Steve Ballmer's Hot Air
Microsoft's Steve Ballmer last night provided the Microsoft Keynote for CES, during which, he spoke alot about "will do" and how Windows is flexible enough "to do" many of the things that Google and Apple are doing.
Meanwhile, Google displayed a Nexus One, and put it up for sale, and Steve Jobs will walk on stage and hold an Apple tablet, if rumors are to be believed, as he held an iphone, Macbook Air, ipod, Cube, iBook, and Powermac G3 in years prior.
And that is Microsoft's fundamental problem, everything they have talked about over the last 10 years has been about what will happen, while Google did revolutionize search, and Apple did revolutionize personal media players and phones. Instead of forcing it's PC partners to innovate, Microsoft was content to play to it's own tune, careful not to move too fast for HP or Dell. Steve Jobs doesn't take a stage to tak about what he WILL DO, he shows results of what Apple HAS DONE.
The thing now about Microsoft, even with their 90%+ share of the computer market, is that they are out of the conversation. In smart phones, they have yet to prove they can build an intuitive product, while Google has overnight displaced them, and their power over manufacturers. Apple's strategic use of open architexture for it's own benefit will continue to push the bounds of innovation. The Zune was a joke- not so much the piece of hardware itself, but the fact that the company held such lofty expectations for something they were already years behind on. By the time the Zune even came out, Apple was already on to the Touch, and setting up the App Store ecosystem within the already crazy iTunes ecosystem.
Even in computers, expect Apple's share to exceed 10% in 2010, and expect Google's Net based OS to debut and free PC manufacturers from the bundled Windows experience. Now mind you, that is not even counting the linux factor, which while still small, continues to see marketshare gains in government and business realms.
Microsoft is getting beat by the likes of Amazon- AMAZON... The Kindle is formulating an ecosystem for ebooks in the Amazon retail system. The Kindle/Apple "slate" competition should be an increadible one to watch- look ma, no Microsoft.
2010 will not be the death of Microsoft, but if Steve Ballmer doesn't get out of the way and let an energetic visionary get the company back on track, it could be the start of a long, ugly and painful death.
Meanwhile, Google displayed a Nexus One, and put it up for sale, and Steve Jobs will walk on stage and hold an Apple tablet, if rumors are to be believed, as he held an iphone, Macbook Air, ipod, Cube, iBook, and Powermac G3 in years prior.
And that is Microsoft's fundamental problem, everything they have talked about over the last 10 years has been about what will happen, while Google did revolutionize search, and Apple did revolutionize personal media players and phones. Instead of forcing it's PC partners to innovate, Microsoft was content to play to it's own tune, careful not to move too fast for HP or Dell. Steve Jobs doesn't take a stage to tak about what he WILL DO, he shows results of what Apple HAS DONE.
The thing now about Microsoft, even with their 90%+ share of the computer market, is that they are out of the conversation. In smart phones, they have yet to prove they can build an intuitive product, while Google has overnight displaced them, and their power over manufacturers. Apple's strategic use of open architexture for it's own benefit will continue to push the bounds of innovation. The Zune was a joke- not so much the piece of hardware itself, but the fact that the company held such lofty expectations for something they were already years behind on. By the time the Zune even came out, Apple was already on to the Touch, and setting up the App Store ecosystem within the already crazy iTunes ecosystem.
Even in computers, expect Apple's share to exceed 10% in 2010, and expect Google's Net based OS to debut and free PC manufacturers from the bundled Windows experience. Now mind you, that is not even counting the linux factor, which while still small, continues to see marketshare gains in government and business realms.
Microsoft is getting beat by the likes of Amazon- AMAZON... The Kindle is formulating an ecosystem for ebooks in the Amazon retail system. The Kindle/Apple "slate" competition should be an increadible one to watch- look ma, no Microsoft.
2010 will not be the death of Microsoft, but if Steve Ballmer doesn't get out of the way and let an energetic visionary get the company back on track, it could be the start of a long, ugly and painful death.