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Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

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Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#71

Post by corresation »

tstrimple wrote: post #64
steven2012 wrote: post #25

Microsoft should split up the company into smaller ones. This is something that should have happened with the anti-trust case a decade ago, but unfortunately it didn't happen. I said to myself at the time, it would have been the best thing for the software industry if we saw Microsoft split up into an OS company and an applications company. Now, I think they should split off Windows, Applications, X-box, and Mobile.…

I disagree completely. That's essentially the way things were a few years ago. A big part of Microsoft's problems, both internal and external, come from the fiefdoms that sprung up around the different divisions. They were effectively different companies with the same CEO. They rarely communicated well and this lead to a lot of unnecessary duplication of work. Microsoft is now on a path to unifying the ecosystem and…

Using a Windows Phone, Windows Tablet and Xbox all feel very similar. None of that happens with different companies.

Why should a game machine, controlled by a gamepad, operate anything like a touchscreen smartphone, or a keyboard and mouse controlled desktop? There is absolutely no value to that, and it is exactly what is being pointed out as the problem with Microsoft: Everything hinges on trying to leverage and push other parts of Microsoft's empire (Windows 8 has been a relative disaster commercially because of this misdirected unifying vision, just as it would be if Honda gave their cars motorcycle handlebars to unify the product line), and the end result is that the few products that should do well are diminished because of it.

Microsoft is now on a path to unifying the ecosystem and this is fantastic from a developer perspective.

Microsoft has always been unifying the ecosystem, to largely disastrous results. DNA. OLE. WinFS. And on and on. Longhorn was a total disaster for exactly this reason, someone declaring "You know what would be cool -- if one single technology foundation served every one of our products. Let's call everyone into a meeting!", where suddenly the only superficially similar needs of Exchange, Access, Windows NT, and so on all have to try to come to some consensus (hint - it never happened. It was a disaster from top to bottom). Metro is more of the same, though Microsoft became committed to pushing it through. It was a gimmick for a short while, but is there anyone who says "Boy, I should would like an Xbox One because it works like the desktop I no longer use and is like the Microsoft tablet I will never own"?

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#72

Post by chadwickthebold »

jerf wrote: post #69
at-fates-hands wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>>> What WM devices lack is a killer feature. They are just another fine smartphone line. This is pretty much the case for any smartphone. A "killer feature" for me is something other than taking pictures and video, running apps, making calls and texting. I have yet to find a phone that has something besides these 5 basic features. Microsoft has always been dominant in the enterprise market so the retail game is not…

"A "killer feature" for me is something other than taking pictures and video, running apps, making calls and texting. I have yet to find a phone that has something besides these 5 basic features." The phone that slides into a clamshell laptop unit and becomes my laptop, with appropriate blended features. Acer has prototyped it, and a couple of others, I think, but the time may have come. Tablets are doing it, but the…

If you need the "clamshell laptop unit" around to make this work, doesn't it just make more sense to carry an actual laptop? Motorola did this with the Atrix I believe, and that was piece of garbage.

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#73

Post by dgregd »

bluedino wrote: post #51
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft isn't nuts. Yep. Their spectacular mediocrity is only now being revealed, that's all. Look, they've been great simply by virtue of being in the right place at the right time. There was an incredibly TREMENDOUS hidden demand for a PC and an operating system for it, and MS happened to be there at the time. A half-blind monkey in the same place at the same time would have made a truckload of money too. It wa…

>> Good riddance, MS. You've kept the whole industry back far too long. Don't be so harsh. The industry wouldn't exist as we know it without Microsoft. There'd still be 10+ different platforms.

Really? How many mobile platform do we have now?

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#74

Post by fmap »

bluedino wrote: post #51
Florin_Andrei wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Microsoft isn't nuts. Yep. Their spectacular mediocrity is only now being revealed, that's all. Look, they've been great simply by virtue of being in the right place at the right time. There was an incredibly TREMENDOUS hidden demand for a PC and an operating system for it, and MS happened to be there at the time. A half-blind monkey in the same place at the same time would have made a truckload of money too. It wa…

>> Good riddance, MS. You've kept the whole industry back far too long. Don't be so harsh. The industry wouldn't exist as we know it without Microsoft. There'd still be 10+ different platforms.

There'd be 10+ different platforms which would be competing and innovating? Did I miss the implied sarcasm tag?

If you look at OS research from the 80s it seems pretty clear that the industry never caught up.

