In a recent encounter with Microsoft support I experienced the most dreaded of affairs: a inflexible customer service representative. I was looking to get a refund on digital content that was accidentally purchased on my account. And, as is stated in the description of the content, there are no refunds on the item. Despite pleading a fair case and extolling my loyalty to the console, I was left without a refund.
This failed attempt at a refund wasn't what inspired this write-up. Instead, it was just a reminder of something that I learned before - Microsoft does not care about customers. It cares about money. Take for example the digital downloads market. At the start of this generation, Microsoft invested lots of its resources to ensure that the Xbox was the most readily supportive of digital downloads. And, as the generation has evolved, Microsoft has always been at the edge of the digital marketplace frontier. The reason for this is simple; when comparing physical content to digital content, Microsoft makes more of a profit from digital than the physical. When dealing with the physical, Microsoft has to deal with packaging, shipping, and the retailer. These are not an issue with digital.
The downside to this model for the consumer is obvious. The consumer cannot share, trade, sell, or return the digital content. Something that they can do with a physical copy. Furthermore, since Microsoft is typically the only vendor for the digital content, the consumer can't play the content in any other form other than what Microsoft is providing. In the case of sharing, digital content can only be shared between two players if the owner of the content is presently playing. The downside for the consumer is that he will be either purchasing worthwhile content or will wind up buying content he might only play once.
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Furthermore, because the consumer cannot trade, sell, or return his content, he is stuck forever with an ill-informed purchase limited by the controls placed on content by Microsoft. Despite what mouthpieces of Microsoft might say, this system is designed to abuse the consumer and limit his ability to participate in the marketplace. Because Microsoft is not confident in the product that it delivers it would rather abuse the consumer rather than provide content worth owning. In a way this is similar to the current model controlling music sales online. Because major labels are not confident about the content they provide they limit the availability and consumers flexibility with the content. As has been proven time and time again, music cannot and will not be controlled on the web in this fashion. Fortunately for Microsoft, because their content exists in a relatively closed system, they don't have to worry about losing control.
The sickest part about this whole situation is the permanence of the purchase. In every marketplace on this planet, when a customer purchases something there is always the possibility that he can re-sell or return the item in question. In an all-digital world, unless the proprietor actually cares about the customer (thank you Amazon), the consumer is screwed. The item that he purchased has no real value beyond what he applies to it. Without certain manipulations the content is just a collection of binary code waiting for it's owner to play it again. Hell, even my Robin Ventura baseball cards from the 1990s have a resale value.
As I stated in the beginning of this article, what I have written is not new. It is not an original thought or rant. It exists as a reminder that Microsoft does not care about the customer. It cares about money. (This statement may also apply to Sony, Nintendo, and Neo Geo. Fortunately for me, I have no proof of this yet.)
