>avoid the Microsoft trap of looking like total dorks by existing in an echo chamber.
Lolwhut?? Microsoft wishes it had a fraction of the echo chamber Apple fans create. It's what Apple is known for.
>Even if they made a small misstep or had an awkward moment in a launch announcement, it was seen as endearing and forgivable.
Uhhhh... "You're holding it wrong" was an absolute unmitigated PR disaster for Apple. It was one of the worst kinks ever in the "reality distortion field". People were rightly pissed. It was smug and stupid, not endearing.
> "You're holding it wrong"
I cringe every time I hear someone say this to malign stupid users. Yes, I hear it at work.
Some people legit only read the headlines about that story, not the articles.
You're misunderstanding. Apple exists in an echo chamber, Microsoft wishes they did.
I believe the premise is that Microsoft--the employees and management or whatever: the entity, not the ecosystem or the users--exists in an echo chamber... as in, they keep thinking their users want stuff but their users actually don't.
Even if they made a small misstep or had an awkward moment in a launch announcement, it was seen as endearing and forgivable.
But there seem to be an increase in moments where Apple comes across as behind the curve, or not as aware of where the public is at relative to them, compared to then.