Why The Internet Is Worried That Microsoft's Consumer Services Are Doomed

Microsoft will gladly sell you Office 365 for the rest of your life, but movies or music, maybe not so much.

- Mark Hachman

The question rattled around the Twitterverse: Now that Microsoft has unexpectedly shuttered Groove Music Pass (go.pcworld. com/gmp), can it be trusted to sustain other consumer products and services?

It’s not an idle question. Every cancelled consumer product—the Zune music player, Windows phones, the Microsoft Band— resurfaces the same angry protest: Doesn’t Microsoft care about consumers?

If “care” means app development, yes:

Both the Zune and Groove Music Pass evolved into reasonably good services, even if few used them. If “care” refers to marketing, though, you already know the answer: In general, no. And if you follow the money— which in this case, comes mostly from Microsoft’s enterprise businesses—that’s most likely the real reason why no Microsoft consumer service can feel completely safe.

WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE, ENTERPRISE WINS OUT

While Microsoft’s first love may have been consumers, its attention quickly turned to businesses. Windows lost its explicit consumer focus after Windows XP, and like two other tentpole products, Skype and OneDrive, it evolved to serve both consumers and businesses. Windows phones—what’s left of them—evolved from consumer products into productivity devices. And Microsoft often ignored consumer marketing—even as Apple took aim at Windows’ hegemony, again and again.