4 ms·

This guy is 4 times smarter than you. I'm sure he'd be awesome if it was ever actually necessary to move Mt. Fuji. The fact remains, he works for Microsoft in

This guy is 4 times smarter than you. I'm sure he'd be awesome if it was ever actually necessary to move Mt. Fuji. The fact remains, he works for Microsoft in this day and age. How smart can he be? (Maybe he just really likes their corporate culture?)

andreyf 18y ago
This guy is 4 times smarter than you. Depending on the measure, probably many, many more times than 4. But it has nothing to do with his title, which is what I was poking fun at ;) The implication he wasn't smart because of his title was out of line, good call. I apologize. Since I'm sure he doesn't really care much about his title, I guess I'm making fun of the people at Microsoft who decided that motivating people with four-word titles is a good idea.
- hello_moto 18y ago
  It's hard not to come with a very-long-title in an organization as big as Microsoft (last time I heard they have over 60k employees). I don't see the title as a way to motivate him. It's just to show where his position in the ladder. If you compare it with Google where things are messy for managers because they have way too many underlinks... then those long titles/ladders/levels start to make a bit of sense. Tagging doesn't seem to apply to corporate hierarchy (^_^).
palish 18y ago
hello_moto was way out of line. That said, it's probably a mistake to underestimate how smart Microsoft is. They should be respected as a formidable adversary. If they were all nitwits, they wouldn't have been able to build a platform as successful as XBox 360, for example.
- axod 18y ago
  It's undeniable, the XBox 360 has been extremely successful at losing money.
  - palish 18y ago
    So has Facebook. Does that make them not formidable? Almost every console loses money at launch. Consoles start as loss leaders. The XBox 360 recently turned a profit: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/24/the-xbox-turns-a-profit/ http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/24/the-xbox-turns-a-profit/ ... and the value of the platform is likely to continue going up.
    - axod 18y ago
      "Almost every"? I don't think many Nintendo consoles subscribe to that. If the xbox360 is profitable now, it would still need to repay 6 years of massive losses.
      - zack 18y ago
        The xbox360 is an amazing machine. You guys need to be more positive!
        jbjohns 18y ago
        Who cares about the 360? This time around Sony and MS came out with a more powerful 'same thing' while Wii innovated and made something really interesting. Why, my wife is even considering letting me get one of those. :)
        electromagnetic 18y ago
        I have a 360 and a Wii, the Wii controller is fucking amazing until it becomes a complete unresponsive pain in the ass with 90% of the games on the market. My most played games are WiiSports and Mario Galaxy, and in the past 9 months I've bought 1 game for it and it's a present! I'm considering getting Animal Crossing and that's probably it until the pre-summer game rush when I might buy 1 more game. I bought my Xbox 360 about a month ago, I've got 5 games for it (10 for my Wii that I've had since release). I've got 6 games I'm waiting for the christmas price to get, which means that in under 3 months it'll have got more games than my Wii does. I'm sorry, but the Wii really needs a kick in the ass because just like the PowerGlove by Nintendo, the controller has amazing potential but it really fucking sucks at the moment.
mynameishere 18y ago
(Maybe he just really likes their corporate culture?) This seems like a snide remark, though I can't tell for sure. While you doubtless know everything when it comes to Microsoft (viz, they're evil in every possible way) most of what I've heard is positive related to "corporate culture". It's weird how people pick a side and stick with it whatever the context. So, when google gives its employees kindergarten toys to play with, that's great. When Microsoft gives every employee his own office, that's nothing.
- justinweiss 18y ago
  For what it's worth, "Every employee has his own office" doesn't always apply anymore, since hiring has outpaced capacity over the past few years.
brentb 18y ago
Whether you'd like to believe it or not, there are a bunch of smart guys who still work for Microsoft. Some really smart computer scientists actually prefer a steady, high salary in a company that's treated them well for a decade over the chance to make it big or go bust trying. I've never worked for Microsoft and I doubt I ever will, but I have interacted with some really smart folks who do. All I'm really getting at is the fact that you dislike the business tactics, operating systems, office applications, or corporate culture of Microsoft doesn't mean you should assume they don't have anyone smart working for them.
- StrawberryFrog 18y ago
  Some techies consider the possibility shipping thier software to millions of people "the chance to make it big". Microsoft offers that.
snprbob86 18y ago
Sinofski is a revered person at Microsoft. He has been responsible for the last couple of versions of Office, includingthe radical 2007 decision, and was very much selected by merit to lead the development of Windows 7. For anyone who tried the Vista beta, you know that traditionally Windows was a mess right up until (and often until after) it shipped. Lack of engineering discipline and talented engineers forced to go into management for raises was really hurting Windows. Sinofski shook up the rules and let the engineers quit management and go back to engineering at the same pay. He also helped shape policies that have substantially improved quality. For example, the main-line Windows 7 branch only contains ship-ready features. Windows 7 won't be late because Ballmer could say "hey, let's ship it tomorrow" and it would be ready. He MCs the excellent Engineering 7 blog http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/ http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/ as well as a popular internal personal blog. His writing style is very long winded, but information rich. After reading his posts, seeing him at the company meeting, and giving a few tech talks, I am quite confident in his ability to turn Windows around. I wish I could say the same for many other teams.
- gruseom 18y ago
  [T]alented engineers forced to go into management for raises was really hurting Windows. Sinofski shook up the rules and let the engineers quit management and go back to engineering at the same pay. While this sounds like a smart move by Sinofsky, it's even more revealing of Microsoft's cultural deterioration.

