More proof of Gen X stupidity. They know all about technology and nothing about anything else. I work with dumb f(&%$ like this. All Head Up A%$ types who think they know it all. It goes without saying that their people skills are equally abysmal. Can't make a sentence with a subject and predicate, work with a woefully limited vocabulary and express themselves with the most common and intellectually ehausted language, dress like happy Halloween, cannot comprehend personal hygiene, defer to no one and observe or respect no authority above themselves, etc. But they know it all....
Well whats even worse is that they have people who review this stuff before they test market anything and sometimes when you just distribute something under your label you don't completely know everything about the product. Unfortunately it happens ALL THE TIME. Not only to Micro$oft.
It doesn't sound like many, if any, of those gaffes are Microsoft's fault. It seems to me that those offended countries are either in denial, way too sensitive, or are the ones being pricks. If China wants to continue to deny reality and continue to think Taiwan is theirs, how is that the fault of MS? How many Nicaraguans know that 'cracker' is an offensive term to some whites? (Hell, the article even notes that MS made the changes.) And the fact is that churches were converted to mosques.
None of the problems stem from a lack of basic geography. They stem from the geopolitical unstability of those complaining nations. No MS employee would be arrested here or in Puerto Rico for referring to Puerto Rico as a state like they would be in India or Pakistan for going one way or the other with Kashmir. (Ain't MS's fault that those countries want to stifle free speech.) In the one instance where Muslims were offended by Koranic chants being included in a game, that was the fault of Japanese developers.
This article is yet another anti-American hit piece by the Guardian. There are a lot of cultures in the world. You're going to know your culture better than an outsider. The US is the most prominent culture and is akin to a celebrity. More people are going to know about us than we do about them. So in reality, it's other countries who are being culturally insensitive when they won't allow for some leeway in these mistakes in cultural interaction. The fact is that Americans are way more tolerant (often too tolerant) of other cultures than they are of us. They should STFU. If Microsoft wants to bend over in the name of cultural sensitivity, that's their business.
As opposed to the writer of this article, who is woefully ignorant of technology. To wit: "The mistake led to the whole of the Windows 95 operating system being banned in the country, losing large sales. For its replacement, Microsoft, Office 97".
The bozo doesn't even know the difference between an operating system and productivity software.