7 ms·

Microsoft’s Biggest Miss

125 points by cleverjake 15y ago

untog 15y ago
The setup was interesting, but I feel the conclusion was a little flat- Microsoft's biggest miss was that people found out they were big fat liars!? I'm not sure I buy the central premise, though- I don't know anyone that does Office-style work on their iPhone, and very few that do on their iPad. I'm not sure if there is an optimal interface for editing spreadsheets, but an iPad sure as hell isn't it.
- thoughtsimple 15y ago
  Hard numbers... On the iPad App Store charts: Top Paid 3. Pages 11. Keynote 13. Numbers Top Grossing 3. Pages 17. Keynote 18. Numbers Those numbers seem to me to imply that a large number of people use office apps on the iPad.
  - untog 15y ago
    I don't doubt that people consume office documents on their iPad, but I'm less convinced that people sit down and create whole spreadsheets with it. So there still needs to be some program on a computer somewhere for document creation.
    - thoughtsimple 15y ago
      Why? What is wrong with them in your opinion? They seem to work very well for producing documents.
    - revscat 15y ago
      You can consume Office documents natively on iOS - no iWorks required. The only reason people would be buying these would be to either modify or create their own documents.
  - MatthewPhillips 15y ago
    They imply that being featured drives sales.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - jkubicek 15y ago
    The point wasn't that people don't need office apps, it was that people don't need MS Office.
  - MortenK 15y ago
    Those numbers tell how many people have bought the apps, not how many actually uses it. I have all 3 on my iPad, but apart from some early playing around, I've not used them. On paper, it's a great idea, and they are very nicely made. However, it's just way too cumbersome in everyday business. I'm sure a lot of people benefit from those apps, but I would be very surprised if the "regular-usage" numbers are anywhere near the sales numbers.
- dubya 15y ago
  I'd like to think the conclusion is that Office-style work actually isn't that necessary most of the time. I'm sure there are jobs where some of the capabilities are required, or where there's a bunch of important VBA code lurking in a spreadsheet somewhere. But it seems a lot of people use Excel because they have a simple list to keep track of, or Office because it's easy to drag a bunch of pictures in, or Powerpoint because it's how one makes Powerpoints, where in many cases a simpler tool would work. I should admit that I do not use my iPhone for productive work, except reading, because the tools I use, Latex, Bibdesk, Processing and Python, are not available on the phone, will never be, and would be ill-suited to it in any case.
- barkingtoad 15y ago
  How many people use Office to do Office-style work? Most people use 1% of Office's full capabilities.
Wuxab 15y ago
They're getting along with out office on their phones and tablets... That's completely different. You can't just tell clients they don't need it. When someone sends me an excel spreadsheet riddled with VBA code, what else is going to open it. I don't like it but I am one of those people that needs it in order to work with others. Unless the author is saying people are now doing all their work on phones and tablets, some how I doubt it...
ImprovedSilence 15y ago
Yes, but the examples he uses, the iPhone, and iPad, are not usually used "to get work done". I think that most of the public sees and uses those devices as a consumption device. When it comes to creating, and "getting work done" so to speak, people will still pine for Office. (I say this, but as a happy Linux and mac user whom infrequency uses office, sometimes I do find myself booting the ole desktop into windows, to make sure everything looks good and is formatted properly in Office) That's for personal stuff though, in the biz world, I still see Office staying on top for quite some time.
- thoughtsimple 15y ago
  People keep repeating this but I see no evidence for it being true. Instead I keep reading reports of companies replacing large numbers of laptops with iPads. Are those reports wrong? Are those companies supplying iPads so their employees can watch (consume) movies instead of working? The iPad seems quite capable of handling moderate document creation. Add a BT keyboard and it becomes very similar to a low end laptop.
  - recoiledsnake 15y ago
    > Instead I keep reading reports of companies replacing large numbers of laptops with iPads. Are those reports wrong? Care to link to some of these reports? I am curious to see if desktop/laptops are being replaced and if there are companies employees in the office with a tablet as their only work device. What I find is that companies are buying tablets as additional devices to augment, not replace desktops and laptops. Thus I am very curious about the reports you have apparently been seeing. Side question: Does anyone on HN know anyone in their company or friends circle whose sole work device is a tablet(traveling salesmen etc. are excluded) ? >The iPad seems quite capable of handling moderate document creation. Add a BT keyboard and it becomes very similar to a low end laptop. And you can make an octopus by nailing more legs to a dog. Doesn't make it a very good octopus though.
    - thoughtsimple 15y ago
      A quick google search reveals: http://www.telegraphindia.com/external/display.jsp?mode=details&id=29753 http://www.telegraphindia.com/external/display.jsp?mode=deta... http://www.mactrast.com/2012/01/more-than-1-in-10-ipad-owners-in-the-enterprise-no-longer-use-their-laptop/ http://www.mactrast.com/2012/01/more-than-1-in-10-ipad-owner... Both referencing the same IDG report. http://tabtimes.com/news/ittech-stats-research/2012/02/17/one-four-european-doctors-own-ipad-and-25-use-it-work http://tabtimes.com/news/ittech-stats-research/2012/02/17/on... Apparently Doctors are replacing laptops with iPads. http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-02-09/cass-county-boards-ipads-will-save-paper http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-02-09/cass-county-boar... County board replaced aging laptops. Apple itself keeps saying that Fortune 500 companies are buying large quantities of iPads. They can't all be for consumption.
bstar77 15y ago
I give people a little more credit than this article does... I don't think people felt that MS Office is the only way to get work done, rather it's the only way they want to know how to get work done. For most people, it's a huge personal investment to learn something like excel/ppt/word. For many years, the value in learning something new just wasn't there (IE: I still can't drive stick cause I don't need to). But now with the mobile revolution, people are open to a new software investment because of all the great things tablets and smartphones offer. In the process of using these devices, they are open to learning new things and then ultimately come to the revelation the author is talking about. I'm not sure what MS could have done, but slapping Office on Android & iOS devices from the start would have helped. There's a reason google has hugely popular software in iOS, despite owning Android. I just think MS is too arrogant to go that route.
- drzaiusapelord 15y ago
