nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <nessuno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> espoused:
>
>>
>> They need a new business strategy and direction. The world has left the
>> proprietary software model behind, most computing devices in the hands
>> of the public are mobile phones, and precious few of those run Windows,
>> furthermore, the computing growth areas are in mobility (OLPC, Eee,
>> Nokia 810, Elonex etc.), virtualisation (ie., hiding the OS), network
>> hosted applications (google calendar and other social tools plus google
>> office etc.), and appliances (TVs, Mythtv, PS3 etc.), an area Linux is
>> increasingly invading.
>>
>> For Microsoft to survive in such a world, they need to determine:
>>
>> 1. What skills have they got which can be taken into this new
>> mobility/hosting/appliance world
>> 2. Have they any assets (Windows is certainly not an asset here)
>> 3. How much are they prepared to invest in doing something new?
>>
>> I think that they'll need a lot of new staff, both at the board level
>> and senior management, as well as at the working (programmer, programme
>> manager) levels. And...
>>
>> 4. Can they change their culture?
>>
>> Their current "build a monopoly" culture is never going to work again,
>> they need something new.
>>
>
> I think they know they need something new, but with Ballmer in charge
> the only way they know to go about it is to create a new monopoly.
> That seems to have been the aim of all the DRM in Vista. It isn't
> working very well these days.
I very much agree. The only model the existing board seem to understand
is the monopoly-builder model.
>
> Have you seen the Wall Street Journal article on Gates and Ballmer
> (front page today)?
> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121261241035146237.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news
The article is quite interesting, but certainly highlights how difficult
it is to achieve change and/or react to disruptive technology. The
"NetDocs" story is a great example of an incumbent company, unable to
balance the needs of getting a foothold in the emerging markets (online
office suites) versus maintaining their cash-cow (office licences). I
suspect that the fears of cannibalisation are often over-stated in such
situations, but nevertheless, the stakes are high.
The remarks about the stagnancy of the corporate strategy certainly ring
true against Microsoft's behaviour over the last few years.
>
> PJ thinks Gates is trying to get out while he can and blame the deluge
> (as in apres moi) on Ballmer.
I think she's probably right...
>
>> One has to consider that this is a much to do with Microsoft dropping
>> the ball as it is with Apple picking it up, though. Jobs did well to
>> keep it, run, and score a try with iPlayer, then portable Macs and
>> iPhone.
>
> When you mean dropping the ball, do you mean putting out mediocre
> products in areas where they don't have a monopoly, and seeing them
> flop? Jobs certainly had help in this respect, I agree. But he's
> also really good at what he does.
I agree that Jobs did an excellent job of grabbing this space, but
before the iPod came along, there were plenty of excellent quality
players out there, including those from Creative, who'd pretty much
built this market in the first place. I've often suspected that had MS
bought Creative rather than tried to get DRM into the Zune, then they
could've seen off iPod by offering a quality player at an affordable
price. I think that Microsoft were, however, not willing to cede any
ground to anyone, thus they built up a "monopoly" plan around Zune,
something which I cannot see ever succeeding again.
That said, I agree that Jobs had a good product, the right marketing and
the right timing.
> .
>>
>> It's going to be very very tough for them.
>
> Well the drama unfolds slowly. Although MS continues to rake in the
> dough from Office, their position relative to a year or two ago seems
> definitely weaker. Just one item. A friend of mine is now using
> Google Apps in a big collaboration. She does it all with a browser.
> She says it works beautifully. Not good for Office.
>
I'm seeing more and more people moving to Google apps, too. I took
No2 son to the optician today for a new pair of specs and what do I see
on their PC? Google calendar, with his appointment visible. We (the
family) now use google calendar for our social calendarisation, No1 son
has found out how to sync it with his mac and his phone, I can sync my
work and social diaries using evolution & scheduleworld. All my
appointments appear as required on my Motorola A780 (linux phone), since
it has a syncml client. The Nokia 770s and 800 can sync to the
scheduleworld or google calendars, too.
--
| mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
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