Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO • Hacker News Board

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#71

Post by skywhopper » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:51 PM UTC

I hope the new CEO has the courage and the power to set out a vision and stick to it for more than just a few years in a row.

Microsoft under Ballmer has been a study in short attention span. Changing themes, names, and directions every three to five years. When I was a Windows sysadmin back in the day, it was incredibly frustrating to build anything on the Microsoft platform because by the time you wrapped your brain around the new way of doing things, the next server OS release would change everything. From what I've seen since I moved on to a different career, that pattern hasn't changed.

Apple's success has come from a laser focus and constant improvement for the past 17 years. Microsoft used to be similarly focused. Remember the old adage that Microsoft would get it right by Version Three, and wipe out the competition? Well, they haven't stuck to any particular plan for long enough to come up with a version three of anything in 15 years.

Hell, Microsoft pioneered tablet computers, but after some promising early models and some decent push into the innovation required, they kind of just let that project wither on the vine until Apple came up with a workable model. Then MS desperately tried to pivot and turn everything, even the server OS, into a tablet-and-desktop-friendly mess.

Remember Zune? Remember Live? Remember the Kin??

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#72

Post by CurtHagenlocher » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:52 PM UTC

JSno wrote: post #48

MS is going down. No doubt. Look at Motorola and Adobe.

Racist comments about CEOs of Indian origin have no place on Hacker News.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#73

Post by Udo » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:53 PM UTC

fromdoon wrote: post #61

Just asking, how can a new CEO change Microsoft's directions. Or What suggestions would you give Satya, if you were to meet him today?

I'd say, from my armchair: take a long hard look at what's really happening out there, step out of your bubble. Stop this ridiculous attitude towards competitors and open source, at least long enough to see what they have to offer. Get your people some Macs, get your server people exposed to some Linux, get them some iPhones and iPads and Android devices, and make them see why you've been losing ground. Those competitors aren't perfect, they all have distinct and horrible weaknesses that you can exploit by making something better. Step out of your bubble and make something.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#74

Post by JSno » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:53 PM UTC

hatred wrote: post #52

JSno wrote: post #48

MS is going down. No doubt. Look at Motorola and Adobe.

Well I can't speak about Motorola but the stock price of ADBE of late suggests pretty strongly otherwise for a dying company.

right.

But barely no one likes Adobe flash. Their software quality is getting lower and lower. Too much bureaucracy always shown in these companies.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#75

Post by middleclick » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:55 PM UTC

CurtHagenlocher wrote: post #72

JSno wrote: post #48

MS is going down. No doubt. Look at Motorola and Adobe.

Racist comments about CEOs of Indian origin have no place on Hacker News.

I don't think the OP implied it had anything to do with race. I maybe wrong.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#76

Post by johsoe » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:57 PM UTC

yrochat wrote: post #28

> He joined Microsoft 22 years ago because he saw how clearly Microsoft empowers people to do magical things and ultimately make the world a better place. Bad start.

Why? Don't think of Microsoft as it is now, think of it as it was 22 years ago.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#77

Post by ryanjshaw » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:57 PM UTC

Udo wrote: post #58

There's something deeply symbolic about watching those enthusiastic people doing their Sorkin walks for the camera through the vast and completely empty halls of the Microsoft offices (or is it a museum, I can't tell). By the numbers, Microsoft is still incredibly relevant. At the same time, I can't even remember when I last used any MS product. It's not a boycott, there are simply no points where their stuff interse…

You probably use services running on Microsoft-based platforms all the time if you e.g. have a bank account, use commercial airports, have insurance of any form, etc. Those big numbers you're waving away represent real, significant businesses.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#78

Post by seanmcdirmid » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:57 PM UTC

Varcht wrote: post #43

ef47d35620c1 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We all have accents whether we were born in America or not. Have you ever been in the South? Just because we talk slow doesn't mean we think slow ;) Typically, it just requires spending time around the person and interacting with them. It doesn't matter where they are from or what sort of accent they have. After a few days, you'll understand them. And also, an accent has no bearing on intelligence.

This is not always the case, for instance I've worked with a great guy from China, after almost a year I still have a hard time understanding him and often have to ask him to repeat himself. It makes working collaborating difficult face to face.

My Argentinian TA once said "if I have an accent and you have an accent, we might have a problem." That said, all my coworkers are Chinese (many have never been to the states or outside of china) and I don't have a problem with anyone's accent (they can barely understand my Chinese though).

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#79

Post by Udo » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC

wil421 wrote: post #70

Udo wrote: post #58

There's something deeply symbolic about watching those enthusiastic people doing their Sorkin walks for the camera through the vast and completely empty halls of the Microsoft offices (or is it a museum, I can't tell). By the numbers, Microsoft is still incredibly relevant. At the same time, I can't even remember when I last used any MS product. It's not a boycott, there are simply no points where their stuff interse…

You must not work in the corporate world. Microsoft has a massive foothold in enterprise: email, instant messaging (lync), excel, word, visio, project, even sharepoint and those are just the pieces you can see not to mention whats going in the backend. Being one of the only Mac users in my office I constantly have to find work arounds for everything. Sadly they will be relevant for a long time we have almost 30,000 p…

> You must not work in the corporate world.

That's an interesting assumption.

> Microsoft has a massive foothold in enterprise

There is nothing in my comment to suggest otherwise.

On a meta note, I've been getting these "corrections" a lot here on HN lately, I'm just not sure why that's happening. Am I just too sensitive? Should I be more explicit in my comments? I'm not being touchy, I'd really like to know.

> I do hope the changing of the guard will help microsoft to build better products that integrate with OS's beside windows.

Agreed, it would be great if they aimed for integration as a more general goal too.

Re: Satya Nadella – Microsoft's CEO

#80

Post by rbanffy » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 2:58 PM UTC

gesman wrote: post #18

Good luck, commander! Scrap Ballmer's toys and go after the big enterprise boys. That's where the money is :)

Indeed. Enterprise is where Microsoft has the most traction, and benefits most inertia and lock-in. It faces competition from SaaS companies, but that's an unavoidable transition Microsoft will have to make.