Mitch, that's an understatement.  Not only is Microsoft trying to be Apple, but they're missing a fundamental element of Apple that allowed it to operate like it did:  Steve Jobs was in the fashion-technology business, not the Information Technology business.

Jobs could do what he did because he was in the realm of the artist and fashion designer.  He was the brand, he could afford to be secretive and eccentric because his platform was closed and tightly controlled, and the platform could be that way because it was playing by the rules of fashion.

The P.C., Android and Internet markets, when not combined with fashion, can't operate that way.  It's not art, it's business.  It's not fashion, it's technology.  And trying to be like Apple will likely lead to the near-death experience that Apple had, except I'm not so sure there's any artist that can pull them out of it.

Certainly. Great example too. And medical or healthcare organizations are likewise strictly bound by regulation. Not to meniton utiltities, telecom carriers, and government agencies.

I know that in the pharmaceutical industry, companies are required to report any possible negative interactions with their drugs to the FDA. So that means companies are reluctant to get active on social media, for fear that someone might tweet them a symptom that requires the company to launch into a lengthy reporting procedure. 

Great input, Mitch. I know that in the financial world, an analyst who covers a company is under strict orders not to comment in certain ways or at certain times, like just prior to an earnings call.

Are there other examples you were thinking of?

Speaking of insurance, many companies face regulatory obstacles to social business. 

Agreed! Cases in point: Progressive Insurance. Too many others to count. Companies who are fine with the basic promotional aspects of social networking, but panic or make big errors when the going gets tough.

Many companies don't have a social strategy. What they have is a Facebook strategy, Twitter strategy, etc. 

As in:

CEO: "We need to be on Facebook."

CMO: "Um, what should we do on Facebook."

CEO: "I dunno. But we need a lot of likes!"

That's not a strategy so much as it is a recipe for failure. 

Good point about getting on the radar. I wonder though how many companies purport to go social but really don't know what it means -- and if they do, don't want to take that path.

Microsoft is not an example of a company whose example to follow. 

And Apple has become far more open under Tim Cook than it was under Jobs. Not by official policy, but in fact anyway. For example, most of the big news out of Tuesday's iPad mini announcement had already leaked. 

With most customers having already done a lot of research before contacting vendors, companies need to get more social to get on potential customers' radars.