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Microsoft reorganizes

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Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#231

Post by mtdewcmu »

jccooper wrote: post #122
cs702 wrote: post #88

I almost choked when I read Microsoft's new mission statement: "our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most." In other words, Ballmer wants the company to "focus" on being everything to everyone! Not a good sign for the business. -- PS. Compare Ballmer's long,…

I think the important thing is what's missing: "software". Apparently, Microsoft, the world's biggest software company, is no longer interested in software. I wouldn't call this a great idea, considering "core competencies" and how well their products in the "devices and services" divisions are faring, but it is, at least, forward-looking.

Microsoft has always wanted to become its competitors. The reference to devices sounds to me like they would rather be Apple or Sony. Services probably signifies their wish to be Amazon or some other company that makes its entire living on the internet. Just because there is no real competition in the PC OS and productivity software markets doesn't mean there's nothing there worth hanging on to. They don't sound very interested in the industry they created and still dominate. Whoever they would rather be, there's a good chance their fate is tied up with software, for better or worse, so it benefits them nothing to prematurely write it off for dead. Expending so much energy in coveting what Apple and Google have leads to missteps like Metro.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#232

Post by anonymfus »

nitrogen wrote: post #198
onedev wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious what amazing products Microsoft is working on.

The new Kinect, were it not locked into the new Xbox and used for creepy advertising-related purposes, would be an amazing product.

There is already sign-up opened for new Kinect for Windows:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindowsdev/newdevkit...

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#234

Post by Gigablah »

venomsnake wrote: post #189
criley2 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I trialed a Nokia Lumia 920 with WP8 for a month before settling on a Note II, and I must say that I strongly disagree with your analysis of WP8. It seems very biased and it seems to be ignorant -- as in I don't believe you've actually used the platform as a daily driver for any period of time. No offense, but calling it a "me too" iOS competitor is about as nuanced as calling Android a "me too" iOS competitor -- tec…

I was talking about the totally botched launch of WP7 mostly (and I have used wp7 device). While WP8 may be amazing it was just too late. Android have the "dominant market share" thing going on about it. MS had very short window to make a dent in the smartphone war but because of "reasons" never really got together to create a product that could be the smartphone win 3.11/98

My Nokia 900 is a great device, and I really like the OS.

Unfortunately the ecosystem never really picked up. I'm already looking to switch back to Android because I can't use WP with devices like my Pebble, among other things.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#235

Post by ChuckMcM »

Silhouette wrote: post #223
ChuckMcM wrote: post #163

This is the change : "This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT). Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy. Each discipline will also be charged with improving our core capabiliti…

That makes them a lot more like Apple and really puts Dell and HP in a sticky place. One wonders what the world would look like if Apple embraced people making cloned hardware. I'm not sure, but it could lead to some very interesting manoeuvres if the big PC vendors decided relying on Windows was no longer safe and building one or more freely available alternatives was in their interests. People joke a lot about the…

I think this is true but "working with the community" from the giant's perspective is often different than the community's perspective. I see Oracle as an extreme example, but prior to them Sun's lip service on Java early on really didn't help the community trying to improve Java but it did keep it moving along a path.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#236

Post by michaelochurch »

mikestew wrote: post #211
hga wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Were those in the bottom rank shown the door in due course?

There was certainly mention of "up or out", and a bad review or two would bring about the PIP stick (which seems to be only legal CYA before the firing, not for any hopes of real improvement). And, frankly, it was a long time ago and I haven't gone to any effort to remember details. I will say that in general it was as screwy and demotivating then as it is described to be now. It was based on a model proposed by Ball…

What Ballmer forgot is that Welch himself said the "trim the bottom 10%" model didn't work once a company got larger than a certain size.

I'm not sure that size is the issue. I think that the percentage of deadwood a company has being static is the problem.

A typical 10,000-person company probably has enough deadwood to make a 10% cut safe: a mature company that's accrued enough slackers and incompetents can endure a cut of the obvious nonperformers and few will be upset about it. Even many of the nonperformers will agree, to some extent, that it's time. Besides, the company will have a cut anyway if it underperforms. But if you cut 10% every year, after two or three iterations you are cutting good people, and the cultural effects of that make the process not worth it.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#237

Post by quanticle »

Silhouette wrote: post #204
bad_user wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps the most profound was that Microsoft has basically said "Oh by the way, the PC is dead." and by that tacit admission they fulfill the prophecy of this being the 'post PC' era All this talk about the "Post PC" era is misguided, with people leaving out the elephant in the room. It's not PCs that are dead - PCs are fine, you can find one in most homes and most people interact with PCs daily. This isn't going t…

Software is becoming a cheap commodity, due to open-source, due to the freemium model on the web, due to piracy, due to the $0.99 or ads-enabled apps that are so popular lately. Cheap software is becoming a cheap commodity. It's relatively easy for any competent software developer to write a diary app with a pretty UI skin, or a basic text editor and formatting engine to drive a lightweight word processor, or a simpl…

That's all true, but you also have to recognize the fact that the market for people like you is essentially saturated. To use a different example, this is why Adobe has abandoned selling boxed copies of Photoshop, and is moving to it's "Creative Cloud" rental scheme. That is the real benefit of web applications. It's not that they're easier for the user. That's a side benefit. The real benefit comes from the fact that you can turn what used to be a one-time purchase into an ongoing revenue stream. That's what Microsoft, Adobe, and all the other purveyors of boxed software are aiming towards.

Looking at it that way, PC vs. web is just a proxy for buy vs. rent. And, like it or not, the "buy" option is slowly being driven from the market.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#238

Post by md224 »

cs702 wrote: post #88

I almost choked when I read Microsoft's new mission statement: "our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most." In other words, Ballmer wants the company to "focus" on being everything to everyone! Not a good sign for the business. -- PS. Compare Ballmer's long,…

Is it weird that Google's mission statement doesn't describe their primary revenue stream? I suppose they could say that they're making information universally accessible and useful to individuals as well as advertisers. But I don't know, their mission statement makes them sound like the best library ever. Not an advertising company.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#239

Post by mtdewcmu »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #163

This is the change : "This means we will organize the company by function: Engineering (including supply chain and datacenters), Marketing, Business Development and Evangelism, Advanced Strategy and Research, Finance, HR, Legal, and COO (including field, support, commercial operations and IT). Each discipline will help drive our overall strategy. Each discipline will also be charged with improving our core capabiliti…

>> "...they want to be what Google and Apple would be if they merged"

I don't see much upside to becoming another Apple. I always thought of Apple's strategy as being dictated by MS, since the volume and business ends of the market were off-limits, Apple had to take what was left, making a niche for itself at the high end. Apple is doing well now, but their situation doesn't seem any less precarious than MS, and there certainly can't be room for both companies in Apple's market. Google's market, too, doesn't seem to have enough room for a MS.

If I was MS, my priority would be protecting the health of my cash cows. The PC is not literally dead. Just because a van is not a sports car doesn't mean companies that make vans are going out of business.

This reorganization seems to be a response to criticism of Windows 8 and Ballmer's leadership, and this seems to be Ballmer's way of saying he doesn't intend on going anywhere. At least, not without a lot of bureaucratic box-reshuffling.

Re: Microsoft reorganizes

#240

Post by contingencies »

foobarbazqux wrote: post #233
Sammi wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this a recursive algorithm?

It was, but the stack overflowed.

The stack of OS upgrades? Or the stack of critical software updates? Or the stack of windows on the unmanageable, broken-metaphor 'powered' desktop? Or the stack of useless Microsoft 'powered' devices now in landfill? So many stacks. So little time.
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