Microsoft Apologises For Next-Gen Xbox Rants From Employee

Microsoft employee, Adam Orth, has been causing a bit of a stir recently on Twitter. If you do not use Twitter then it is quite possible that you have missed this interesting development. The controversy started when Adam Orth posted the following tweet, which you can see below.

Following this, Adam’s view was challenged by others stating that the internet does go out and having a console that is always-on would not account for this. Diablo III and SimCity were used as examples of where always-on styles are not successful. Adam Orth replied to this by stating that electricity goes out too, although clearly he doesn’t understand that internet is significantly more prone to going offline than electricity is in most places. Adam was again challenged by someone who stated that people living in rural areas will suffer as a result of this, locations like Janesville WI and Blacksburg VA were cited as examples of these. Clearly stumped of an informed answer Adam replied to this criticism with “why on earth would I live there?”.

Shortly after this brief tirade Adam Orth’s account was set to private and a lot of people were angry about Adam Orth’s comments, concerned about a few important things:

• Will the next generation of Xbox console have always on DRM/ functionality required to use it?
• Is Adam Orth’s view on always-on connectivity reflective of Microsoft as a whole?

Whatever you think about always on connectivity, Microsoft’s employee Adam Orth was disrespectful and unprofessional, showing a total lack of consideration for any viewpoint other than that of his own. While in itself there is nothing wrong with having a strong opinion and defending it, the fact he is implicated in developing a console for millions to use and won’t even consider feedback from the consumer, well it is worrying stuff indeed.

Microsoft were quick to act on his outburst releasing a statement of apology to anyone angered by the incident:

We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday. This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer-centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers. We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product road map, and have no further comment on this matter.

What do you think about the Next-Gen Xbox having always on DRM/protection? What do you think of Adam Orth’s conduct? Do you think he was making valid points? Or do you think it could be unfair for people with erratic internet?

Source