451–460 of 724 posts
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Your post and his comment do not contradict one another. Or rather, your interpretation of the data in that post is shaky. Consistent with the data presented in that post: -I download lots of one-time-use apps. They're useful, and I won't use a phone without them, and then uninstall them in a week (eg, city specific apps when traveling) - I download lots of special use apps that contribute few app-hours most of the t…
In what industry do you work?
One cool move on Microsoft's part can be releasing Microsoft's version of Android. The main problem is Google Play Services. But since MS almost has parallel offerings for all Google Services they can create an "API" compatible version of Google Play services. This way users will be able to install all the current Android applications which are available on Play Store. This can convert Android into an Oligopoly inste…
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Exactly that. The feedback loop is shit as well. Out falls a broken pile of shit for a CTP. No one accepts any feedback. It hits RTM, no one accepts any feedback. Two years down the line, the same bugs are open. You should hear the partner reps wanting to cry when you report a bug in something that you NEED a fix for and are paying support for. You get fuck all other than a registry fix or a hack even if the mainline…
From the second ticket > It's only a matter of time before some enterprising journalist looking for a scoop picks up on this. The headlines here are not good: "Microsoft caught with sneaky program to spy on companies" Let me take care of that... Edit: Wrote several of germanys biggest tech sites with focus on dataprotection aswell as the german ministry for cyber security with a link to that ticket. Let's see what ha…
On a similar note if they get back to you, Mozilla is testing the waters with dumb privacy invasion stuff in Germany soon too:
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/10/06/mozilla-to-launch-firefox-...
They're probably across that already though, but if not it might be useful to point out to them. :)
Here is where we fucked up:
1. We were, for a long time, a company, where every product/business group had to pay for its own right to exist. Everyone had their own P&L, contribution margin targets, marketing. You had to make money by yourself to stay alive. KT made sure we all understood this.
2. We had a history of "fast follower" successes - Windows, Word, Windows Server, SQL Server, Exchange, IE, even Intune nowadays, and many many others got successful not by disrupting the current market leader or by hardcore innovation, but by leveraging either an open or standard platform and always getting better, without trying to rewrite the rules of the game. OK, maybe Office rewrote them when it came out, but it was packaging.
3. Balmer (whom I love as a leader) got trolled by Apple's and Google's success, and Microsoft graduating from not really cool to quite uncool. So he decided to tackle them the way it had worked before (point 2.). Simultaneously, he tried to correct point 1, but, as radical as his 2014 reorganization to break org barriers was, he did not get rid of KT (Kevin Turner). KT brought in the money, KT defined the culture. Everyone had to keep making their own money.
We could have: Offered the mobile OS for free from day one. Given Office on Mobile for free from day one. Bought or OEMed Xamarin a lot sooner. Returned 100% of app revenue to app devs who sell through the Windows Store. Made dev tools (Studio CE) free earlier. Guaranteed no data collection (remember the Scroogled campaign…?)
All those have either been done, or are irrelevant now, while the stock is still at a record high, after we lost the game... We could have done all of the above and fare better than we have, and we have fared well.
Instead, we comp hardware sellers on MARGIN, as if it makes a bloody difference. We monetize the post install experience. All bullshit for pennies. Everyone had to make money on their own so we missed the bigger picture.
Satya fixed this, and it hurt, as it was the only way left to go. I gave up on a phone I really liked, as I saw no future.
I don't know if I should hope for us bringing new phones out, but I sure hope we never again let our Operating Mechanisms kill our ability to see the big picture and disrupt the market.
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Amazon is a bit of a weird one and it's hard to really say they "failed" Their Fire phone failed, for sure, but they have had success with some of their Fire products. Fire TV is nearly as big as Chromecast & Roku, for example, all 3 of which dwarf Apple TV, and of course Kindle was a smashing success. The Fire tablet is also seeing some success. But these products don't hinge on app support, crucially, they are just…
By that logic Microsoft didn't fail because Office is still widely used. Just because Amazon branded their phone under the same brand as their successful tablets and streaming sticks doesn't make the phone any less of a failure.
I was working in Microsoft about 5 years ago and Satya's not lying when they say they tried everything to incentivise app developers. It was a big focus of the company at the time. For keystone apps they tried to partner with developers doing most of the work for them. For more niche apps they ran promotions for students and independent developers giving away free phones etc. But nothing was enough to get over the pr…
They even held a funeral for their competitors devices: https://www.engadget.com/2010/09/10/microsoft-celebrates-win... This didn't age well.
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To spend that kind of money on marketing and then not dedicate resources to the actual product seems foolish. Sounds like a Hollywood strategy to me. Overadvertise a stinker to try to recoup your investment.
That works for movies because they're trying to maximize the number of people who are interested enough to go see it once, more or less. A successful phone ecosystem requires building something that people want to use over the medium term.
The lack of a Youtube App from Google killed the Windows Phone. https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/microsoft_on_the_issues/
definitely helped. MS put a lot of effort into building a slick YouTube app and Google changed the T&Cs the week after it launched or something. Basically issued a takedown of the MS app because it didn't conform to the new standard they'd just introduced. I believe it was that third party apps had to allow ads, even though the iOS and Android apps did not.
I was working in Microsoft about 5 years ago and Satya's not lying when they say they tried everything to incentivise app developers. It was a big focus of the company at the time. For keystone apps they tried to partner with developers doing most of the work for them. For more niche apps they ran promotions for students and independent developers giving away free phones etc. But nothing was enough to get over the pr…
> For more niche apps they ran promotions for students and independent developers giving away free phones etc I remember some of this vaguely. A friend of mine deep in the MS world was showing me some of what was going on, but this "ran promotions" - I dunno. I don't think I'm way out in "non-MS" land - I keep my finger on the pulse of a lot of tech communities. I didn't hear much about this except from a few friends…