The Doctor (as portrayed by David Morrisey)
2010-10-29 09:00:55 UTC
Hehe, the subject line isn't even mine, well, OK, the Micro$hit is,
LOL.
In case you have been living in a shithole underground, but since that
is where xflop fanbitches make their home, you would know old Micro
$log has really hit the skids the past several months. Yeah, they
still make a ton of money from Windfroze but the consumer products
division has become the ugly duckling of the family as far as
investors are concerned. Institutional investors now own controlling
share so upcoming decisions are going to be made by them. And they
don't give a rat's ass about video games. Everything now hinges on
Winfone7 and KineX, both which look like they are DOA. If those turn
into the putrid piles of puke they look like, then the consumer and
entertainment division may be on a short life line.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/27/technology/microsoft_pdc/index.htm
Microsoft is a dying consumer brand
Steve Ballmer, and the company he leads, are struggling with "the
vision thing."
October 27, 2010
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumers have turned their backs on
Microsoft. A company that once symbolized the future is now living in
the past.
Microsoft has been late to the game in crucial modern technologies
like mobile, search, media, gaming and tablets. It has even fallen
behind in Web browsing, a market it once ruled with an iron fist.
Outgoing Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie called out Microsoft's
lost ground in a blog post over the weekend.
"Our early and clear vision notwithstanding, [competitors'] execution
has surpassed our own in mobile experiences, in the seamless fusion of
hardware & software & services, and in social networking & myriad new
forms of internet-centric social interaction," he said.
It's not like Microsoft didn't foresee the changes ahead. With a staff
of almost 90,000, the company has many of the tech world's smartest
minds on its payroll, and has incubated projects in a wide range of
fields that later took off. Experiments like Courier (tablets),
HailStorm/Passport (digital identity), and Windows Media Center
(content in the cloud) show the company was ahead of the game in many
areas -- but then it either failed to bring those products to market,
or didn't execute.
"In this age, the race really is to the swift. You cannot afford to be
an hour late or a dollar short," says Laura DiDio, principal analyst
at ITIC. "Now the biggest question is: Can they make it in the 21st
century and compete with Google and Apple?"
Some influential analysts think not. Several have downgraded
Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) stock in recent weeks, as PC sales
continue to slow and Microsoft struggles with its tablet strategy. The
company's stock is down more than 17% this year.
What's wrong with Microsoft
A rundown of Microsoft's major consumer projects finds trouble in
almost all of them.
Internet Explorer's popularity has been waning for years, and one
recent study showed that for the first time in more than a decade,
more people are using alternative browsers. The browser is becoming
the single most critical piece of software on a device -- potentially
eclipsing the operating system -- but all of the major innovations of
the past few years, like tabbed browsing and add-on extensions, came
from outside Microsoft.
Windows Phone 7 has promise, but Microsoft dug itself an enormous hole
with the subpar Windows Mobile platform. With its market share
currently sitting below 5%, developers are taking a "wait and see"
approach.
Microsoft's media platform Zune was dead on arrival.
Bing is growing, but substantially all of that growth has come at the
expense of its business partner, Yahoo -- not its archrival Google.
Microsoft's attempts to build a social network through Windows Live
have failed to gain traction. It has no real answer to Facebook.
Six months after Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) release of the iPad,
Microsoft still has virtually no presence in the tablet market. And
its strategy for taking on Apple -- Windows 7 on a tablet, rather than
a tablet-specific operating system -- is leaving potential partners
cold. Lenovo's technology director recently told PC Mag that his
company won't be building around the platform: "The challenge with
Windows 7 is that it's based on the same paradigm as 1985 -- it's
really an interface that's optimized for a mouse and keyboard."
With Xbox, Microsoft succeeded at innovating: It created a competitive
video game brand for hardcore gamers. But even Xbox was outdueled by
Nintendo with the Wii, which outsold Xbox by appealing to casual
gamers.
Then there's the epicenter of the Microsoft universe: Windows.
Microsoft likes to point out that its operating system is its biggest
consumer brand and Windows 7 has been selling rapidly. Its new version
has sold 240 million licenses in a year, making it the fastest-selling
OS in Microsoft's history.
But Windows' momentum isn't from consumers. In fact, consumers are a
worry for the Windows division, because they have dramatically slowed
their purchases of PCs in recent months.
