Y Combinator is Dead. Why? Because all the little MeToo Point Oh companies it funded aren't making any money. So Paul Graham writes this article practically daring Microsoft to buy all Web 2.0 companies in the valley, hoping that a couple of his little darlings will also be scooped up. We should all be screaming "shill".
Microsoft is Dead
311–320 of 454 posts
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#312Microsoft is still an enormously profitable and powerful company in the real world, and you should be more careful about drawing conclusions based on what a few people think in your insular little "Web 2.0" bubble. More seriously, I mostly do business right now with small businesses (2-8 people), and some stupidly high proportion of these businesses run totally on Windows. When they go to buy the computer(s) they nee…
"Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, Outlook, and Exchange are the core software apps of 90+% of small businesses." You forgot the CPU-sucking antivirus apps they need to run that still can't guarantee that the business won't be brought to a standstill by a worm.
Well, there is that. I spend rather more time gloating about my Macs than I should, I suppose, and much of the gloating is about antivirus suckage for the Windows boxes. :)
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#313The poverty of analysis and thought in this essay is best illustrated by the sentence:
"There can only be one big man in town, and they're clearly it."
I love reading the "Microsoft is dead" stories - there has been about 1 a year for the last 10 years or so.
I remember when Netscape was going to rule the world - or AOL.
I even recall that people seriously thought that a Palm Pilot would slay the giant.
Oh how we laughed!
And just because your tiny geek-chic niche all uses Macs doesn't mean that everyone does.
Nor does using a Mac make you A) cooler B) smarter C) more attractive to the opposite sex D) more creative or E) qualified to make sweeping generalizations about industries and business you apparently know little about.
Other than that, very interesting.
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#314I think the death of the desktop is much exaggerated. AJAX is better than the last generation of web-apps, but the browser still basically sucks as a platform. Latency is a bitch. :-)
But is it unsucky enough in a "worse is better" sort of way?
How many developers of startups do you know who actually use a browser based IDE ?
There are a couple and they only suck a bit, but they don't compare to the desktop ones.
I don't use a browser based text editor when I want to make a quick note. Actually a couple of my friends do with google docs - but not too many.
For the apps I use everyday, the browser sucks. It's not just latency, although this is a big contributor to why web apps feel sucky and clunky, but the browser just isn't a very good platform for rich applciations.
The google integration between their applications is very good, and getting better, but it isn't enough to make me forget that the interface sucks...
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#315As an open-source developer (with Python) who uses Windows, Microsoft and their actions hardly ever seemed to feature in the things I was interested in or that were important to me.
That actually changed when I got a job developing an application with IronPython (an open-source implementation of Python for .NET - funded by Microsoft).
Now I actually use .NET, and I have to admit that it isn't bad. Generally a sane API, and C# is nicer than Java.
Still, when I develop my own projects I use cPython, and Microsoft is now 'slightly; relevant whereas for the last few years they have seemed completely irrelevant.
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#316What a small view of the world you have. So, since all you see are macs therefore MS is dead. This also resembles the all I see is linux so MS is dead to. LOL. It's 2007, Why is MS still in business then? MS keeps moving forward. The battle ground is not the os anymore but what you will do with it. I do not see Apple creating there version of .NET and getting the largest amount of developers on board to work with it. Linux has a long way to go before Gradma can use it daily, Many gradmas ARE using MS to blog, share pics and more everyday. And once the other contenders get to that point, it will gradmas PROGRAMMING for windows. So say what you like. You know deep down they can't beat MS, MS will just adapt and create a more compelling reason for the majority to work with them. There is room for everyone. Just a bigger room is needed for Microsoft!
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#317What a small view of the world you have. So, since all you see are macs therefore MS is dead. This also resembles the all I see is linux so MS is dead to. LOL. It's 2007, Why is MS still in business then? MS keeps moving forward. The battle ground is not the os anymore but what you will do with it. I do not see Apple creating there version of .NET and getting the largest amount of developers on board to work with it. Linux has a long way to go before Gradma can use it daily, Many gradmas ARE using MS to blog, share pics and more everyday. And once the other contenders get to that point, it will gradmas PROGRAMMING for windows. So say what you like. You know deep down they can't beat MS, MS will just adapt and create a more compelling reason for the majority to work with them. There is room for everyone. Just a bigger room is needed for Microsoft!
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#318well with Microsoft holding a good 90% of the desktop market and most schools only have classes for Microsoft software i just don't see Microsoft as dead and not anything in the near future
this article was well just a bunch of FUD
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#319If this article was renamed, "Microsoft Potentially Faces New Challenges and more Intense Competition in the Upcoming Future," then, sure. But "Microsoft is Dead?" Give me a break. How can the most profitable and recognized software company on the planet be "dead?"
Could it be stagnant? Yeah; I suppose. Maybe it is stagnant. Or maybe you're just so caught up in your "hip" counter-culture $2,000 iMac lifestyle that you are blinded to the plain facts. The facts, like, that 99% of businesses and developers EXCLUSIVELY use Windows. And 99% of all homes. And 90% of all students. I don't understand how any company with around 90% of the entire marketshare could be considered dead.
You made some good points but ultimately this whole "essay," is just off-base hogwash for Apple fanboys.
Re: Microsoft is Dead
#320I actually thought it was an excellent piece. I don't necessarily think that Microsoft is down and out for the count but equal they do seem to be playing catchup a lot.
It was a great little piece Paul.
http://www.virtualchaos.co.uk/blog/2007/04/08/microsoft-is-dead/