Bill Gates tries to install MovieMaker (2003)

Post by ValentineC » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 9:42 PM UTC

akoculu wrote: post #127

Just last week, I was trying to sign up to Microsoft.com and got stuck in the captcha step. They have famously dysfunctional captcha system, people can't sign up to Microsoft and complain a lot about it online, and yet, it's not fixed. Microsoft always built dysfunctional software. They were never good at this. Hotmail was an unusable product, it was so painful to use it and Gmail took over the entire market in a yea…

Post by 9dev » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 9:44 PM UTC

techteach00 wrote: post #17

This is a good and bit surprising one. I have a hard time believing the CEO of Palantir has this many generational points I agree with, Zuck too, but I do. https://www.techemails.com/p/mark-zuckerberg-peter-thiel-mil...

Post by vjvjvjvjghv » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC

ValentineC wrote: post #183

vjvjvjvjghv wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very common. From a certain level up, execs rarely use the products they are responsible for. It's all about strategy, committees, meetings, plans and reports. For them the product is just an abstract thing. When I rented a Buick car, I thought to myself that there is no way any decision maker ever tried the car and thought that this is ok. I think one of the strengths of Apple during the Jobs days was that Jobs…

> When I look at the blatant bugs MacOS and iOS had in the last years, I also think that the current Apple big shots never use their stuff or they would have noticed. The crazy thing is that it's more likely that most people in Apple are using their own products, versus any of the Android phone manufacturers or within Google, where it's likely a few of them would be using the Apple ecosystem instead. Many of them are…

Post by jameshart » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 9:51 PM UTC

bluegatty wrote: post #109

jameshart wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the thread is lower level staff specifically trying to address the raised issues. We have no idea what conversations this triggered among the exec team about the broader strategic issues Bill raised.

Those are all Executives. It's actually funny that you're thinking they are 'lower level staff' because that's how it seems by their reaction, but those are literally top Execs. That's really how these orgs often work. 'Dear Leader Is Angry' will set the whole org into a tizzy. I've seen this countless times - 'XXX said it', and the littlest thing will get moved. Often - this is good, it means the org is responsive t…

Post by ThrowawayB7 » Mon, Sep 07, 2026, 9:55 PM UTC

MichaelZuo wrote: post #172

eddythompson80 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have seen that too many times too in big companies, but I wouldn't say that it results in nothinghappens.jpg It results in the equivalent of treating an infection with Tylenol rather than antibiotics. The exact symptom reported by a "Leader" will usually get fixed, but in a more of a "KPI hacking" rather than a fundamental fix to the problem. I have seen a "Leader" point to the staggering number of support tickets…

The more interesting question is why would so many thousands of people in a big firm seemingly be fine with frustrating customers and giving the appearance of a gaggle of clowns? Standard psychology says they should be highly sensitive to status loss, but it almost seems the opposite.