  I've used all the popular office suites for mobile and they're all terrible. That's the elephant in the room here, not this Apple fanatic's extremely biased take on things. When you've got so little horsepower there's only so much you can do. I can't imagine being able to provide feature parity and a usable interface for end users on a mobile device, not until these things get a lot more powerful. I constantly see end users struggling with these features which they need to do their jobs. I'm not sure if giving them a watered down experience is the big benefit this author things it is. They'll go crazy when they are told that track changes isn't supported or VB script or god knows what else. I'm not sure if this is MS arrogance or an admission that an office replacement on your tiny phone isn't possible yet and/or end users aren't willing to deal with software with 1/100th the features. Didn't apple just do this with the newest version of Final Cut? Everyone thinks complex software is the problem, but when we take away the features "no one uses or understands" suddenly the silent majority comes out the woodwork. The take away for the cult of apple types is that the silent majority is out there and dwarfs the walled garden/patent litigious world of Apple. Just because your sleepy intro to anthropology course at that local state u can mostly be taken with mobile tools doesn't mean everything can be. Life's different in the busienss world or when you need to get shit done with minimal fuss and don't care whether the hipster contigent is standing in line outside of the Apple store again for yet another disposable toy that does you absolutely no good. I know its very satifsying to think you'er part of some revolution and laugh at the old guard, but I'm not seeing it. I'm seeing niche devices for residential/entertainment needs and the big "everything that is not mobile will die by 2011 at the latest" never materialized. This author is one of these guys, an Apple rapturist, and the rapture is always right around the corner. Really HN? This is rated at the top of the site? A disposable "har har MS" essay by an extremely biased source. Frankly, we can do better.
gdharries 15y ago
This author is blinded by what he actually does for a living: consulting on Apple products and writing, again, (mostly) on Apple-related topics. When you step outside of the Apple bubble, you quickly realize that there's a much, much bigger world out there and Apple is almost nowhere to be seen.
- figglesonrails 15y ago
  That or they have Office:mac like they do over here. :)
magic_haze 15y ago
you don't need _anything_ except for your brain to get work done. Everything else you use is just a luxury, MS office being just one that most people take for granted these days.
rufius 15y ago
Owning iPhone/iPad/Android does not imply "getting work done". Work can be done with or without Microsoft Office and with or without iPhone/iPad/Android.
angersock 15y ago
The assumption underlying this whole article is that you don't "need" Office to do work. That somehow iStuff will fill in your missing productivity suite. This just isn't backed by reality. In an office setting (I'm not saying enterprise, as that would be asking too much), you make use of a word processor, a spreadsheet, maybe an email client, maybe a presentation thing. Is there honestly any real competition in that field from tablets and iStuff and the like? No. Those are content-consumption devices, occasionally branching out into cutesy creation. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you, but work is done on a desktop, where you need to do a lot of typing and clicking. The interface is simply better for that. Moreover, Microsoft Office has pretty much nailed its niche: I challenge you to find a better office suite. Here's what you'll have to do: 1. Find me an office suite that works out-of-the-box. 2. Find me an office suite that does everything (email, database (Access lol), word processing, spreadsheet, simple programming, presentations) for a flat fee. 3. Find me an office suite that does (2) fairly well. 4. Find me an office suite that does (2) that interops basically seamlessly across other businesses and old versions of my own business. There's some nifty stuff on the net as thin clients running in HTML5. There's some cool stuff happening in tablets. But the author is sorely mistaken in presuming that the world has somehow moved past Office. EDIT: And yes, I've tried Google Docs and OpenOffice and WordPerfect and all these things--but for raw "get the bidness done" Office is pretty much it. EDIT2: And Word's spellchecker could've saved me. >:(
- kingsidharth 15y ago
  I don't think author means to claim the world has moved on. Early adopters have, and as the tablet replaces the desk/lap-tops with internet everywhere, Office will be irrelevant. 1. Google Docs. 2. Gmail, Google Docs [Free] 3. Google Docs 4. Google Docs can preview / edit. You just need internet. I haven't used office in ages. I consider myself a fairly early adopter of technology and yes I've moved on. My mom has not, I don't think she ever will. It's like mobile phones made wrist watch redundant. But people still wear them for: 1. Luxury. 2. Habit.
  - neutronicus 15y ago
    I can't use Google Docs without thinking how much worse it is than Word 2003 was.
aggarwalachal 15y ago
I think, like many others Microsoft did not take iPhone seriously back in 2007. Like everyone else, they also regret the fact that they did not "copy" the original device. I think, what Microsoft really missed out on was getting the Metro UI mainstream earlier on. Not looking at what the Zune team was doing. They started with the UI innovation back in 2006, but MS just didnt take things seriously. Let's see how things are changed with Windows 8
petergast 15y ago
This article would make sense if Microsoft Office was Microsoft's ONLY product. But isn't it obvious why they haven't developed serviceable clones of Office for other platforms? They are selling the platform. Office, more than any other factor, has driven the market leadership of Windows for two and a half decades; and Windows in turn has driven the market leadership of Office. That's the Microsoft catch-22: they can't change anything about this relationship, because changing even one detail means losing market share.
johnohara 15y ago
I read the blog. The author's biggest miss seems to be the realization that the range of computational devices and their application is growing exponentially and that Microsoft doesn't necessarily need to be in every game. The iPhone and iPad are examples of computational expansion not necessarily a complete paradigm shift. Besides, some of the stuff MS has shipped in the past few years (Win7, Office20##, WinPhone, etc.) seems to run pretty well. They might not be quite so bleeding edge anymore but it sure looks like a bunch of people are working hard on their products.
- shareme 15y ago
  Somewhat wrong, there exists right a segment of folks whose only computer is either a smartphone or tablet. By 2015 that will be bigger than the total world-wide amount of PCs..its a market MS needs to be in PERIOD! Biggest miss would be having SB as CEO..
  - cooldeal 15y ago
    >Somewhat wrong, there exists right a segment of folks whose only computer is either a smartphone or tablet Who are these people? And no, tweens and non working folks don't count, they wouldn't buy Office apps for their iPad or iPhone anyway.
    - cryptoz 15y ago
      > Who are these people? The vast majority of the developing world. Many countries have never had wired internet but have 3G popping up everywhere. Hundreds of millions of people that have never owned and never will own a "desktop computer" are going to get smartphones by 2015. Try to remember that the USA is less than 5% of the world's population. Most people don't have a desktop computer and never will. They're starting on smartphones now and as tablets become cheaper they will get those too.
- saddino 15y ago
  Actually, it's a complete paradigm shift. http://gigaom.com/mobile/uh-oh-pc-half-of-computing-device-sales-are-mobile/ http://gigaom.com/mobile/uh-oh-pc-half-of-computing-device-s...
twerquie 15y ago
The author claims MS failed to "take seriously" the iPad, but that's simply not true. He must be confusing them with Blackberry (RIMshot!). MS created Office 365, a completely web-based build of Office that is surprisingly standards-compliant and cross-platform. Furthermore they are planning to release a native build of Office for the iPad in 2012. I'm not sure how much more you can ask from them, especially considering (as others have noted) that these devices are designed for consuming content, not creating it. I work with people who use Excel 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. There is no competitor to that product. Google Docs doesn't even scratch the surface. And, as much as I hate Word and think it's a poor authoring tool as well as a poor document layout tool, most people want one app that is a mix of both. For them, there is no competitor to Word. Welcome to the real world!
