ILW

A Few Interesting Links for the Weekend..

XBOX TV?

Not punting ain't just for Madden

Should Microsoft Buy Nokia?

Windows 8 Split Personality?

Madden Review

Be Safe and May My Colts notch a win this Sunday!!

Making Microsoft a Sexy Tech Company - Part 3

So how about Google? Microsoft has to give up it's obsession with research and duplicating Google technology. They need to focus on developing technology that is compelling.

There is of course an elephant in the Microsoft stable. Facebook. You may have heard of it they have a few hundred eyeballs under lock and key. They also have that ubiquitous like button that tells the advertisers of the world what you want and where you go to get it. Microsoft needs to aggressively increase their stake in Facebook. Targeted advertising is the way of the future and Facebook is the king of the space. Admittedly Microsoft doesn't do young and fun well which is why they should lit the nerds in Redmond to making ridiculous amounts of money on it while Zuckerberg and the kids keep it hip.

Microsoft could with ease do any or all of these things. Hopefully, they won't figure it out after the party's over. They've done that more than enough times.

Language Tools

The world is shrinking, as a result more and more of us are learning or communicating in other languages. Having taken eight years of French (none of which I can remember) I know how challenging it can be to try learning a new language. Searching for the right tools doesn't have to be one of them. I can freely attest that Rosetta Stone is by far the best language tool I've ever used. (NOTE: I have not been compensated in anyway by Rosetta Stone nor have I had any contact with the company.)

Unlike other tools Rosetta Stone does not force you to memorizelists of words, verb tensesnor the like that often make learning another language so challenging. In fact, I have been using it for a month (to learn Spanish) and not once has it uttered a word in English. In fact, the way its laid out all you are learning is the new language the way a newborn would. I must say this method is brilliant. While I have the vocabulary of maybe a 1 year old so far, The things I know I am completely comfortable with. Soon I hope to actually write my Spanish posts rather than translate them online.

Finally something nice to say about Microsoft! For a while I've been worried I might be viewed as a Microsoft basher, I am not, but when it comes to translation Bing seems to get languages. In my personal life I do quite a bit of volunteer teaching and this some times leaves me providing assistance to teachers who are working entirely in Spanish. Using Google translate, I've been able to get my point across but usually only after the teacher corrects my bad grammer. Bing translate doesn't seem to have this problem and (at least so far) I haven't gotten any crazy looks. Maybe one day their search results will be equally superior to Google's. Of course, they have a way to go..

Making Microsoft a Sexy Tech Company - Part 2

     Microsoft can win the future through some bold and likely unpopular (at least in Redmond) choices. For example, having used a Mac I have seen the beauty of quality hardware combined with quality software. Too often (at least in part because license fees to Microsoft are a healthy slice of cost) PC manufacturers use cheap unreliable parts with even more dubious drivers on the Windows platform. This is a lose-lose proposition. The manufacturer gets a bad reputation, PCs in general get a bad reputation and Windows gets a bad rap. If this trend continues, Microsoft software could eventually be the software that people use just because they have to at the office. How to fix?

     Make your (their) own hardware. There are plenty of options, both HP and Dell have a market cap lower than the cash Microsoft has on hand Of course HP is selling off their Hardware business so the price should be less than their $46 Billion market cap. Microsoft could easily snatch up those assets and then work to integrate hardware and software (NOTE: Kinect for PC that only works on premium Microsoft Hardware, hint hint) This would be a huge shift from the innovate and share with the world method that Microsoft currently uses. It might anger some of their partners, but they would also be building a simple and valuable brand. Its try that this might accelerate the moves some of their partners are preparing to other platforms, but Microsoft ought to know that no one can afford to jump ship right now. But if they carefully and methodically moved into that space with quality by the time partners jump ship, PCs would be sexy for a change and frankly just like Macs, many would be willing to pay a premium for them. Which of course leads me to my next point.

     The entire marketing staff at Microsoft should be fired. Why? Who knows what a people ready business is? I mean what company on the face of the Earth (besides MSFT) runs ads for a product that doesn't exist? I have never seen a Microsoft ad that made me think, I just have to have that! (Don't get me started on those ridiculous Bing commercials) Thus, they should move in a completely new direction. What they need is a marketing genius that can get these new products (and old ones into the hearts and minds of everyone).  Too bad this one is not available.  What else does Microsoft need?

     Integration. Microsoft loves integration, but only in one place, within the Microsoft universe. As a result, the XBOX does not have Blu-Ray, Mac doesn't have Office, and I wouldn't be surprised if Skype starts to disappear from all non Microsoft platforms. I think this would be a big mistake. Instead of trying to stifle the rest of the world, recognize that a healthy computing ecosystem is better long term than a healthy and shrinking) Microsoft ecosystem in the short term. Imagine for a moment, running Microsoft Office on your android tablet instead of QuickOffice. In the end no one wants to use a cheap imitation (no offense, I use QuickOffice on my iPad) when the real thing is available. Imagine Office on Linux that works naturally. Imagine being able to actually collaborate with people anywhere in the world regardless of what platform all are running. Imagine Microsoft making money (legally this time) nearly every time a device is sold. Maybe then their Market Capitalization would return to the stratosphere it once easily inhabited.

In part 3, how to beat Google..

Making Microsoft a Sexy Tech Company - Part 1

     It's been a long while since I've written. Since my last post I've gotten an iPad an iPhone, a Mac book pro and an AppleTV needless to say, Microsoft has lost a little ground in my home.

     In fact in that time I have gotten rid of my XBOX as well. The problem is not really that Microsoft's products have somehow stopped being easy to use. They have just finally completely lost touch with what people want and how they want it. Sooner or later they will have to figure out that the "we are the big bully on the block" strategy will not work. Until they learn to play nice they are going to lose out to lesser competition. Obviously the boys at Apple are no longer the little pimple they were 10 years ago, but Microsoft is facong woes in every space they are in. Despite practically inventing the smart phone, they've lost the hearts and minds of the masses to Android and iPhone. Why? Because they continued to purvey uncool gray box phones the same way they personify the grey box computer. This is not entirely their fault as the folks at Intel can attest. (See story here.) Their partners at HP, Toshiba, Dell, Lenovo and the many other also-ran companies have solidified that image. This is where Apple, perhaps do to the sheer will of their now former CEO Steve Jobs excels.

     Unlike the boys in Redmond, the folks at Apple, don't view producing their own hardware as beneath them. True Microsoft makes its money licensing software, but imagine if Microsoft were to build a PC that took advantage of the many features that they pack into their software. Features that seem to only be emphasized while the software is being demoed at their many events.

     The MacBook pro is by no means a perfect device, I don't even know how to uninstall software not loaded through the app store, but I can use all the stuff the Apple team highlighted about their new Lion release.

     It's true Microsoft is still the big boy on the block, but most everyone believes their best days are behind them. I do not, but I think they need a radical shift in strategy to "win the future". First they gotta realize their losing that race. My thoughts coming in part 2.