Some perspective about AAPL vs MSFT

[kdarling]

A big difference is that Apple plays it safe. They're so afraid of being associated with any failures, that they only enter markets when the time is ripe and success of a refined product is assured.

Microsoft, OTOH, is not afraid to jump into nascent markets and get beat up while trying. PDAs, phones, tablets, embedded systems from settop boxes to intelligent control pads... they've been doing those and more for the past decade.

Yes, MS has their fingers in everything, and doesn't succeed at all of it. Still, how much of the automotive voice control market Apple does have, akin to Ford Sync? Or home touch computer market. Or embedded system market. Or office application market.

It's easier to always succeed if you don't try lots of difficult things.

I don't even like MS, but I'm old now and have to give them props for trying.

 

[rhett7660]

A big difference is that Apple plays it safe. They're so afraid of being associated with any failures, that they only enter markets when the time is ripe and success of a refined product is assured.

Microsoft, OTOH, is not afraid to jump into nascent markets and get beat up while trying. PDAs, phones, tablets, embedded systems from settop boxes to intelligent control pads... they've been doing those and more for the past decade.

Yes, MS has their fingers in everything, and doesn't succeed at all of it. Still, how much of the automotive voice control market Apple does have, akin to Ford Sync? Or home touch computer market. Or embedded system market. Or office application market.

It's easier to always succeed if you don't try lots of difficult things.

I don't even like MS, but I'm old now and have to give them props for trying.

Are you thinking Apple of new or old when you say Apple is afraid?

 

[MisterMe]

A big difference is that Apple plays it safe. ...

Microsoft, OTOH, is not afraid to jump into nascent markets and get beat up while trying. ...

It's easier to always succeed if you don't try lots of difficult things.

I don't even like MS, but I'm old now and have to give them props for trying.

Yeah, right. What flavor does Microsoft Kool-Aid come in? Do you honestly believe a word of your post? Come on.

Microsoft? Innovation? Seriously? Have you ever heard of Lotus? WordPerfect? Microsoft's forté is identifying markets that have been pioneered by others and then coming in and driving the pioneers out of business. Its founding product, Microsoft BASIC, was developed as a result of a Dumpster-diving expedition at the Digital Equipment Corporation where Bill Gates had a job while he was still enrolled at Harvard University. Its second major success relied on tricking Seattle Microsystems into selling its QDOS operating system for the 8086 processor and then licensing it to IBM as PC-DOS.

Left to its own devices, Microsoft comes up with things like Bob [which seems to have been inspired by an Apple HyperCard stack]. Today, Microsoft looks around to see what other people are doing and then enters that market. The Microsoft stores that look like Xerox copies of Apple stores. Zune. Xbox. (I'm guessing that you don't know that Ninetendo and Sony Playstation preceded Microsoft in the gaming console business.) I would not be at all surprised to see Microsoft open up shops to sell overpriced coffee and cinnamon buns.

Microsoft? Innovative? Dream on.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Then there is the recent Word patent snafu.

Which I'm sure is directly related to Balmer programming Word.

 

[jav6454]

Yeah, right. What flavor does Microsoft Kool-Aid come in? Do you honestly believe a word of your post? Come on.

Microsoft? Innovation? Seriously? Have you ever heard of Lotus? WordPerfect? Microsoft's forté is identifying markets that have been pioneered by others and then coming in and driving the pioneers out of business. Its founding product, Microsoft BASIC, was developed as a result of a Dumpster-diving expedition at the Digital Equipment Corporation where Bill Gates had a job while he was still enrolled at Harvard University. Its second major success relied on tricking Seattle Microsystems into selling its QDOS operating system for the 8086 processor and then licensing it to IBM as PC-DOS.

Left to its own devices, Microsoft comes up with things like Bob [which seems to have been inspired by an Apple HyperCard stack]. Today, Microsoft looks around to see what other people are doing and then enters that market. The Microsoft stores that look like Xerox copies of Apple stores. Zune. Xbox. (I'm guessing that you don't know that Ninetendo and Sony Playstation preceded Microsoft in the gaming console business.) I would not be at all surprised to see Microsoft open up shops to sell overpriced coffee and cinnamon buns.

Microsoft? Innovative? Dream on.

I love you so much right now. WinMo 7, catchup to Apple, RIM and Google mobile OSes.

Bing? Google

Multi-touch? iPhone (it was known, yet anyone hardly used it)

Win7? A fix of an OS, not a new one.

Everythng is playing catch-up and nothing new. Oh by the way, Sync, redefined by previous car assistant.

 

[*LTD*]

A

Microsoft, OTOH, is not afraid to jump into nascent markets and get beat up while trying.

The results of which are passed right on to the consumer in the form of varying degrees of crap.

Maybe MS should just bide its time and wait for someone to do it right before jumping in. Oh wait . . .

Risk isn't the problem here. Resources aren't the problem. Priorities, attitudes toward your product and the consumer, a fundamental disrespect for what you put out, a lack of focus, and lousy management are the problems. MS has all the resources but none of the laser-focused passion and commitment for certain standards that Apple has. Apple will say no to a thousand things, etc. Bertrand Serlet declaring last year that Apple approaches tech "from an entirely different place." So true.

Watch that YouTube video contrasting Steve Jobs with Steve Ballmer. One of those two men is part poet-sage/part tech visionary/part perfectionist. He ponders his words and speaks thoughtfully. Talks about beautiful books and typography. He oozes taste. The other guy sounds like a car salesman down on his luck, assuring you that next month he'll be on the sales-board. No really, this time it'll happen, he swears, etc. Now YOU tell ME which leader has the best chances.

