": http://www.einnews.com/japan/newsfee...4064&offset=25

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by sarcle

And now it's getting syndicated.

http://www.itnews.com.au/newsstory.a...&src=site-marq


One story turns into two, then into three and so on and so on.


Few more hours and the real news orgs will be waking up. Someone has to look deeper into this.

If you think this a problem, wait to see what happens when the Japanese Blogs get hold of it.

We might just have started an major diplomatic crisis here.

I think the only realistic way out, is for Microsoft to climb down.

Their only excuse just emphasises our point. If none of the large Japanese Corps were properly informed by Microsoft and this is their main defence, then the discrimination is clear, and it is game set and match to Ducky.

[bwhhisc]

Photo of some of the IE7 team managers in front row, visiting their soon to be biggest customers.

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/09/22/473159.aspx

and in India:

http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/10/28/486491.aspx

[sarcle]

Yes. Microsoft still hasn't responded to hardcore facts either. I can't wait for the Japanese to get a hold of this.

I did particularly like this comment.

"Cerf and other ICANN officials say that what they see as a careful and considered approach is being construed by others as stalling (wonder where they got that idea) or an attempt to undermine the use of foreign, non-English characters." - icannblog, October 31st, 2006

Sounds much like what the IE7 team is doing with the non update in Japanese.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by sarcle

Yes. Microsoft still hasn't responded to hardcore facts either. I can't wait for the Japanese to get a hold of this.

The best solution would be to encourage as many Japanese Web Masters as possible to put a Firefox links on their sites. Microsofts strategy seems to be to release first where FF are putting them under pressure. This is why Finland is always top of the list. If there construe a credible threat from FF in Japan you will get you AU very quickly indeed, corportate clients or no corportate clients!

[sarcle]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

The best solution would be to encourage as many Japanese Web Masters as possible to put a Firefox links on their sites. Microsofts strategy seems to be to release first where FF are putting them under pressure. This is why Finland is always top of the list. If there construe a credible threat from FF in Japan you will get you AU very quickly indeed, corportate clients or no corportate clients!

The only problem with that and MS knows it. Is it's way to late in the game for FireFox 2 to do any real damage even if they hold out until spring.

The best and only way is to find these "corporations" and "partners" if there are any and expose the truth to them. From there you hit the citizens themselves with the information. From what I have seen, most Japanese are still unaware.

[Rubber Duck]

Originally Posted by sarcle

The only problem with that and MS knows it. Is it's way to late in the game for FireFox 2 to do any real damage even if they hold out until spring.

The best and only way is to find these "corporations" and "partners" if there are any and expose the truth to them. From there you hit the citizens themselves with the information. From what I have seen, most Japanese are still unaware.

Most Japanese people would appear to have never had any benefit of the Navigation Bar and do not appear to miss it. If they, however, understood that the inability of people in Japan to navigate the internet effectively is and has been very detrimental to the national economy, most of them would be outraged.

[sarcle]

Originally Posted by Rubber Duck

Most Japanese people would appear to have never had any benefit of the Navigation Bar and do not appear to miss it. If they, however, understood that the inability of people in Japan to navigate the internet effectively is and has been very detrimental to the national economy, most of them would be outraged.

That is the problem and still is the problem. Because of MS lack of information about native characters being used in the url. It is also being left out on the blogs about it.

Here's a screen shot showing the finer points of IE7. No mention of the url bar at all.

http://journal.mycom.co.jp/photo/new...1/06/386cl.jpg

Well it seems MS is monitoring the blog as they have erased several of my comments. And still nothing. LOL. That's awesome.

MS mindset: let's get rid of the threads that really hurt us and not respond.

[Rubber Duck]

Reading between the lines, is it possible that M$ have smelt a big opportunity here?

Is it just possible when all eyes are on the new generations of browser, that they are up to some dirty tricks with the Old?

It would be conceiveably possible to patch Japanese Version of IE6 by AU to redirect Kanji enquires in the address bar to MSN Search results. Microsoft are desperate to try to kick start their lame excuse for a search engine. Do you think it is concieveable that they are going to try to attack Japanese market by stealth?

Of course even if that is their plan we don't know when exactly they plan to implement it.

Originally Posted by sarcle

That is the problem and still is the problem. Because of MS lack of information about native characters being used in the url. It is also being left out on the blogs about it.

Here's a screen shot showing the finer points of IE7. No mention of the url bar at all.

http://journal.mycom.co.jp/photo/new...1/06/386cl.jpg

Well it seems MS is monitoring the blog as they have erased several of my comments. And still nothing. LOL. That's awesome.

MS mindset: let's get rid of the threads that really hurt us and not respond.