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Microsoft is Dead (2007)

paulgraham.com

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Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#81

Post by EpicEng »

simonh wrote: post #77
us0r wrote: post #52

2007 - $51.12 billion 2013 - $77.85 billion I'd love to die like that.

People were saying that about BlackBerry right up until a few years ago. Where are the true mobile versions of Office or Outlook? When will Windows 8+ become anything other than a painful mess for ordinary users? Will anyone ever ship a Metro app anyone cares about? The old Microsoft isn't part of the computing platform of the future, mobile and services, but the server division is. For the division Nadella is from,…

Do they need a mobile version, really? I wouldn't use it at work, and we all seem to get along with the native versions just fine. It's the corporate clientele that pays the big bucks for these products, and I'm not aware of them clamoring for a mobile version.

(PS, I've only actually worked at startups which have grown into larger companies. At no time did I or anyone else I was aware of feel the need for mobile Excel.)

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#82

Post by chaz »

simonh wrote: post #77
us0r wrote: post #52

2007 - $51.12 billion 2013 - $77.85 billion I'd love to die like that.

People were saying that about BlackBerry right up until a few years ago. Where are the true mobile versions of Office or Outlook? When will Windows 8+ become anything other than a painful mess for ordinary users? Will anyone ever ship a Metro app anyone cares about? The old Microsoft isn't part of the computing platform of the future, mobile and services, but the server division is. For the division Nadella is from,…

As long as businesses keep buying Office for desktop, does that matter? Is there a mobile platform that is displacing Office or Outlook/Exchange that they're failing to compete with? http://www.tannerhelland.com/4993/microsoft-money-updated-20...

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#83

Post by SwellJoe »

jmnicolas wrote: post #44

It's a good thing Microsoft is "dead" so now when appropriate we can use MS tech without having to endure the critics. As far as evil goes, to me, Google is much more scaring than MS.

"As far as evil goes, to me, Google is much more scaring than MS."

You've said more about your knowledge of the history of computing than you have about Google or Microsoft.

Edit: I think it would be interesting and amusing to know the ages of people downvoting this. Microsoft has such an incredible history of anti-competitive behavior that I'm surprised anyone believes Google is even in the same league of evil as Microsoft.

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#84

Post by ksk »

coldtea wrote: post #74
LeicaLatte wrote: post #48

Pretty terrible title considering Xbox 360 had taken off in 2006. Not one mention of Xbox in the whole post, indicating how much PG is out of touch. Xbox took gaming to next level, especially online gaming and managed to build a great ecosystem for games. The younger ones, in the last line, are all actually playing on Xbox. Microsoft has greater identification among younger people as brand than say, Apple given their…

> Pretty terrible title considering Xbox 360 had taken off in 2006. Not one mention of Xbox in the whole post, indicating how much PG is out of touch. Yes, clearly he's not a 17-something gamer. He also focused on things that matter. In Microsoft's bottom lime, the Xbox is marginal at best. For ages it has not even be profitable. Every gamer could as well only use an Xbox, and it still wouldn't matter much for the ki…

>To put it in another way. Gaming (put together): not much of an industry, compared to IT/mobile sales.

Why are you comparing gaming to IT/mobile? It should be compared to other entertainment industries. It has already surpassed Hollywood in terms of revenue in the US ($17bil vs $9bil in 2011). Having a dominant product in the gaming industry begets a lot of influence.

Worldwide, The VG industry generates around $70 billion in revenue (excluding mobile gaming). In comparison the movie industry - (all countries combined, not just hollywood releases) generates around 120 billion.

>Every gamer could as well only use an Xbox, and it still wouldn't matter much for the kind of discussion we're having about Microsoft.

Please explain what you mean..

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#85

Post by rjzzleep »

simonh wrote: post #77
us0r wrote: post #52

2007 - $51.12 billion 2013 - $77.85 billion I'd love to die like that.

People were saying that about BlackBerry right up until a few years ago. Where are the true mobile versions of Office or Outlook? When will Windows 8+ become anything other than a painful mess for ordinary users? Will anyone ever ship a Metro app anyone cares about? The old Microsoft isn't part of the computing platform of the future, mobile and services, but the server division is. For the division Nadella is from,…

maybe so, but did microsoft own indian, and us politics as much as microsoft?

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#86

Post by SwellJoe »

LordHumungous wrote: post #11

Ehhh Microsoft still has a lot of talent they are just plagued with entrenched bureaucracy.

And, what do you imagine will solve the problem of entrenched bureaucracy? Given that bureaucracy tends to expand itself as a primary feature...saying a company is "just plagued" with it, is a pretty damning statement.

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#88

Post by sparky_z »

Funny how the links to the footnotes in the article are intercepted by the numbered list near the bottom. You'd think somebody would have caught that bug by now.

The first time through, I thought they were the footnotes, and, oddly enough, they sort-of made sense. Especially the 2nd one, which came off as a strange joke (as in "We better make sure Microsoft doesn't catch the Apple bug").

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#89

Post by mattmanser »

primitivesuave wrote: post #37
blntechie wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wasn't control panel decently organized even in Windows XP SP2? Honestly, I don't see much difference between Mac's System Preferences now and Control Panel of Windows XP era. Searching these settings sucked in XP but Windows 7 resolved that. Windows 8 is one thing I can agree with you. It made using the PC unnecessarily hard for mouse and keyboard users.

Honestly I loved Windows XP, although I really only used it as a teenager because it was the only OS that could run Civilization III. I remember that blue control panel that neatly organized all the settings - it is astounding that it was considered more user-friendly to just make a big three-column list of every subcategory of settings. One thing to note is that for someone who knows what they're doing, the structur…

I can never find the programs one. I swear every time I open it Windows checks a rnd to see if it should be called All Programs or Programs & Features.

Re: Microsoft is Dead (2007)

#90

Post by robmcm »

blntechie wrote: post #32
joeguilmette wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Instagram and Lyft are the biggest names in software?

It's not. But clearly there is a momentum towards native apps again. Surprising is that this momentum is happening even in desktops. You just have to see how many popular services one used to do from browsers are being done from mobile/tablet apps now. Email, chat, social, weather etc. And I'm not even including non-web apps like Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, Uber, Lyft etc. here.

Instagram, Vine, Snapchat, Uber, Lyft are mobile apps because they suit the context of mobile or rely on their features (camera/video). I think they are obviously mobile first because without mobile they wouldn't exist.
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