The "demise" of MSFT is greately exaggerated

[Queso]

The cloud computing thing may not be the cash cow for Microsoft that you assume. The world and his husband are developing their enterprise cloud computing platforms, and all of the competing companies also have additional income streams to subsidise their efforts whilst traction is gained.

There is also the possibility that such a change in the tech world could produce an entirely new competitor, in the same way that Google sprang from absolutely nowhere at the point when the Web went commercial. I'm glad they're competing, but this could turn into another dead-end division if managed badly. The first thing they need to do is drop the mentality that they will succeed because they're Microsoft. That doesn't hold true anymore. Hasn't for a good five years at least.

 

[maflynn]

The cloud computing thing may not be the cash cow for Microsoft that you assume.

Agreed but not just for the reasons you stated but also for the fact that people haven't figured out how to really turn it into a cash cow.

For instance, microsoft has been anxious to put office on the cloud, but most people and many businesses do not want their documents on the net or have little need to use a web based word processor when they already own MS word 2003/2007/2010.

For the cloud to succeed, that is make money, it needs to provide a function that is not available on a pc/mac or does it better then a stand alone pc/mac.

 

[ranguvar]

I think MSFT would be off a lot better without Steve Ballmer. I can't believe they really got such an idiot as their CEO. Seriously, he's more embarrassing than David Brent...

 

[Queso]

I think MSFT would be off a lot better without Steve Ballmer. I can't believe they really got such an idiot as their CEO. Seriously, he's more embarrassing than David Brent...

Ballmer at the helm of Microsoft is the biggest thing moving the tech industry forward. Microsoft under Gates was a bullying dominant behemoth, holding back progress and stifling innovation. Under Ballmer it has opened up its file formats, stopped demanding compliance with its standards and way of doing things, and genuinely begun to adopt the idea that competitors are allowed to exist. You may think he's a buffoon, but the tech landscape is a better place for him being there.

 

[maflynn]

Ballmer at the helm of Microsoft is the biggest thing moving the tech industry forward.

I disagree, I do not see Ballmer or MS moving the tech industry forward. They've yet to really extend their windows/office success to any other product/service.

Microsoft in a sense is like what IBM was in the 90s, big bloated and bureaucratic. Just look at their last attempt at a phone, the Microsoft Kin. They spent a quarter of a billion dollars on a phone that lasted what 2 months before being killed. Windows 7 mobile, looks like it has a horrible interface, no cut/paste, no multitasking. They have little chance in competing against iOS and android.

Microsoft and Ballmer are not moving the tech industry forward. Apple and google are.

 

[rhett7660]

99% of Apple fanboys have no clue what MSFT does. I wonder how many have even used Windows 7?

Probably about the same as Window's Fanboys who have used Mac OS X, no?

 

[Queso]

I disagree, I do not see Ballmer or MS moving the tech industry forward.

Not quite what I meant. Ballmer's Microsoft doesn't deliberately snuff out competitors in the same way Gates' Microsoft did. Therefore venture capitalists are more willing to invest in the ideas of those whose products or ideas cross into the areas where Microsoft competes, and the rate of progress in all sorts of areas accelerates.

Of course these innovations and ideas can then be incorporated into Microsoft's product portfolio, as it can Apple's, Google's or any of the other players. The status quo doesn't really change, but more ideas are coming to market in the meantime.

 

[Mike225]

Probably about the same as Window's Fanboys who have used Mac OS X, no?

Probably. Both sides are very capable of looking like fools.