On: Microsoft Edge’s new ‘Buy now, pay later’ feature is the definition of bloatware

[aaaaaaaaaaab]

I don't understand it either. I can't fathom how none of the people working on this had the conscience to pull the emergency brakes before it's shipped? How was this product idea validated? Where's the data-driven decision making everyone is preaching about?

Prime example of organizational failure...

[meijer → aaaaaaaaaaab]

Also, is there no oversight? Does nobody supervise the product managers?

Maybe it should be Nadella's job to keep on top of stuff like this.

[pas → aaaaaaaaaaab]

umm, it's not impossible that the data shows that it's "working great"

[ineedasername → aaaaaaaaaaab]

Not even conscience but foresight to see political or even regulatory issues with something that, if implemented the wrong way, could amount to predatory lending.

[FDSGSG → ineedasername]

That is a solved problem. There's nothing new here, 'Buy now, pay later' stuff has existed for ages.

[ineedasername → FDSGSG]

Sure, and some of it in the form of predatory lending financial instruments, some of which are regulated. And a company on the scale of MS entering into any new market will draw a lot of scrutiny. One in the business of lending money, even just through a tightly-integrated partnership, is going to draw even more. That's a lot to gamble on a browser initiative before Edge has the market share to throw its weight around.

I'm sure MS would love-- and is hoping-- to collect rents on purchases users might make anywhere, but this seems a very clumsy attempts. Possibly driven, as others have noted, by short-term incentives by product managers rather than anything more strategic.

[tentacleuno → aaaaaaaaaaab]

I don't understand the business model, either. If people aren't paying interest, how are they making money?