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#75

Post by steven2012 »

tstrimple wrote: post #64
steven2012 wrote: post #25

Microsoft should split up the company into smaller ones. This is something that should have happened with the anti-trust case a decade ago, but unfortunately it didn't happen. I said to myself at the time, it would have been the best thing for the software industry if we saw Microsoft split up into an OS company and an applications company. Now, I think they should split off Windows, Applications, X-box, and Mobile.…

I disagree completely. That's essentially the way things were a few years ago. A big part of Microsoft's problems, both internal and external, come from the fiefdoms that sprung up around the different divisions. They were effectively different companies with the same CEO. They rarely communicated well and this lead to a lot of unnecessary duplication of work. Microsoft is now on a path to unifying the ecosystem and…

It's great for people who want to be in the Windows ecosystem. The problem is, almost no one wants a completely Windows experience anymore. Microsoft is great at strategically leveraging their monopoly and creating a forced marriage between two separate experiences, and making both of them worse, much like forcing IE into Windows, Windows Mobile into Windows 8, etc. The problem for Microsoft is that this is no longer 1997. People have legitimate choices and are spurning Microsoft like never before. Their monopoly no longer buys them any strategic advantage anymore except in enterprise software.

They can keep trying to create a unifying UX experience, but no one cares. Their Metro UX in Windows 8 has been a disaster. The inertia that Microsoft counted on to make IE the #1 browser no longer works anymore.

The best thing to do for the engineers and for shareholders is to break the company apart and let each division fend for themselves. Let them make the best product they can, not stymied with one hand tied behind their back because they have to maintain this terrible lineage back to Windows.

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#76

Post by spion »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #31
tptacek wrote: post #6

Microsoft isn't nuts. They simply missed mobile. Microsoft almost missed the Internet, and retained some of their dominance only after decisive top-down action and investment. By the time Microsoft understood what was happening in mobile, it was too late. The fiasco was compounded by Ballmer's indecisive reaction, but it was already set in motion. Anything Microsoft does with mobile, perhaps short of something that l…

> Microsoft isn't nuts. Yep. Their spectacular mediocrity is only now being revealed, that's all. Look, they've been great simply by virtue of being in the right place at the right time. There was an incredibly TREMENDOUS hidden demand for a PC and an operating system for it, and MS happened to be there at the time. A half-blind monkey in the same place at the same time would have made a truckload of money too. It wa…

They aren't really inept. Its just that they want to do everything themselves, disregarding others. "It runs on our Microsoft platform, works well with our Microsoft tools and you can even store your stuff on our Microsoft cloud, provided that you run the Microsoft sync tool on your Microsoft operating system"

They really need to learn to stop doing that, because they're not able to afford it anymore.

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#77

Post by r00fus »

csmuk wrote: post #7
batmansbelt wrote: post #5

Hopefully when MS and Nokia make an Android fork they put up an Android port of Internet Explorer on Google Play. Firefox on android is a great browser (better than chrome), but it would be nice to have more choice. Since the recent death of Opera there are only two browsers on Android.

I've suffered IE10 mobile for a bit now. It's a great browser but to be honest the entire mobile web is written for WebKit. This makes it painful.

It's not unlike the recent desktop browser days - where the web was written for IE6.

However, this time, WebKit is open-source, so at least there's no excuse for other browsers to not simply support it.

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#78

Post by mortyseinfeld »

But today, Android has huge market momentum, so a phone vendor switching off it would be abandoning most of the available customers, something they are extremely reluctant to do

Wrong, consumers aren't attached to phone OS's like they are to windows on the desktop.

You'll be betting wrong, if you bet that windows mobile is just "going to go away".

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#79

Post by twoodfin »

Florin_Andrei wrote: post #31
tptacek wrote: post #6

Microsoft isn't nuts. They simply missed mobile. Microsoft almost missed the Internet, and retained some of their dominance only after decisive top-down action and investment. By the time Microsoft understood what was happening in mobile, it was too late. The fiasco was compounded by Ballmer's indecisive reaction, but it was already set in motion. Anything Microsoft does with mobile, perhaps short of something that l…

> Microsoft isn't nuts. Yep. Their spectacular mediocrity is only now being revealed, that's all. Look, they've been great simply by virtue of being in the right place at the right time. There was an incredibly TREMENDOUS hidden demand for a PC and an operating system for it, and MS happened to be there at the time. A half-blind monkey in the same place at the same time would have made a truckload of money too. It wa…

Remember how they got dragged kicking and screaming into the Internet era? That's the real Microsoft.

Kicking and screaming? This myth has developed that Microsoft completely missed the Internet bus, and only billg's belated realization and just-in-time gamble saved them from market disaster.

Except billg's famous "Internet Tidal Wave" memo was written in May of 1995! Netscape Navigator 1.0 had been released a whole five months earlier. Essentially nobody from the old PC guard saw and acted on the web's potential before Microsoft did.

Re: Has Microsoft Gone Nuts?

#80

Post by bluedino »

dgregd wrote: post #73
bluedino wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Good riddance, MS. You've kept the whole industry back far too long. Don't be so harsh. The industry wouldn't exist as we know it without Microsoft. There'd still be 10+ different platforms.

Really? How many mobile platform do we have now?

That matter? 3. Just like how many desktop platforms we have. Windows, iOS, and Android Windows, Mac, and Linux
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