Rather, the fast sales are coming from businesses, which significantly
delayed their purchases of new Windows licenses because Windows Vista
was bug-ridden mess. Then the recession hit. A years-overdue corporate
PC refresh cycle is now happening all at once.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's executive suite is in turmoil. CFO Chris
Liddel, entertainment unit head Robbie Bach, device design leader J
Allard and business division chief Stephen Elop have left within the
past year. Ray Ozzie joined the exit parade last week.
Consumers matter
Microsoft has a lot of questions to answer, and it will have an
opportunity to do so at its Professional Developers Conference in
Seattle, which kicks off Thursday.
But PDC, which used to be one of Microsoft's most important and widely
attended conferences, is going to be relatively small this year, with
only a few thousand people making the trip, analysts say. PDC's
hottest news this year is about cloud computing -- vital to
enterprises, but not exactly sexy stuff.
So is this Microsoft's Waterloo? Will it become the next IBM (IBM,
Fortune 500) -- crucially important to businesses but an afterthought
for consumers?
"Microsoft is at a transition point, and there is a risk of that
happening," says Al Hilwa, analyst at IDC. "But Microsoft cares much
more about consumers than IBM ever did. It's in its DNA, and it
understands that it is necessary to stay relevant. I don't see
Microsoft ever abandoning consumers."
As Apple has proven, success in consumer products can fuel explosive
growth. Apple surpassed Microsoft's market value earlier this year,
and is on pace to eclipse the company in sales for 2010.
And if Microsoft cedes consumer ground, it risks its enterprise
stronghold. Businesses are becoming more willing to allow employees to
use their personal devices for work purposes, and a growing number of
those gizmos are Macs, iPads, iPhones and Android smartphones.
So it's up to Microsoft to turn that around by being a leader, rather
than a follower, in the consumer market.
Windows Phone 7 is a good start. Internet Explorer 9 has some exciting
new features that other browsers lack. And Xbox's controllerless
Kinect -- the first of its kind -- is coming this holiday season.
Microsoft just has to hope it's not too late.
Poor Bliggy, once again failing to see the forest for the trees.LOL.
In case you have been living in a shithole underground, but since that
is where xflop fanbitches make their home, you would know old Micro
$log has really hit the skids the past several months. Yeah, they
still make a ton of money from Windfroze but the consumer products
division has become the ugly duckling of the family as far as
investors are concerned. Institutional investors now own controlling
share so upcoming decisions are going to be made by them. And they
don't give a rat's ass about video games. Everything now hinges on
Winfone7 and KineX, both which look like they are DOA. If those turn
into the putrid piles of puke they look like, then the consumer and
entertainment division may be on a short life line.
http://money.cnn.com/2010/10/27/technology/microsoft_pdc/index.htm
Microsoft is a dying consumer brand
Steve Ballmer, and the company he leads, are struggling with "the
vision thing."
October 27, 2010
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Consumers have turned their backs on
Microsoft. A company that once symbolized the future is now living in
the past.
Microsoft has been late to the game in crucial modern technologies
like mobile, search, media, gaming and tablets. It has even fallen
behind in Web browsing, a market it once ruled with an iron fist.
Outgoing Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie called out Microsoft's
lost ground in a blog post over the weekend.
"Our early and clear vision notwithstanding, [competitors'] execution
has surpassed our own in mobile experiences, in the seamless fusion of
hardware & software & services, and in social networking & myriad new
forms of internet-centric social interaction," he said.
It's not like Microsoft didn't foresee the changes ahead. With a staff
of almost 90,000, the company has many of the tech world's smartest
minds on its payroll, and has incubated projects in a wide range of
fields that later took off. Experiments like Courier (tablets),
HailStorm/Passport (digital identity), and Windows Media Center
(content in the cloud) show the company was ahead of the game in many
areas -- but then it either failed to bring those products to market,
or didn't execute.
"In this age, the race really is to the swift. You cannot afford to be
an hour late or a dollar short," says Laura DiDio, principal analyst
at ITIC. "Now the biggest question is: Can they make it in the 21st
century and compete with Google and Apple?"
Some influential analysts think not. Several have downgraded
Microsoft's (MSFT, Fortune 500) stock in recent weeks, as PC sales
continue to slow and Microsoft struggles with its tablet strategy. The
company's stock is down more than 17% this year.
What's wrong with Microsoft
A rundown of Microsoft's major consumer projects finds trouble in
almost all of them.