- gruseom 15y ago
  I work with people who use Excel 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. There is no competitor to that product. Google Docs doesn't even scratch the surface. In your experience, what are the most important things that Excel does that no one else does (or does well)?
  - twerquie 15y ago
    Pivot tables (though I believe Google Docs has added this to some degree), the ability to cleanly import messy text data, the ability to select non-contiguous cells, keyboard short cuts, better charts, spell check. I'm sure there are a million more - Excel is actually a very impressive product.
- brudgers 15y ago
  Tabulus is a realistic alternative for heavy spreadsheet users. http://www.tabulus.com/ http://www.tabulus.com/
recoiledsnake 15y ago
Can anyone guess how much percentage of spreadsheets, documents etc. are actually created on smartphones and tablets versus PCs and Macs? I would put that in the low single digits. How long does it take and how much does it cost them make a version of Office? Maybe they already have it in progress. They have been recently releasing apps for iOS and Android. Interesting, people have been predicting the end of MS anytime soon since more than a decade on Slashdot. Meanwhile, they keep getting record profits. This is nothing but feel good linkbait for the Apple fans to lap up. Meanwhile, the face that they released OneNote for Android and iOS is totally lost in the brouhaha. After all, this is a site where Gruber and Sieger get top billing but Paul Thurrotts Winsupersite is shadowbanned totally from even appearing on the site, probably due to sensitive fans' excessive flagging. If the tables were turned, we would be hearing endlessly about how Microsoft takes 75% of the web server profits, even if Apache and nginx are ahead in marketshare.
- archangel_one 15y ago
  Maybe the release of OneNote has been lost, but does anyone really care about it? I think I had it installed as part of Office the whole time I was at my previous job but never ever used it for anything. Word and Excel may or may not be important, but I doubt there can be many people who would ditch Office completely except for OneNote.
  - deleted 15y ago
    [deleted]
  - MortenK 15y ago
    There is actually a huge amount of OneNote users out there. For note taking apps, it usually comes down to Evernote or OneNote.
    - r00fus 15y ago
      And no "textpad/notepad/vim" option? What about simply taking notes in your email/calendar client so you can add recipients and send/schedule? I don't know anyone (even in the past 10 years) who's ever mentioned using OneNote.
freehunter 15y ago
Then, she explained, the iPhone came. There was no Office. People got things done. Then the iPad came. There was no Office. People got things done. Android came. People got things done. All of those things that they, just a couple of years ago, were convinced they needed Office to do. They got them done without it. And thus, the truth was revealed. Bollocks. Completely. Comparing people "getting things done" in Office to "getting things done" on their iPhone is ridiculous and I now refuse to further hear any opinion the author has.
brudgers 15y ago
>"To my clients, Microsoft Office was a “must have” no matter how much I tried to convince them otherwise. And I tried very hard for a while before even I just finally gave up. If a client told me they had to have it I just nodded along and told them what to get and where. They were as sure as the sun rises that, without Office, they would not be able to work, open attachments, write letters, anything. They had to have it." The author's wife convinced him, not all those clients...given the different considerations entailed, I would say that the easier of the two is done.
efa 15y ago
No, I think he was right - "build platform specific and complementary versions of Office for every device that popped up." People moving to iPads would likely just install Office since it's what they know and less work learning something new. Don't really get the wife's big miss - "allowing the world to finally see the truth behind the big lie — they were not needed to get real work done." How is that a miss? They missed stopping people from realizing they don't need Office? Not sure how that would be done.
voxmatt 15y ago
I own multiple copies of office and use them every day, but the author has an interesting point. And that point isn't revealed through me, or even (probably) the person reading this comment, it's revealed through my mother. My mom is an attorney and works with office every day. She's also in her 50s and not technologically fluent. But she got an iPhone. And then she got an iPad. She even got a keyboard for the iPad; which I rolled my eyes at, but that's where some of us are blind here. One of the first things she asked me was where office was--there is no doubt she would have purchased office had it been available--instead she downloaded a bunch of things (pages, docstogo, QuickOffice) and worked out which of those she likes. And she uses them a ton now; even to create documents. Where I think the author is a bit off is in his assessment that the wizard has been revealed. I think Office is a good product for a lot of people and I think my mom would still buy it if they rolled one out for iOS (and I think they're working on it). Moreover, most corporate offices are deeply entrenched in office, and it will take years for that to change (my machine at work still comes with ie 7--how sick is that?). So, Microsoft still has time, but I think there's merit to the argument that they're behind and need to recover. Some damage has already been done, but it's not too late.
- MatthewPhillips 15y ago
  What the article overlooks is that the money Microsoft makes off selling individual copies of Office is a rounding error in their overall revenue. The money they make off selling thousand-seat licenses of Office, however, is not. The latter is not possible on iOS or Android.
  - voxmatt 15y ago
    I think you're absolutely right, but this falls in the category of a lot of the comments in this thread: the "for now" category. I think anyone who assumes that the iPad or something-like-the-iPad (Windows 8, if you like) isn't where the vast majority of the market is heading, is going to miss the boat. The history of business is filed with the tombstones of once profitable companies that missed the boat.
    - 15y ago
scott7ree 15y ago
The curtain has finally fallen? You mean the rest of the world has finally caught up. Of note, Microsoft Jan 2010 Profit: Windows OS + Windows Server = ~$13B, Office = ~$8B Source: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-02-10/tech/29961217_1 http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-02-10/tech/29961217...
Timmy_C 15y ago
I keep seeing comments here about whether-or-not consumers are using their iPhones and iPads to do word processing and spreadsheets. And I think that argument misses the point that the article was trying to make. I think the conclusion was that we don't need spreadsheets and word processors at all. There are a lot of tools out there that help you "get business done" that are not focused around typing a document or generating a chart. I get business done by using Freshbooks and Balsamiq Mock-ups.
its_so_on 15y ago
this is okay, except for one thing: the iOS stuff is for playing, and nobody ever gets anything done. How many angel and VC deals of the past 2-3 involved an Excel spreadsheet at one point? Now, how many do you think involved a spreadsheet-type app on android or iOS. I bet you even the guys who raised a round to build a spreadsheet app (not thinking of anyone in particular) did so flinging excel sheets back and forth. Hell, you don't even see apple dogfooding any excel replacements. There just isn't any dogfood there. Tim Cook uses excel for Mac. And in the evenings, uses the iPad for entertaintment or light email.
jzoidberg 15y ago