For MS, tech is just a commodity. It's something that keeps the cash registers moving. For Apple, tech is art - it represents what everyone there stands for. Read the mission statement by Tim Cook last January. No way anyone else can keep up with that.

 

[ArrowSmith]

The results of which are passed right on to the consumer in the form of varying degrees of crap.

Maybe MS should just bide its time and wait for someone to do it right before jumping in. Oh wait . . .

Risk isn't the problem here. Resources aren't the problem. Priorities, attitudes toward your product and the consumer, a fundamental disrespect for what you put out, a lack of focus, and lousy management are the problems. MS has all the resources but none of the laser-focused passion and commitment for certain standards that Apple has. Apple will say no to a thousand things, etc. Bertrand Serlet declaring last year that Apple approaches tech "from an entirely different place." So true.

Watch that YouTube video contrasting Steve Jobs with Steve Ballmer. One of those two men is part poet-sage/part tech visionary/part perfectionist. He ponders his words and speaks thoughtfully. Talks about beautiful books and typography. He oozes taste. The other guy sounds like a car salesman down on his luck, assuring you that next month he'll be on the sales-board. No really, this time it'll happen, he swears, etc. Now YOU tell ME which leader has the best chances.

For MS, tech is just a commodity. It's something that keeps the cash registers moving. For Apple, tech is art - it represents what everyone there stands for. Read the mission statement by Tim Cook last January. No way anyone else can keep up with that.

That just doesn't jive with Surface, Natal, Zune HD, Windows 7, Office 2010, .NET, Silverlight, Visual Studio 2010, etc... Sure MSFT has a lot of crap like "Biztalk Server", but a whole lot of wonderful stuff.

 

[Eraserhead]

That just doesn't jive with Surface, Natal, Zune HD, Windows 7, Office 2010, .NET, Silverlight, Visual Studio 2010, etc...

Surface - great and all, but its not exactly set the world on fire.

Natal - just a Wii Clone.

Zune HD - just an inferior iPod touch clone

Windows 7 - even though its well received its not viewed as better than OS X Snow Leopard, which is made by a much smaller team.

Office, .NET, Visual Studio, these became great under Gates, and have just improved gradually over time. They aren't new products.

Silverlight - while cool, it hasn't actually taken off as anything other than an inferior Flash clone, and some of those using it (e.g. ITV) have gone back to Flash.

 

[*LTD*]

That just doesn't jive with Surface, Natal, Zune HD, Windows 7, Office 2010, .NET, Silverlight, Visual Studio 2010, etc... Sure MSFT has a lot of crap like "Biztalk Server", but a whole lot of wonderful stuff.

Surface: A Big-Ass Table(TM) that no one can use at home. Awesome.

Natal: Gaming. Oh, to be 18 again.

Zune HD: An answer to a question no one asked

Windows 7: 8 years later and *almost* there

Office 2010: OMG an Office Suite! NO WAY!!!1!!!

Silverlight: An alternative to Flash . . . Ok.

Visual Studio 2010: Zzzzz . . .

MS product development is like an old man easing into a bathtub. You know it's gonna happen eventually, there's a good chance it'll end in tragedy, and you'd rather not stick around to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGvHNNOLnCk

 

[rhett7660]

Which I'm sure is directly related to Balmer programming Word.

If it was on the other foot you would say it was all Steve Jobs! Give me a break.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Natal - just a Wii Clone.

You could say Sony's new motional control scheme is basically just a Wii Clone, but saying that about Natal makes me wonder if you've read anything beyond just headlines. That's like saying a multi-touch input device is just a keyboard clone.

Natal: Gaming. Oh, to be 18 again.

More like, 'Oh, to be 35 again' as that is about the average age of a video gamer. There is obliviously still a strong hold on the 18-24 male demographic, which companies and advertisers love, but as the Wii has shown there is a big market for casual gaming as well. Gaming also generates more revenue than Hollywood which is a reason Apple is pushing mobile gaming so much.


Lethal

 

[coupdetat]

Slightly off-topic, but watch this. It's the story of how MS came up with the Ribbon. As much as we like to complain about MS, it's important to remember that they are pushing technology forward just like Apple. They're not blatantly throwing crap out there because they know people will buy it no matter what. There's a lot of thought that goes into its products.

http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX08/UX09

 

[Eraserhead]

You could say Sony's new motional control scheme is basically just a Wii Clone, but saying that about Natal makes me wonder if you've read anything beyond just headlines. That's like saying a multi-touch input device is just a keyboard clone.

OK fair enough I retract my point as looking in more detail it does look fairly interesting. But we shall see how it is on release.

That said if not buying Yahoo! and Xbox 360 (and this Project Natal) are the highlights of Ballmer's premiership he's not been particularly impressive - especially when he's missed mobile OS's completely.

 

[MisterMe]

Slightly off-topic, but watch this. It's the story of how MS came up with the Ribbon. ...

http://videos.visitmix.com/MIX08/UX09

Do you honestly expect people to watch a 90 minute video about an application based around a Windows-only paradigm?

 

[QCassidy352]

this whole thread has the feel of attacking a strawman. I don't think anyone on this board has said the things the OP claims (at least not more than a couple of people). "MS sucks," sure. But "MS is dead"? Haven't heard that much.

 

[ArrowSmith]

this whole thread has the feel of attacking a strawman. I don't think anyone on this board has said the things the OP claims (at least not more than a couple of people). "MS sucks," sure. But "MS is dead"? Haven't heard that much.

I've heard sentiment WISHING that.

 

[mysterytramp]

I for one like getting my worldview challenged.

Many of us do, but I suspect the OP doesn't. Either that, or he suffering from a troll deficiency and felt like starting an argument.

mt