DirtyP2002 said:
bobobologna said:
DirtyP2002 said:
WereKitten said:
The gist of the interview was not about gaining or keeping marketshare, nor about just how financially successful their products are. It was about being creative and spearheading innovation.
(Innovation is not necessarily revolutionary. Sometimes it just means doing less, doing it better, packaging it well. See Google versus previous search engines, or Apple with iPod and iPhone.)
Their browser is still the most used browser in the world. Its usage share keeps declining, though, and every innovation in the browser world (tabs, heavy leverage of extensions, multi-process architecture, fast Javascript VMs enabling complex web apps, adoption of emerging standards) came from the competition.
Their OS is still the most used desktop OS in the world, and yet when I used Vista and Windows 7 I found they have been following where Apple (and Next) opened new paths in UI (composite manager display, dock, etc). As OSs become more and more of a commodity on different devices they'll have to rely on unique benefits if they want to keep asking for a premium price, though.
Do we want to talk about Bing vs Google, .Net vs Java, Azure vs Google Docs, Zune vs iPod/iPad, or WinMobile 7 vs iPhone OS-X/Android?
Strictly from a creative standpoint the sensation is that they are reluctant or unable to push the envelope in a commercially viable way, and too often they just follow suit despite the incredible resources they can muster.
They have great R&D projects - I read about them all the time - but it seems like they're smothered by the bulk of the company. Compare this with, say, Apple where you know they're constantly trying to finalize their research project into viable, attractive products.
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That is where I disagree. You can't expect MS to push this industry alone. This looks like you blame MS for the innovations others made. This is a huge industry and everybody contributes. Do you expect MS to be the number one in every freaking segment in this industry?
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I think you are getting a bit too defensive about Microsoft. I think the main argument is that Microsoft isn't fostering an environment where innovative ideas can thrive, not that they should be front runners in everything they do.
Cleartype taking 10 years to get out? Doing a horrible job with making their apps compatible with tablets (and now failing to do the same for capactive touchscreens based on finger inputs)?
Sony get's blasted all the time for being a disconnected company, and I agree with those criticisms. Their divisions have largely in the past been completely ignorant of each other instead of working together. Now we are hearing that different parts of Microsoft are going so far as to sabotage each other. It's ridiculous if true.
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It is about healthy growth. Sustainable growth is more important than anything else. Look, Apple bet their company on touchscreens and portable devices, imagine how bad Apple would look right now if the portable devices would have failed. Apple is bigger than ever before, because their bet was paying off.
It is very hard to be on every possible market. MS still has the OS and office software that makes a lot of money, but they try to get on other markets as well. Look at the Xbox 360 and the videogame industry. MS brought some innovations to this industry like Xbox Live, Video on Demand on a console, Xbox Live Arcade and digital distribution of games, HDD drives, Sky / Canal+, Netflix and now Project Natal. It really takes a lot of effort to push innovations and to market them, becuase at the end of the day, they want to make money with it. It took MS almost 10 years, 5 billion USD and thousands of hours to establish the Xbox brand.
I think MS has a very "pro innovation culture" in their company. Look at the MS courier for example. They had this idea and created something awesome IMO, now it would take again billions of USD and years of time to establish this and get this on the market. Of course you have to find partners that develop software for this and you have to find distribution partners as well.
Now you have to do this again with the MS surface... Don't get me wrong, I would love to see MS making the courier affordable for everyone. I would get it day one, but it is not that simple. The idea / innovation is just one thing, to get it out at the right time is not easy. That is why I don't blame them.
For those of you who don't know surface:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP5y7yp06n0
and MS courier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmIgNfp-MdI
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