Google Docs (and Zoho) does collaboration really well. This is important. MS Office does not even come close. The article makes a valid point - we do not need bloated desktop software to produce documents. Some of the people already realized this - the question is how long it will take for most of the people to realize this.
duckfruit 15y ago
I'm not sure how much damage being able to use computers without Microsoft Office by itself has done to people's perception of Microsoft. I'm more convinced that having, for the first time since the days of Amigas and AppleII's, major competing computer platforms has really dislodged the pre-eminence of the company in popular conception.
mattmiller 15y ago
Apple preemptively cut off the Idevice from office by building the app store and taking a 30% cut of sales. MS would have been stupid to give away 30% of its revenue to its biggest competitor, but in hindsight it may have been the right move.
simonh 15y ago
Apple has consumer computing all sewn up. MS fans can't understand why. Microsoft has business computing all sewn up. Apple fans can't understand why. The asymmetry is that Microsoft seems to think it ought to own consumer computing as well, and is wasting billions trying to achieve that, while Apple is playing directly to it's strengths with almost pathological vigour and knows it's limitations. As an aside this is why I think MS should have jumped into bed with Blackberry, not Nokia, on the phone front. Their natural market is corporate mobile communications, from which they could then attack the consumer market - actually just as BB did before Apple ran them off the smartphone road.
- uiri 15y ago
  The thing is that nontechnical people want to use the same OS at home and at work. This is because of the differences between OSes and applications which trip them up. Microsoft is simply putting up consumer computing as a first line of defense against competitors trying to attack their hold on business computing. Apple's chief weakness is that it doesn't really try to attack business computing, from what I can tell. That's all fine and dandy - consumer computing is rather large - but it essentially relegates them to second place because of Microsoft's dominance in business computing.
hiresphere 15y ago
No way guy! I use OpenOffice religiously and it works for me! The problem is marketing.....I can't tell you how many people I have to explain OF to. Everyone only seems to know MS because they marketed better, that's all.
padobson 15y ago
The foolishness of Microsoft significantly messing around with hardware started with the XBox - their most successful hardware line to date. I wrote a post about it a month ago: http://pdobson.com/post/16681986243/microsoft-should-own-the-living-room-how-google-can http://pdobson.com/post/16681986243/microsoft-should-own-the... Their primary mistake in all of their hardware decisions has been making hardware at all. They will always be a software company that made billions putting their software on other people's hardware. They should have been trying to put XBox Live on the PS2, they should have been trying to put Office on the iPhone, they should have been trying to get Visual Studio working in Linux. There should be no XBox, there should be no Windows Phone, and LAMP developers should be using Visual Studio instead of vim. Instead they decided if a piece of hardware wasn't running Windows, they had to build their own hardware and compete in a crowded marketplace instead of using their dominance to own said markets.
dlikhten 15y ago
I must disagree with everyone. MS's downfall was not the Wizard of OZ style problem. The problem is investments. You see any good investor will tell you the same thing: DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO. Sure if I invested into google day 1, I'd be rich. If I bought Apple stock when it was $80 a pop, I'd be rich. Etc. HOWEVER knowing that a-priori is impossible, so you diversify. If you think Microsoft, what do you think? > Microsoft Windows > Microsoft Office > Internet Explorer > .Net Let's tackle them: Internet Explorer -- Use windows. It only works on windows. If you leave windows your browser is no longer available. Originally intended to make even the web work on windows only. Basically Macs were crippled to all hell. Counters -> Firefox, Safari, Chrome are all cross platform, most people who use that suffer nothing switching. .Net -- Its Objective-C for windows. There are more uses for it, yes, like writing servers as an alternative to java, except they work on windows. End of the day it serves the same purpose. Windows -- The flagship product. This is what MS wants you to use, and on your server, because this makes MS money. The problem is that MS makes zero dollars from a computer that can run Windows. It makes money on windows. Piracy is a real problem. If I was to install a pirated windows on a computer, MS is quite furious for good reasons. Compare that to Apple who will give you a copy of OSX if you ask them really nicely, and does NOTHING to prevent piracy. The only thing they care is that it runs on Apple hardware. More later. Office -- The other flagship product. They convince businesses that sharing information is only possible with this. Period. As Google Docs, LibreOffice, Confluence, Basecamp, etc start to become more and more popular, the office stronghold is being chipped away brick by brick, and MS can't lay bricks fast enough to counter. Let's compare that to Apple's model: iTunes -- Initially shipped with DRM to prevent using anything other than iPods to play music. By the time they removed DRM it didn't matter, iPods were here to stay. App Store -- You can only run the apps on iPhone/iPod/iPad/OSX OSX -- If it's pirated, who cares, it only runs on Apple hardware. Garage Band -- Eh, its cheap. Whatever, use it if you like. Its OSX only so we'll give it practically for free. Safari -- Runs on windows and mac. They don't care about linux. Just to get people used to the "mac way"
- NumberFiveAlive 15y ago
  You're completely missing the enterprise side of the equation, which is still a booming part of MSFTs business right now. And they are still a goliath in Enterprise (Windows Server, Exchange, SQL Server, etc). You also speak of their 'downfall' in the past tense, as if it's already happened. They still push 90% of desktop market share, rule enterprise, rule the Office suite business, and have some nifty things going on in the entertainment side (not profitable, but nifty nonetheless).
tbranyen 15y ago
The arguments are weak, but the message is strong. I use Microsoft to play Skyrim, the rest of my work is done with open source. Not everyone can/will take this route, but they've certainly lost me as a customer for anything other than video games.
grantheaslip 15y ago
People have already given some good reasons why this article is nonsense (or at least unnecessarily reductionist), but what pissed me off about it the most is the underlying assumption you see in so many anti-Microsoft articles: that the only reason anyone uses Microsoft products is because they don’t know any better. This is such a juvenile, condescending, and back-patting way to look at Microsoft, and I’m fucking sick of it. I prefer Windows, I prefer Office, and I prefer C#, Visual Studio, and ASP.NET MVC. I used a Mac as my primary computer from 2007-2010, and I used Linux from 2010-2011, and I ended up back on Windows by choice. I used an iPhone, I used Android, and I ended up Windows Phone by choice. I’ve programmed in Ruby (Rails and Sinatra), Python, JavaScript, Node.js, and am currently writing an app in ASP.NET MVC by choice. I’ve used OpenOffice, I’ve used Google Docs, I’ve used Evernote, and currently use OneNote, Word, and Excel (backed by SkyDrive) by choice. Implying people using Microsoft stuff are just sheeple who haven’t seen the light yet is as fucking stupid as claiming that people only use Apple products because of marketing and design. I have no problem with people using Apple products, Linux, or anything, I just hate the anti-Microsoft circle jerk that certain subsets of those communities sustain themselves on.