andreyf 18y ago

This guy is 4 times smarter than you. Depending on the measure, probably many, many more times than 4. But it has nothing to do with his title, which is what I was poking fun at ;) The implication he wasn't smart because of his title was out of line, good call. I apologize. Since I'm sure he doesn't really care much about his title, I guess I'm making fun of the people at Microsoft who decided that motivating people with four-word titles is a good idea.

hello_moto 18y ago
It's hard not to come with a very-long-title in an organization as big as Microsoft (last time I heard they have over 60k employees). I don't see the title as a way to motivate him. It's just to show where his position in the ladder. If you compare it with Google where things are messy for managers because they have way too many underlinks... then those long titles/ladders/levels start to make a bit of sense. Tagging doesn't seem to apply to corporate hierarchy (^_^).

palish 18y ago

hello_moto was way out of line. That said, it's probably a mistake to underestimate how smart Microsoft is. They should be respected as a formidable adversary. If they were all nitwits, they wouldn't have been able to build a platform as successful as XBox 360, for example.

axod 18y ago
It's undeniable, the XBox 360 has been extremely successful at losing money.
- palish 18y ago
  So has Facebook. Does that make them not formidable? Almost every console loses money at launch. Consoles start as loss leaders. The XBox 360 recently turned a profit: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/24/the-xbox-turns-a-profit/ http://www.joystiq.com/2008/01/24/the-xbox-turns-a-profit/ ... and the value of the platform is likely to continue going up.
  - axod 18y ago
    "Almost every"? I don't think many Nintendo consoles subscribe to that. If the xbox360 is profitable now, it would still need to repay 6 years of massive losses.
    - zack 18y ago
      The xbox360 is an amazing machine. You guys need to be more positive!
      - jbjohns 18y ago
        Who cares about the 360? This time around Sony and MS came out with a more powerful 'same thing' while Wii innovated and made something really interesting. Why, my wife is even considering letting me get one of those. :)
        electromagnetic 18y ago
        I have a 360 and a Wii, the Wii controller is fucking amazing until it becomes a complete unresponsive pain in the ass with 90% of the games on the market. My most played games are WiiSports and Mario Galaxy, and in the past 9 months I've bought 1 game for it and it's a present! I'm considering getting Animal Crossing and that's probably it until the pre-summer game rush when I might buy 1 more game. I bought my Xbox 360 about a month ago, I've got 5 games for it (10 for my Wii that I've had since release). I've got 6 games I'm waiting for the christmas price to get, which means that in under 3 months it'll have got more games than my Wii does. I'm sorry, but the Wii really needs a kick in the ass because just like the PowerGlove by Nintendo, the controller has amazing potential but it really fucking sucks at the moment.

mynameishere 18y ago

(Maybe he just really likes their corporate culture?) This seems like a snide remark, though I can't tell for sure. While you doubtless know everything when it comes to Microsoft (viz, they're evil in every possible way) most of what I've heard is positive related to "corporate culture". It's weird how people pick a side and stick with it whatever the context. So, when google gives its employees kindergarten toys to play with, that's great. When Microsoft gives every employee his own office, that's nothing.

justinweiss 18y ago
For what it's worth, "Every employee has his own office" doesn't always apply anymore, since hiring has outpaced capacity over the past few years.

brentb 18y ago

Whether you'd like to believe it or not, there are a bunch of smart guys who still work for Microsoft. Some really smart computer scientists actually prefer a steady, high salary in a company that's treated them well for a decade over the chance to make it big or go bust trying. I've never worked for Microsoft and I doubt I ever will, but I have interacted with some really smart folks who do. All I'm really getting at is the fact that you dislike the business tactics, operating systems, office applications, or corporate culture of Microsoft doesn't mean you should assume they don't have anyone smart working for them.

StrawberryFrog 18y ago
Some techies consider the possibility shipping thier software to millions of people "the chance to make it big". Microsoft offers that.

snprbob86 18y ago

Sinofski is a revered person at Microsoft. He has been responsible for the last couple of versions of Office, includingthe radical 2007 decision, and was very much selected by merit to lead the development of Windows 7. For anyone who tried the Vista beta, you know that traditionally Windows was a mess right up until (and often until after) it shipped. Lack of engineering discipline and talented engineers forced to go into management for raises was really hurting Windows. Sinofski shook up the rules and let the engineers quit management and go back to engineering at the same pay. He also helped shape policies that have substantially improved quality. For example, the main-line Windows 7 branch only contains ship-ready features. Windows 7 won't be late because Ballmer could say "hey, let's ship it tomorrow" and it would be ready. He MCs the excellent Engineering 7 blog http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/ http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/ as well as a popular internal personal blog. His writing style is very long winded, but information rich. After reading his posts, seeing him at the company meeting, and giving a few tech talks, I am quite confident in his ability to turn Windows around. I wish I could say the same for many other teams.

gruseom 18y ago
[T]alented engineers forced to go into management for raises was really hurting Windows. Sinofski shook up the rules and let the engineers quit management and go back to engineering at the same pay. While this sounds like a smart move by Sinofsky, it's even more revealing of Microsoft's cultural deterioration.