I have been one of Microsoft’s most vocal critics (although, to be fair, just one of many). With profits as their north star, Microsoft has spent the past 15 years adrift. lost at sea, subject to the mercy of the winds and tides, with no harbor to shelter them, with no port as their destination.
Thankfully Microsoft has recently changed captains, naming Satya Nadella their new CEO on February, 4, 2014. The change has been transformative to the good ship Microsoft. They seem rejuvenated, like a whole new company ready, once again, to challenge the winds and the waves of commerce, to set their sails and head in a new direction rather than to merely allow themselves to be swept along by events.
Having said all that, Microsoft is making several announcements tomorrow, Tuesday, May 20th, 2014. According to all reports, chief among those announcements will be one or more brand new Surface Tablets. And I have to ask this question:
- “Why?”
I’ll start by conceding, sight unseen, the new Surface tablets will be much better than their predecessors, a technological wonder to behold. But that’s the answer to the wrong question. The question we should be asking is: What purpose do new Surface Tablets serve? How do they align with Microsoft’s goals and how do they help propel Microsoft toward those goals?
- Does a Surface Tablet help Microsoft’s hardware partners to compete? No, it does not.
- Is a Surface Tablet going to be part of a sea change that will transform tablet/notebook hybrids from niche to mainstream computing devices? No, it is not.
- Is a Surface Tablet going to justify Microsoft hybrid – neither fish nor fowl – Windows 8 operating system? No, it is not.
The Surface was one of the mistakes of Nadella’s predecessor. It is the hardware prosthetic used to support the Frankenstein’s monster that is Windows 8. It should not be embraced nor given new life.
Like an anchor holding back the ship, the Surface Tablets should be cut loose and allowed to sink beneath the inky waves of history.
The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. ~ David Russell
But apparently that’s not going to happen. It makes me wonder whether Nadella will be able to cut his anchors fast enough — to burn the bridges he needs to burn soon enough — to allow Microsoft to leave their past behind and move, unencumbered, toward their future.
Microsoft has announced plans to create their own TV shows, with a dozen pilots in development. Microsoft without Ballmer is as badly deluded as they were with Ballmer. The same old crew is still running the company and they might as well have decided to start selling ice cream.
Some pundits say that with Microsoft’s new CEO Satya Nadella it’s a changed company. Is that why a software producer decided to make TV shows? Between that and the purchase of Nokia they may have a few more losses (like the Surface) that would kill most companies. But they make so much on their enterprise business, maybe they don’t care.
How is that different from am hardware producer deciding to make movies? Pixar?
I predict you’re going to have a field day after seeing today’s announcements on Surface Pro 3.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” A valuable lesson but Microsoft still hasn’t learned it.
OMG I want a Surface Pro 3 so I can do REAL WORK!!!
Nice post. I learn something new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon on a daily basis.