125 points by cleverjake 15y ago

untog 15y ago

The setup was interesting, but I feel the conclusion was a little flat- Microsoft's biggest miss was that people found out they were big fat liars!? I'm not sure I buy the central premise, though- I don't know anyone that does Office-style work on their iPhone, and very few that do on their iPad. I'm not sure if there is an optimal interface for editing spreadsheets, but an iPad sure as hell isn't it.

thoughtsimple 15y ago
Hard numbers... On the iPad App Store charts: Top Paid 3. Pages 11. Keynote 13. Numbers Top Grossing 3. Pages 17. Keynote 18. Numbers Those numbers seem to me to imply that a large number of people use office apps on the iPad.
- untog 15y ago
  I don't doubt that people consume office documents on their iPad, but I'm less convinced that people sit down and create whole spreadsheets with it. So there still needs to be some program on a computer somewhere for document creation.
  - thoughtsimple 15y ago
    Why? What is wrong with them in your opinion? They seem to work very well for producing documents.
  - revscat 15y ago
    You can consume Office documents natively on iOS - no iWorks required. The only reason people would be buying these would be to either modify or create their own documents.
- MatthewPhillips 15y ago
  They imply that being featured drives sales.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- jkubicek 15y ago
  The point wasn't that people don't need office apps, it was that people don't need MS Office.
- MortenK 15y ago
  Those numbers tell how many people have bought the apps, not how many actually uses it. I have all 3 on my iPad, but apart from some early playing around, I've not used them. On paper, it's a great idea, and they are very nicely made. However, it's just way too cumbersome in everyday business. I'm sure a lot of people benefit from those apps, but I would be very surprised if the "regular-usage" numbers are anywhere near the sales numbers.
dubya 15y ago
I'd like to think the conclusion is that Office-style work actually isn't that necessary most of the time. I'm sure there are jobs where some of the capabilities are required, or where there's a bunch of important VBA code lurking in a spreadsheet somewhere. But it seems a lot of people use Excel because they have a simple list to keep track of, or Office because it's easy to drag a bunch of pictures in, or Powerpoint because it's how one makes Powerpoints, where in many cases a simpler tool would work. I should admit that I do not use my iPhone for productive work, except reading, because the tools I use, Latex, Bibdesk, Processing and Python, are not available on the phone, will never be, and would be ill-suited to it in any case.
barkingtoad 15y ago
How many people use Office to do Office-style work? Most people use 1% of Office's full capabilities.

Wuxab 15y ago

They're getting along with out office on their phones and tablets... That's completely different. You can't just tell clients they don't need it. When someone sends me an excel spreadsheet riddled with VBA code, what else is going to open it. I don't like it but I am one of those people that needs it in order to work with others. Unless the author is saying people are now doing all their work on phones and tablets, some how I doubt it...

ImprovedSilence 15y ago

Yes, but the examples he uses, the iPhone, and iPad, are not usually used "to get work done". I think that most of the public sees and uses those devices as a consumption device. When it comes to creating, and "getting work done" so to speak, people will still pine for Office. (I say this, but as a happy Linux and mac user whom infrequency uses office, sometimes I do find myself booting the ole desktop into windows, to make sure everything looks good and is formatted properly in Office) That's for personal stuff though, in the biz world, I still see Office staying on top for quite some time.

thoughtsimple 15y ago
People keep repeating this but I see no evidence for it being true. Instead I keep reading reports of companies replacing large numbers of laptops with iPads. Are those reports wrong? Are those companies supplying iPads so their employees can watch (consume) movies instead of working? The iPad seems quite capable of handling moderate document creation. Add a BT keyboard and it becomes very similar to a low end laptop.
- recoiledsnake 15y ago
  > Instead I keep reading reports of companies replacing large numbers of laptops with iPads. Are those reports wrong? Care to link to some of these reports? I am curious to see if desktop/laptops are being replaced and if there are companies employees in the office with a tablet as their only work device. What I find is that companies are buying tablets as additional devices to augment, not replace desktops and laptops. Thus I am very curious about the reports you have apparently been seeing. Side question: Does anyone on HN know anyone in their company or friends circle whose sole work device is a tablet(traveling salesmen etc. are excluded) ? >The iPad seems quite capable of handling moderate document creation. Add a BT keyboard and it becomes very similar to a low end laptop. And you can make an octopus by nailing more legs to a dog. Doesn't make it a very good octopus though.
  - thoughtsimple 15y ago
    A quick google search reveals: http://www.telegraphindia.com/external/display.jsp?mode=details&id=29753 http://www.telegraphindia.com/external/display.jsp?mode=deta... http://www.mactrast.com/2012/01/more-than-1-in-10-ipad-owners-in-the-enterprise-no-longer-use-their-laptop/ http://www.mactrast.com/2012/01/more-than-1-in-10-ipad-owner... Both referencing the same IDG report. http://tabtimes.com/news/ittech-stats-research/2012/02/17/one-four-european-doctors-own-ipad-and-25-use-it-work http://tabtimes.com/news/ittech-stats-research/2012/02/17/on... Apparently Doctors are replacing laptops with iPads. http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-02-09/cass-county-boards-ipads-will-save-paper http://brainerddispatch.com/news/2012-02-09/cass-county-boar... County board replaced aging laptops. Apple itself keeps saying that Fortune 500 companies are buying large quantities of iPads. They can't all be for consumption.

bstar77 15y ago

I give people a little more credit than this article does... I don't think people felt that MS Office is the only way to get work done, rather it's the only way they want to know how to get work done. For most people, it's a huge personal investment to learn something like excel/ppt/word. For many years, the value in learning something new just wasn't there (IE: I still can't drive stick cause I don't need to). But now with the mobile revolution, people are open to a new software investment because of all the great things tablets and smartphones offer. In the process of using these devices, they are open to learning new things and then ultimately come to the revelation the author is talking about. I'm not sure what MS could have done, but slapping Office on Android & iOS devices from the start would have helped. There's a reason google has hugely popular software in iOS, despite owning Android. I just think MS is too arrogant to go that route.

