murrays 0 #1 February 4, 2010 I often wonder why Microsoft isn't more innovative and leading edge when you consider the financial capability of this extremely profitable corporation. So, I find this NY Times article by a former Microsoft VP very interesting. I know there are a few Microsofties on here. What do you think of this article and the ramifications it has for MSFT's long term outlook.-- Murray "No tyranny is so irksome as petty tyranny: the officious demands of policemen, government clerks, and electromechanical gadgets." - Edward Abbey Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokter 0 #2 February 4, 2010 They are inovative, maybe not in the area you care. Their development tools are excellent which allows one to build software like this pretty easily. And i'm looking forward for the next relase of vistual studio etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k02wfPDQxoM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRqOJ5tN3D0 There is nothing inovative about an iPad as far as I'm concerned. I write software for a living and there is no other platform other than windows that's suitable for me in sight... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FreeflyChile 0 #3 February 4, 2010 Personally, I think that while the xbox system (hardware) may not be anything special compared to the competition, xbox live is fantastic, and a sign of how far ahead of their competitors they are on the online console gaming space. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metalslug 31 #4 February 5, 2010 As big as Microsoft is, they will always be spread too thinly to produce the absolute best in every area. As a simple example; SQL Server is a widely used Microsoft database product, but is inferior to Oracle in almost every way. IMO, this is because Oracle have dedicated their entire business focus on database software for years, whereas for MS it was just another product line of many. As mentioned in the article, MS Windows and Office still rule their markets. I believe Microsoft's competitors use this fact to focus on competing in other products that MS do not yet have a monopoly on, with the hope that this dedicated focus will produce superior products which will grab the market in a similar way that Oracle has done with databases. Microsoft said years ago that they wanted to bring the home computer to the masses. Unfortunately, "the masses" consist of many computer illiterate people; children, the elderly, the blind, the handicapped and the intellectually challenged. These are potential users who currently believe that computers and tablets are only for business execs and young yuppies because they are just too complicated to learn and use. I believe that Microsoft's angle in the market should be to "dumb down" their software even further to cater for this largely untapped market. Voice recognition software and text-to-speech should be perfected and expanded in Windows. My 95 year old grandmother is going blind and currently relies on me to send email to her friends and read the replies. What a treat it would be for us both for her to switch on a PC and "talk" to it: "Email .. Outbox... Dear Gwen, how u doing... Send" or "Email .. Inbox .. Read all new mail ..." etc. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokter 0 #5 February 5, 2010 Did you try: Control Panel -> Ease of Access -> Speech Recognition Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
metalslug 31 #6 February 5, 2010 No, admittedly I have not. I avoided Vista due to poor reviews and user dissatisfaction, and so never really knew all its features. If this feature is good enough for everyday practical use, or has been improved in Windows 7, then that's great! As per my previous post I believe that this is an important direction for Microsoft to be taking. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
