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This one is too funny. Or sad. Depending on how you look at it.
Thanks to Erik for the link.
Discuss this Article 25
Something I read recently seems to be so very true. MS doesn't "get" the consumer space. They know all about business with Office and Exchange and so forth, but when it comes to Windows Mobile and Zune they just don't get the market.
How long has the iPod been around? Yeah, the Zune might have better hardware, but the whole experience around the device itself also matters. Paul said himself when he recently updated his "stuff I use" page that he went back to iPod from Zune in spite of his very glowing reviews of the Zune hardware.
How long has the iPhone been around? MS itself has admitted they've dropped the ball with Windows Mobile, and who knows when Windows Mobile 7 is going to be available. Then there's the ever expanding app store. Face it: choice may be a good idea in theory when it comes to multiple handsets from different vendors. But, it just doesn't work for developers trying to build apps for all those devices. It is much easier to develop for the iPhone with the development tools available and know it will work on the devices out there.
anyone that's played Cod6 on veteran knows the deathquotes by heart, especially this one: "You cannot get ahead while you are getting even" by Dick Armey
This post was mentioned on Twitter by scottbakertemp: Microsoft's Marketing Strategy for Windows Mobile:
http://tinyurl.com/yh77hu3
The Zune and Windows Mobile seem like business ventures that don't return the value that MS invests into them.
On the flip, so does the Apple TV.
Yeah here we are almost in 2010 and where are all those people that said that the Zune/WinMO/360/App store thing was going to be a game changer back in Sept?
All that crap about the NVIDIA chip making the Zune so much better. NO ONE talks about the Zune, at all. No ads for it, anywhere.
How big time MS shareholders dont FLAT OUT DEMAND the shutdown of the Zune/360 division is beyond me. It there some kind of voting card that they all check in the shareholders meetings, you know for that option that says....
"keep pouring money into the Zune and 360, because 7 years and billions of dollars later with out a red cent of ROI is not that bad"
Mean while while MS spends resources on such follies, Google and others chip away at their core base (Windows/Office). The likening to IBM could not be more glaring.
The computer Market has begun to bifurcate into 2 streams: Enterprise and Consumer. Microsoft seems to do very well on the Enterprise side although that could be under threat there from both Google and Linux. On the Consumer front though, they just don't seem to get it. Maybe they should just get out of the Consumer space and concentrate on Enterprise. Fighting battles on too many fronts is a bad strategy.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/microsoft-is-losing-fight-for-c...
The Nook comes from a retail book sales company. It competes against the Kindle and Sony E-reader for now in the niche E-reader market. Basically who cares at this point.
The Zune comes from a big time technology company and competes with the iPod which is a iconic electronic device. People will no one thing about the Zune....it failed to put a dent in the iPod market share.
"Maybe they should just get out of the Consumer space and concentrate on Enterprise. Fighting battles on too many fronts is a bad strategy."
I could not agree more.
The Vista stink really hurt MS on the consumer side. At the same time the 50%+ failure rate of the 360 hurt even more. The Zune...lol same problem. At the same time Mac's have grown especially in the US and especially in the consumer market. I see Mac's in so many places now that they were just not there before.
For lots of people I know Windows = Business task computing only....and only if they have to.
" I see Mac's in so many places now that they were just not there before."
Yep. A friend of mine works for a government agency that hasn't allowed work purchases of Macs for almost 10 years. Guess what? This year they're allowed, Macbook Pros and iMacs are now proliferating. The agency has a site license for Parallels and WIndows XP for the legacy enterprise apps that have to run that way, but all the new stuff is web based, so people can pick what they like.
Unless Microsoft figures out a new strategy, this will just steadily continue.
"All that crap about the NVIDIA chip making the Zune so much better. NO ONE talks about the Zune, at all. No ads for it, anywhere."
Yah. And that smoking hot OLED doesn't seem to have lead to widespread iTouch/iPhone abandonment, does it?
I can't wait to see post Xmas sales figures on ipod/touch/phone and compare with the Zune HD.
Oh, and factoid of the day,
iPhone officially passes the total Winmo installed base in the US.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/12/16/active.iphone.users.outnum...
"I like our strategy, I like it a lot."
So do I monkey-boy, keep it up. Main you run Microsoft for many years to come.
Paul,
I honestly think your giving Microsoft too much credit. It's clear that this is more of a "Me Too" just to say you got something, better than saying we got nothing. Honestly, I have to agree with many others. When it comes to consumer devices such as the Zune, the Xbox 360, and Windows mobile, Microsoft gets an absolute epic fail.
Now if anyone suggest they should walk away from Windows, that's just laughable. They've got credibility with the OS improvements in Windows 7. Can they do it again is up in the air, but not out of the realm of possibility. To go from Vista to parity with Snow Leopard says a lot.
I really think MS should focus on it's core successful assets. Windows, Office, Silverlight, Enterprise software, Virtualization, etc. End the Zune debacle. As for the Xbox, either hire some guys from both Nintendo and Sony, or hand off the hardware to a company known for good hardware. However, I think redoubling their efforts on the successful core businesses at hand might do MS some good.
Paul, you were dead on with your article about Microsoft becoming the new IBM of the 21st century. Big, bloated, unresponsive, and facing a war on multiple fronts. It cannot be successful. But until MIcrosoft gets a real CEO and not some dumbass mocking an iPhone, Microsoft will remain in a bad spot.
Y'all might not believe this, but I kind of hate to see this type of piling on poor Microsoft. I'm almost starting to feel sorry for "the gang that can't shoot straight" in Redmond. Seriously.