drzaiusapelord 15y ago
I've used all the popular office suites for mobile and they're all terrible. That's the elephant in the room here, not this Apple fanatic's extremely biased take on things. When you've got so little horsepower there's only so much you can do. I can't imagine being able to provide feature parity and a usable interface for end users on a mobile device, not until these things get a lot more powerful. I constantly see end users struggling with these features which they need to do their jobs. I'm not sure if giving them a watered down experience is the big benefit this author things it is. They'll go crazy when they are told that track changes isn't supported or VB script or god knows what else. I'm not sure if this is MS arrogance or an admission that an office replacement on your tiny phone isn't possible yet and/or end users aren't willing to deal with software with 1/100th the features. Didn't apple just do this with the newest version of Final Cut? Everyone thinks complex software is the problem, but when we take away the features "no one uses or understands" suddenly the silent majority comes out the woodwork. The take away for the cult of apple types is that the silent majority is out there and dwarfs the walled garden/patent litigious world of Apple. Just because your sleepy intro to anthropology course at that local state u can mostly be taken with mobile tools doesn't mean everything can be. Life's different in the busienss world or when you need to get shit done with minimal fuss and don't care whether the hipster contigent is standing in line outside of the Apple store again for yet another disposable toy that does you absolutely no good. I know its very satifsying to think you'er part of some revolution and laugh at the old guard, but I'm not seeing it. I'm seeing niche devices for residential/entertainment needs and the big "everything that is not mobile will die by 2011 at the latest" never materialized. This author is one of these guys, an Apple rapturist, and the rapture is always right around the corner. Really HN? This is rated at the top of the site? A disposable "har har MS" essay by an extremely biased source. Frankly, we can do better.

gdharries 15y ago

This author is blinded by what he actually does for a living: consulting on Apple products and writing, again, (mostly) on Apple-related topics. When you step outside of the Apple bubble, you quickly realize that there's a much, much bigger world out there and Apple is almost nowhere to be seen.

figglesonrails 15y ago
That or they have Office:mac like they do over here. :)

magic_haze 15y ago

you don't need _anything_ except for your brain to get work done. Everything else you use is just a luxury, MS office being just one that most people take for granted these days.

rufius 15y ago

Owning iPhone/iPad/Android does not imply "getting work done". Work can be done with or without Microsoft Office and with or without iPhone/iPad/Android.

angersock 15y ago

The assumption underlying this whole article is that you don't "need" Office to do work. That somehow iStuff will fill in your missing productivity suite. This just isn't backed by reality. In an office setting (I'm not saying enterprise, as that would be asking too much), you make use of a word processor, a spreadsheet, maybe an email client, maybe a presentation thing. Is there honestly any real competition in that field from tablets and iStuff and the like? No. Those are content-consumption devices, occasionally branching out into cutesy creation. There's nothing wrong with that, mind you, but work is done on a desktop, where you need to do a lot of typing and clicking. The interface is simply better for that. Moreover, Microsoft Office has pretty much nailed its niche: I challenge you to find a better office suite. Here's what you'll have to do: 1. Find me an office suite that works out-of-the-box. 2. Find me an office suite that does everything (email, database (Access lol), word processing, spreadsheet, simple programming, presentations) for a flat fee. 3. Find me an office suite that does (2) fairly well. 4. Find me an office suite that does (2) that interops basically seamlessly across other businesses and old versions of my own business. There's some nifty stuff on the net as thin clients running in HTML5. There's some cool stuff happening in tablets. But the author is sorely mistaken in presuming that the world has somehow moved past Office. EDIT: And yes, I've tried Google Docs and OpenOffice and WordPerfect and all these things--but for raw "get the bidness done" Office is pretty much it. EDIT2: And Word's spellchecker could've saved me. >:(

kingsidharth 15y ago
I don't think author means to claim the world has moved on. Early adopters have, and as the tablet replaces the desk/lap-tops with internet everywhere, Office will be irrelevant. 1. Google Docs. 2. Gmail, Google Docs [Free] 3. Google Docs 4. Google Docs can preview / edit. You just need internet. I haven't used office in ages. I consider myself a fairly early adopter of technology and yes I've moved on. My mom has not, I don't think she ever will. It's like mobile phones made wrist watch redundant. But people still wear them for: 1. Luxury. 2. Habit.
- neutronicus 15y ago
  I can't use Google Docs without thinking how much worse it is than Word 2003 was.

aggarwalachal 15y ago

I think, like many others Microsoft did not take iPhone seriously back in 2007. Like everyone else, they also regret the fact that they did not "copy" the original device. I think, what Microsoft really missed out on was getting the Metro UI mainstream earlier on. Not looking at what the Zune team was doing. They started with the UI innovation back in 2006, but MS just didnt take things seriously. Let's see how things are changed with Windows 8

petergast 15y ago

This article would make sense if Microsoft Office was Microsoft's ONLY product. But isn't it obvious why they haven't developed serviceable clones of Office for other platforms? They are selling the platform. Office, more than any other factor, has driven the market leadership of Windows for two and a half decades; and Windows in turn has driven the market leadership of Office. That's the Microsoft catch-22: they can't change anything about this relationship, because changing even one detail means losing market share.

johnohara 15y ago

I read the blog. The author's biggest miss seems to be the realization that the range of computational devices and their application is growing exponentially and that Microsoft doesn't necessarily need to be in every game. The iPhone and iPad are examples of computational expansion not necessarily a complete paradigm shift. Besides, some of the stuff MS has shipped in the past few years (Win7, Office20##, WinPhone, etc.) seems to run pretty well. They might not be quite so bleeding edge anymore but it sure looks like a bunch of people are working hard on their products.

shareme 15y ago
Somewhat wrong, there exists right a segment of folks whose only computer is either a smartphone or tablet. By 2015 that will be bigger than the total world-wide amount of PCs..its a market MS needs to be in PERIOD! Biggest miss would be having SB as CEO..
- cooldeal 15y ago
  >Somewhat wrong, there exists right a segment of folks whose only computer is either a smartphone or tablet Who are these people? And no, tweens and non working folks don't count, they wouldn't buy Office apps for their iPad or iPhone anyway.
  - cryptoz 15y ago
    > Who are these people? The vast majority of the developing world. Many countries have never had wired internet but have 3G popping up everywhere. Hundreds of millions of people that have never owned and never will own a "desktop computer" are going to get smartphones by 2015. Try to remember that the USA is less than 5% of the world's population. Most people don't have a desktop computer and never will. They're starting on smartphones now and as tablets become cheaper they will get those too.
saddino 15y ago
Actually, it's a complete paradigm shift. http://gigaom.com/mobile/uh-oh-pc-half-of-computing-device-sales-are-mobile/ http://gigaom.com/mobile/uh-oh-pc-half-of-computing-device-s...

twerquie 15y ago

The author claims MS failed to "take seriously" the iPad, but that's simply not true. He must be confusing them with Blackberry (RIMshot!). MS created Office 365, a completely web-based build of Office that is surprisingly standards-compliant and cross-platform. Furthermore they are planning to release a native build of Office for the iPad in 2012. I'm not sure how much more you can ask from them, especially considering (as others have noted) that these devices are designed for consuming content, not creating it. I work with people who use Excel 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. There is no competitor to that product. Google Docs doesn't even scratch the surface. And, as much as I hate Word and think it's a poor authoring tool as well as a poor document layout tool, most people want one app that is a mix of both. For them, there is no competitor to Word. Welcome to the real world!