Internet Explorer's popularity has been waning for years, and one
recent study showed that for the first time in more than a decade,
more people are using alternative browsers. The browser is becoming
the single most critical piece of software on a device -- potentially
eclipsing the operating system -- but all of the major innovations of
the past few years, like tabbed browsing and add-on extensions, came
from outside Microsoft.
Windows Phone 7 has promise, but Microsoft dug itself an enormous hole
with the subpar Windows Mobile platform. With its market share
currently sitting below 5%, developers are taking a "wait and see"
approach.
Microsoft's media platform Zune was dead on arrival.
Bing is growing, but substantially all of that growth has come at the
expense of its business partner, Yahoo -- not its archrival Google.
Microsoft's attempts to build a social network through Windows Live
have failed to gain traction. It has no real answer to Facebook.
Six months after Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) release of the iPad,
Microsoft still has virtually no presence in the tablet market. And
its strategy for taking on Apple -- Windows 7 on a tablet, rather than
a tablet-specific operating system -- is leaving potential partners
cold. Lenovo's technology director recently told PC Mag that his
company won't be building around the platform: "The challenge with
Windows 7 is that it's based on the same paradigm as 1985 -- it's
really an interface that's optimized for a mouse and keyboard."
With Xbox, Microsoft succeeded at innovating: It created a competitive
video game brand for hardcore gamers. But even Xbox was outdueled by
Nintendo with the Wii, which outsold Xbox by appealing to casual
gamers.
Then there's the epicenter of the Microsoft universe: Windows.
Microsoft likes to point out that its operating system is its biggest
consumer brand and Windows 7 has been selling rapidly. Its new version
has sold 240 million licenses in a year, making it the fastest-selling
OS in Microsoft's history.
But Windows' momentum isn't from consumers. In fact, consumers are a
worry for the Windows division, because they have dramatically slowed
their purchases of PCs in recent months.
Rather, the fast sales are coming from businesses, which significantly
delayed their purchases of new Windows licenses because Windows Vista
was bug-ridden mess. Then the recession hit. A years-overdue corporate
PC refresh cycle is now happening all at once.
Meanwhile, Microsoft's executive suite is in turmoil. CFO Chris
Liddel, entertainment unit head Robbie Bach, device design leader J
Allard and business division chief Stephen Elop have left within the
past year. Ray Ozzie joined the exit parade last week.
Consumers matter
Microsoft has a lot of questions to answer, and it will have an
opportunity to do so at its Professional Developers Conference in
Seattle, which kicks off Thursday.
But PDC, which used to be one of Microsoft's most important and widely
attended conferences, is going to be relatively small this year, with
only a few thousand people making the trip, analysts say. PDC's
hottest news this year is about cloud computing -- vital to
enterprises, but not exactly sexy stuff.
So is this Microsoft's Waterloo? Will it become the next IBM (IBM,
Fortune 500) -- crucially important to businesses but an afterthought
for consumers?
"Microsoft is at a transition point, and there is a risk of that
happening," says Al Hilwa, analyst at IDC. "But Microsoft cares much
more about consumers than IBM ever did. It's in its DNA, and it
understands that it is necessary to stay relevant. I don't see
Microsoft ever abandoning consumers."
As Apple has proven, success in consumer products can fuel explosive
growth. Apple surpassed Microsoft's market value earlier this year,
and is on pace to eclipse the company in sales for 2010.
And if Microsoft cedes consumer ground, it risks its enterprise
stronghold. Businesses are becoming more willing to allow employees to
use their personal devices for work purposes, and a growing number of
those gizmos are Macs, iPads, iPhones and Android smartphones.
So it's up to Microsoft to turn that around by being a leader, rather
than a follower, in the consumer market.
Windows Phone 7 is a good start. Internet Explorer 9 has some exciting
new features that other browsers lack. And Xbox's controllerless
Kinect -- the first of its kind -- is coming this holiday season.
Microsoft just has to hope it's not too late.
MS is taking a page from IBM (a massive success by any measure) by
going into the enterprise services market.
Products like ForeFront will lead MS into a successful future while
companies like Sony will continue to lose money by concentrating on
loser technology like the cell processor.
spamtrums. It's like the KKKarl Paladino of the internet.
Up next, more of the unintentional comedy stylings of bilgemerk and
its buttbuddy, nicky the soapeater.