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Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

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Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually, Ballmer did quite well at MS. He consistently increased earnings via Windows and Office during his tenure as CEO. He was a very good businessman. He was not, however, a product guy. Witness their failures with the Zune, mobile, early cloud computing. His problem was that he always tried to do what would be best for Microsoft and not the customer. You can get away with this if you already have an install bas…

I feel that reflects quite well Steve Jobs vs Tim Cook as well. Jobs just wanted to make 'insanely great' products [for their users], with the side effect of profit, while Tim Cook is probably fixated on efficiency and Shareholder value. Apple has had record profits and performance, but most will tell it's not the same and its future is not so certain. It seems paradoxical that trying to maximize shareholder value at…

This was right on point. The TouchBar and the problematic keyboard on those recent Macbook Pro laptops were clearly features that no Apple users ever wanted or asked for. Apple has lost some global market share as a result even though their net profit still went up. I'm afraid they are trading long term brand reputation for short term profit gains. They need to re-align product innovations with customer's best interests in mind.

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#124
post #119

The CEO does not deserve all of the credit. American compensation mechanisms for executives are completely broken. The concept of WAR (Wins Above Replacement) needs to be brought into the business world. An sub par player on the Yankees will still win a lot of pennants. I'm not saying Satya is that guy, but generally speaking these sensationalist headlines are a problem!

> The CEO does not deserve all of the credit. Who gets the blame when companies like Nokia and RIM implode?

No, the question is who deserves the blame.

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whilst that doesn't read well, is that quote confirming that he's "gaming" HN? To me that could be read as "We're focusing on interacting with the community to answer questions, gain feedback, and address concerns." I do tend to give people the benefit of the doubt though...

If Microsoft employees are 'working hard to make sure that Azure is growing in popularity' on HN - what do you think the chances are that they are not upvoting as part of that? (I don't know - perhaps they are secretly following some monkish creed to abstain from clicking on triangles...)

When I see one of my past employers mentioned on HN, I upvote if the post matches reality of working there. Cults die hard

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're not talking about whether or not someone is an expert, we're talking about whether they have even a passing familiarity. What an operating system is isn't esoteric knowledge.

Linux isn't an operating system.

"Linux" is as much "an operating system" as "Windows" is. Single words aren't expected to catch the nuances of decades long ecosystems, but are still very useful.

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would if they cited their sources so I could verify their claims for myself. In my eyes it's OK for the journalist of an article like this to not to be an expert in the field, but they should be able to provide a somewhat coherent summary of a topic and allow readers to perform their own analysis on the parts they care about.

I would argue that one of the foremost responsibilities of a journalist is to make a condensed and correct retelling of a story. If any part of the story could be wrong and requires readers to second-guess and look up stuff for themselves, the article is basically worthless or perhaps even of negative value, since people may have to spend resources correcting its misconceptions in the future.

Right. The specific part that made me second-guess it was a counterintuitive statement about Microsoft's support to Linux, not the choice of words or nontechnical background of the author.

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would if they cited their sources so I could verify their claims for myself. In my eyes it's OK for the journalist of an article like this to not to be an expert in the field, but they should be able to provide a somewhat coherent summary of a topic and allow readers to perform their own analysis on the parts they care about.

We're not talking about whether or not someone is an expert, we're talking about whether they have even a passing familiarity. What an operating system is isn't esoteric knowledge.

You'll find that it's not common knowledge among the general population, and presumably to some extent among the readership and authors of a financial newspaper.

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel that reflects quite well Steve Jobs vs Tim Cook as well. Jobs just wanted to make 'insanely great' products [for their users], with the side effect of profit, while Tim Cook is probably fixated on efficiency and Shareholder value. Apple has had record profits and performance, but most will tell it's not the same and its future is not so certain. It seems paradoxical that trying to maximize shareholder value at…

This was right on point. The TouchBar and the problematic keyboard on those recent Macbook Pro laptops were clearly features that no Apple users ever wanted or asked for. Apple has lost some global market share as a result even though their net profit still went up. I'm afraid they are trading long term brand reputation for short term profit gains. They need to re-align product innovations with customer's best intere…

It was pointed out recently that in this year's product lineup apple have started responding more actively to customers (it was also noted that these are post Ive too so there might be something in that)

Re: Satya Nadella Added $850B to Microsoft

#130

First: A stock can rise for reasons having zero to do with the reality of the business behind the stock, for example mispricing, availability or the lack thereof of alternative investments, inflation, currency devaluation etc. Second: To me it always leaves a very foul aftertaste when the achievements of a team are ascribed to whoever the visible front-person is. I find it hard to believe that among the other 149999…

Microsoft has also been steadily buying back its own stock

https://www.wsj.com/articles/microsoft-to-buy-back-up-to-40-...

https://ycharts.com/companies/MSFT/stock_buyback

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