gruseom 15y ago
I work with people who use Excel 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. There is no competitor to that product. Google Docs doesn't even scratch the surface. In your experience, what are the most important things that Excel does that no one else does (or does well)?
- twerquie 15y ago
  Pivot tables (though I believe Google Docs has added this to some degree), the ability to cleanly import messy text data, the ability to select non-contiguous cells, keyboard short cuts, better charts, spell check. I'm sure there are a million more - Excel is actually a very impressive product.
brudgers 15y ago
Tabulus is a realistic alternative for heavy spreadsheet users. http://www.tabulus.com/ http://www.tabulus.com/

recoiledsnake 15y ago

Can anyone guess how much percentage of spreadsheets, documents etc. are actually created on smartphones and tablets versus PCs and Macs? I would put that in the low single digits. How long does it take and how much does it cost them make a version of Office? Maybe they already have it in progress. They have been recently releasing apps for iOS and Android. Interesting, people have been predicting the end of MS anytime soon since more than a decade on Slashdot. Meanwhile, they keep getting record profits. This is nothing but feel good linkbait for the Apple fans to lap up. Meanwhile, the face that they released OneNote for Android and iOS is totally lost in the brouhaha. After all, this is a site where Gruber and Sieger get top billing but Paul Thurrotts Winsupersite is shadowbanned totally from even appearing on the site, probably due to sensitive fans' excessive flagging. If the tables were turned, we would be hearing endlessly about how Microsoft takes 75% of the web server profits, even if Apache and nginx are ahead in marketshare.

archangel_one 15y ago
Maybe the release of OneNote has been lost, but does anyone really care about it? I think I had it installed as part of Office the whole time I was at my previous job but never ever used it for anything. Word and Excel may or may not be important, but I doubt there can be many people who would ditch Office completely except for OneNote.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
- MortenK 15y ago
  There is actually a huge amount of OneNote users out there. For note taking apps, it usually comes down to Evernote or OneNote.
  - r00fus 15y ago
    And no "textpad/notepad/vim" option? What about simply taking notes in your email/calendar client so you can add recipients and send/schedule? I don't know anyone (even in the past 10 years) who's ever mentioned using OneNote.

freehunter 15y ago

Then, she explained, the iPhone came. There was no Office. People got things done. Then the iPad came. There was no Office. People got things done. Android came. People got things done. All of those things that they, just a couple of years ago, were convinced they needed Office to do. They got them done without it. And thus, the truth was revealed. Bollocks. Completely. Comparing people "getting things done" in Office to "getting things done" on their iPhone is ridiculous and I now refuse to further hear any opinion the author has.

brudgers 15y ago

>"To my clients, Microsoft Office was a “must have” no matter how much I tried to convince them otherwise. And I tried very hard for a while before even I just finally gave up. If a client told me they had to have it I just nodded along and told them what to get and where. They were as sure as the sun rises that, without Office, they would not be able to work, open attachments, write letters, anything. They had to have it." The author's wife convinced him, not all those clients...given the different considerations entailed, I would say that the easier of the two is done.

efa 15y ago

No, I think he was right - "build platform specific and complementary versions of Office for every device that popped up." People moving to iPads would likely just install Office since it's what they know and less work learning something new. Don't really get the wife's big miss - "allowing the world to finally see the truth behind the big lie — they were not needed to get real work done." How is that a miss? They missed stopping people from realizing they don't need Office? Not sure how that would be done.

voxmatt 15y ago

I own multiple copies of office and use them every day, but the author has an interesting point. And that point isn't revealed through me, or even (probably) the person reading this comment, it's revealed through my mother. My mom is an attorney and works with office every day. She's also in her 50s and not technologically fluent. But she got an iPhone. And then she got an iPad. She even got a keyboard for the iPad; which I rolled my eyes at, but that's where some of us are blind here. One of the first things she asked me was where office was--there is no doubt she would have purchased office had it been available--instead she downloaded a bunch of things (pages, docstogo, QuickOffice) and worked out which of those she likes. And she uses them a ton now; even to create documents. Where I think the author is a bit off is in his assessment that the wizard has been revealed. I think Office is a good product for a lot of people and I think my mom would still buy it if they rolled one out for iOS (and I think they're working on it). Moreover, most corporate offices are deeply entrenched in office, and it will take years for that to change (my machine at work still comes with ie 7--how sick is that?). So, Microsoft still has time, but I think there's merit to the argument that they're behind and need to recover. Some damage has already been done, but it's not too late.

MatthewPhillips 15y ago
What the article overlooks is that the money Microsoft makes off selling individual copies of Office is a rounding error in their overall revenue. The money they make off selling thousand-seat licenses of Office, however, is not. The latter is not possible on iOS or Android.
- voxmatt 15y ago
  I think you're absolutely right, but this falls in the category of a lot of the comments in this thread: the "for now" category. I think anyone who assumes that the iPad or something-like-the-iPad (Windows 8, if you like) isn't where the vast majority of the market is heading, is going to miss the boat. The history of business is filed with the tombstones of once profitable companies that missed the boat.
  - 15y ago

scott7ree 15y ago

The curtain has finally fallen? You mean the rest of the world has finally caught up. Of note, Microsoft Jan 2010 Profit: Windows OS + Windows Server = ~$13B, Office = ~$8B Source: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-02-10/tech/29961217_1 http://articles.businessinsider.com/2010-02-10/tech/29961217...

Timmy_C 15y ago

I keep seeing comments here about whether-or-not consumers are using their iPhones and iPads to do word processing and spreadsheets. And I think that argument misses the point that the article was trying to make. I think the conclusion was that we don't need spreadsheets and word processors at all. There are a lot of tools out there that help you "get business done" that are not focused around typing a document or generating a chart. I get business done by using Freshbooks and Balsamiq Mock-ups.

its_so_on 15y ago

this is okay, except for one thing: the iOS stuff is for playing, and nobody ever gets anything done. How many angel and VC deals of the past 2-3 involved an Excel spreadsheet at one point? Now, how many do you think involved a spreadsheet-type app on android or iOS. I bet you even the guys who raised a round to build a spreadsheet app (not thinking of anyone in particular) did so flinging excel sheets back and forth. Hell, you don't even see apple dogfooding any excel replacements. There just isn't any dogfood there. Tim Cook uses excel for Mac. And in the evenings, uses the iPad for entertaintment or light email.

jzoidberg 15y ago

Google Docs (and Zoho) does collaboration really well. This is important. MS Office does not even come close. The article makes a valid point - we do not need bloated desktop software to produce documents. Some of the people already realized this - the question is how long it will take for most of the people to realize this.