It really is time for some new leadership at Microsoft. Someone needs to come in, clean house, dump these ridiculous "me too" efforts and quit trying to be all things to all people. It ain't working, and this once-great company is looking as buffoonish as their so-called leader. That old joke about Microsoft being the company that "can't stand 1 bit of competition" never looked truer. The problem is, they don't have the wherewithal to effectively squash the competition the way they did in the old days. What's needed is an entirely new business model...they could start by just making really cool products instead of looking at feature spreadsheets and thinking that's what matters. Because it doesn't.
Sad. So freaking sad.
To say the 360 is an "epic fail" is a little naive don't you think? 31million units and counting, not to mention lifting the bar for the rest of the industry. Sure, there have been massive reliability problems. But no matter how you look at it, the 360 is not an epic fail. Not even close.
Paul's 'what I use' page seems to not reflect the reviews he's been giving over the Zune software and hardware. After many glowing reviews for all things Zune and punishing reviews of all things ipod/itunes, his personal use seems to be the reverse. Either he hasn't updated those sections of the page [even though he's recently said that page has been updated] or he's not being straight. It's a trend I've noticed, he makes a big splash with something inflammatory but the reality is far afield. It's a criticism he's leveled at tech journalists... I believe his analogy is tossing a grenade into a room and then closing the door. I guess Paul is what he hates.
From a technology standpoint Windows Moblle and the Zune there is no reason that either can't compete with the iPod/iPhone. However, neither competes based upon mindshare, and in the case of Windows Mobile, the outdated user interface.
That isn't surprising, given that Microsoft is no longer a nimble organization, able to make quick changes and turnarounds; that seems to be what happens to companies that get big and successful.
What is sad, is that they don't make these quick changes as they need. I wonder how many here know, that Microsoft has had a multitouch mouse for quite sometime now, but haven't seem to gotten around to releasing it for sale. Another indication that it needs fresh blood, and a kick in the pants.
lotsa: "It really is time for some new leadership at Microsoft. Someone needs to come in, clean house, dump these ridiculous "me too" efforts and quit trying to be all things to all people. "
If I'm not mistaken, this happened with Windows 7 and that turned out to be a great product (or, for you people who disagree, a great product relative to Vista).
I agree with your statment. I'm sure it is a lot harder to do as wide a scale as the whole MS company, but it is needed.
Well I just oredered Windows 7 upgrade from the academic super store for $40, so I'm ready for the real deal now. We had a problem with our VPN and the 64 bit version, so if any one knows if there is 32 bit compatibilty mode, please post it.
There is talk of the XAML engine being ported to Windows Mobile (it already exists in Win7 and Silverlight); if so, that will mean major changes are in store for the Windows Mobile UI.
NO one can predict how well WinMo phones will do until we actually see WinMo 7. I have an iPhone and my wife wants one, so it's unfortunate that WinMo is not availablew for me to evaluate it to potentially buy one for me and give the iPhone to the wife. Don't get me wrong as I like the iPhone and have no complaints. But as an MD, WinMo has more to offer and it would be nice to have the ability to use a phone for patient orders [meds, xray or lab orders, rather than phoning anb order [requiring a signature within 24hrs], or at least being able to sign orders and reports with the phone. I'll have to wait like every one else, so at least it should be available by the time I am eligle for another phone upgrade, so I'll be able to choose at that time.
sttevo said:
To say the 360 is an "epic fail" is a little naive don't you think? 31million units and counting, not to mention lifting the bar for the rest of the industry. Sure, there have been massive reliability problems. But no matter how you look at it, the 360 is not an epic fail. Not even close.
sttevo,
I honestly disagree. The Nintendo DS outsells the 360 by leaps and bounds. That's pretty sad when a hand-held device kicks the tar out of the 360. That's before we even get to the Wii. I may dislike the Wii and will debate that it's more of a fad. It's clear though that the hardware issues and Xbox Live banning debacles are hurting the Xbox brand. While it does great in software sales, people will be very leery of the next Xbox version.
Also, Microsoft didn't prod some top developers to push out hits. There were many classic Xbox games that didn't get sequels on the 360 platform. I think that was a big mistake to ignore major third party franchises. Konami's Metal Gear Solid franchise and Lucasarts Knights of the Old Republic franchise are two valuable franchises that as of December 17th, 2009 have never made it to the Xbox 360.
The reason people are calling it a failure is because of the damage to the brand. After experiencing multiple hardware failures, even with revisions, people are going to avoid that kind of risky hardware investment. Now that Blu-Ray sales are starting to surge ahead, Xbox 360 is looking a bit dated as we approach 2010.
"We had a problem with our VPN and the 64 bit version, so if any one knows if there is 32 bit compatibilty mode, please post it."
Time to switch to a DirectAccess setup.
If I create a widget and sell 30 million widgets for a total of 8 billion dollars.....yet it cost me 10billion to design, produce, sell and support those widgets, I have failed.
The Xbox division is still in the RED. Microsoft is a public company that has fiduciary responsibilities to their share holders. At some point, after many years and billions of dollars you need to stop if you cant make a profit. To do otherwise would be negligent.
@DRWAM that 32bit/64bit Snow Leopard hybrid method of handling apps is not looking so bad right now:) Even today I recommend to people to go with the 32bit version of Windows 7. Just 1 crucial application that has a problem with 64bit Windows creates an ugly rebuild situation. If you what you can do works just fine in 3.5gigs of RAM (99% of all consumers) then you should be using 32bit Windows.
I have 64bit because I run VMware and create multiple virtual machines and I have 8gigs of RAM in my workstation. If I did not need that, then the rest of what I do would be fine with 32bit Windows and 2gigs of RAM.