duckfruit 15y ago

I'm not sure how much damage being able to use computers without Microsoft Office by itself has done to people's perception of Microsoft. I'm more convinced that having, for the first time since the days of Amigas and AppleII's, major competing computer platforms has really dislodged the pre-eminence of the company in popular conception.

mattmiller 15y ago

Apple preemptively cut off the Idevice from office by building the app store and taking a 30% cut of sales. MS would have been stupid to give away 30% of its revenue to its biggest competitor, but in hindsight it may have been the right move.

simonh 15y ago

Apple has consumer computing all sewn up. MS fans can't understand why. Microsoft has business computing all sewn up. Apple fans can't understand why. The asymmetry is that Microsoft seems to think it ought to own consumer computing as well, and is wasting billions trying to achieve that, while Apple is playing directly to it's strengths with almost pathological vigour and knows it's limitations. As an aside this is why I think MS should have jumped into bed with Blackberry, not Nokia, on the phone front. Their natural market is corporate mobile communications, from which they could then attack the consumer market - actually just as BB did before Apple ran them off the smartphone road.

uiri 15y ago
The thing is that nontechnical people want to use the same OS at home and at work. This is because of the differences between OSes and applications which trip them up. Microsoft is simply putting up consumer computing as a first line of defense against competitors trying to attack their hold on business computing. Apple's chief weakness is that it doesn't really try to attack business computing, from what I can tell. That's all fine and dandy - consumer computing is rather large - but it essentially relegates them to second place because of Microsoft's dominance in business computing.

hiresphere 15y ago

No way guy! I use OpenOffice religiously and it works for me! The problem is marketing.....I can't tell you how many people I have to explain OF to. Everyone only seems to know MS because they marketed better, that's all.

padobson 15y ago

The foolishness of Microsoft significantly messing around with hardware started with the XBox - their most successful hardware line to date. I wrote a post about it a month ago: http://pdobson.com/post/16681986243/microsoft-should-own-the-living-room-how-google-can http://pdobson.com/post/16681986243/microsoft-should-own-the... Their primary mistake in all of their hardware decisions has been making hardware at all. They will always be a software company that made billions putting their software on other people's hardware. They should have been trying to put XBox Live on the PS2, they should have been trying to put Office on the iPhone, they should have been trying to get Visual Studio working in Linux. There should be no XBox, there should be no Windows Phone, and LAMP developers should be using Visual Studio instead of vim. Instead they decided if a piece of hardware wasn't running Windows, they had to build their own hardware and compete in a crowded marketplace instead of using their dominance to own said markets.

dlikhten 15y ago

I must disagree with everyone. MS's downfall was not the Wizard of OZ style problem. The problem is investments. You see any good investor will tell you the same thing: DIVERSIFY YOUR PORTFOLIO. Sure if I invested into google day 1, I'd be rich. If I bought Apple stock when it was $80 a pop, I'd be rich. Etc. HOWEVER knowing that a-priori is impossible, so you diversify. If you think Microsoft, what do you think? > Microsoft Windows > Microsoft Office > Internet Explorer > .Net Let's tackle them: Internet Explorer -- Use windows. It only works on windows. If you leave windows your browser is no longer available. Originally intended to make even the web work on windows only. Basically Macs were crippled to all hell. Counters -> Firefox, Safari, Chrome are all cross platform, most people who use that suffer nothing switching. .Net -- Its Objective-C for windows. There are more uses for it, yes, like writing servers as an alternative to java, except they work on windows. End of the day it serves the same purpose. Windows -- The flagship product. This is what MS wants you to use, and on your server, because this makes MS money. The problem is that MS makes zero dollars from a computer that can run Windows. It makes money on windows. Piracy is a real problem. If I was to install a pirated windows on a computer, MS is quite furious for good reasons. Compare that to Apple who will give you a copy of OSX if you ask them really nicely, and does NOTHING to prevent piracy. The only thing they care is that it runs on Apple hardware. More later. Office -- The other flagship product. They convince businesses that sharing information is only possible with this. Period. As Google Docs, LibreOffice, Confluence, Basecamp, etc start to become more and more popular, the office stronghold is being chipped away brick by brick, and MS can't lay bricks fast enough to counter. Let's compare that to Apple's model: iTunes -- Initially shipped with DRM to prevent using anything other than iPods to play music. By the time they removed DRM it didn't matter, iPods were here to stay. App Store -- You can only run the apps on iPhone/iPod/iPad/OSX OSX -- If it's pirated, who cares, it only runs on Apple hardware. Garage Band -- Eh, its cheap. Whatever, use it if you like. Its OSX only so we'll give it practically for free. Safari -- Runs on windows and mac. They don't care about linux. Just to get people used to the "mac way"

NumberFiveAlive 15y ago
You're completely missing the enterprise side of the equation, which is still a booming part of MSFTs business right now. And they are still a goliath in Enterprise (Windows Server, Exchange, SQL Server, etc). You also speak of their 'downfall' in the past tense, as if it's already happened. They still push 90% of desktop market share, rule enterprise, rule the Office suite business, and have some nifty things going on in the entertainment side (not profitable, but nifty nonetheless).

tbranyen 15y ago

The arguments are weak, but the message is strong. I use Microsoft to play Skyrim, the rest of my work is done with open source. Not everyone can/will take this route, but they've certainly lost me as a customer for anything other than video games.

grantheaslip 15y ago

People have already given some good reasons why this article is nonsense (or at least unnecessarily reductionist), but what pissed me off about it the most is the underlying assumption you see in so many anti-Microsoft articles: that the only reason anyone uses Microsoft products is because they don’t know any better. This is such a juvenile, condescending, and back-patting way to look at Microsoft, and I’m fucking sick of it. I prefer Windows, I prefer Office, and I prefer C#, Visual Studio, and ASP.NET MVC. I used a Mac as my primary computer from 2007-2010, and I used Linux from 2010-2011, and I ended up back on Windows by choice. I used an iPhone, I used Android, and I ended up Windows Phone by choice. I’ve programmed in Ruby (Rails and Sinatra), Python, JavaScript, Node.js, and am currently writing an app in ASP.NET MVC by choice. I’ve used OpenOffice, I’ve used Google Docs, I’ve used Evernote, and currently use OneNote, Word, and Excel (backed by SkyDrive) by choice. Implying people using Microsoft stuff are just sheeple who haven’t seen the light yet is as fucking stupid as claiming that people only use Apple products because of marketing and design. I have no problem with people using Apple products, Linux, or anything, I just hate the anti-Microsoft circle jerk that certain subsets of those communities sustain themselves on.