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This is a stunning development and most of MSFT is probably in shock right now. It's hard to overstate the scope and influence Sinofsky had at MSFT. This was a
by sriramk 14y ago
This is a stunning development and most of MSFT is probably in shock right now.
It's hard to overstate the scope and influence Sinofsky had at MSFT. This was a man widely expected to be the next CEO and he had impact way outside his organization (the 'Sinofsky-ization of teams').
Also, his stock was rising inside MSFT (when you stay inside the company long enough, you can sense which executives are in trouble and which ones are going up).
This is a unexpected move which is going to change Microsoft at a deep level.
- Wistar 14y ago"This is a unexpected move which is going to change Microsoft at a deep level." Agreed, although not to the level of Sinofsky, Larsen-Green is pretty darn awesome in her own right. At least that is my opinion.
- psychotik 14y agoHe was always polarizing and that his stock was rising is equally contentious, IMO. Windows 8 was late, Surface seems to be underwhelming and his inability to be a real team player are all likely factors here, as is his rumored disagreement with Ballmer (though I had Ballmer on the losing end of that one). You're right that this will change Microsoft at a deep level, but I think odds are good that it's a change for the better. Personally, Sinofsky was one of the biggest reasons I left Microsoft. He was willing to ditch potentially game-changing products/features spanning multiple industries because it didn't align with his idea of software engineering, which was more suited for boxed software like Office than for rapidly deploying services. He didn't/doesn't get services - he's a boxed software guy at his core. All the Office Live stuff happened after he left Office - arguably he should have seen it coming and been ahead of the game while he was running Office.
- barista 14y agoI don't get this point. Windows 8 is probably the most connected windows ever. The store, Skydrive ads, all are driven by services behind the OS. I don't think that Sinofsky opposed or didn't get services.
- sriramk 14y agoAlso, he and SteveB were supposed to be on good terms.
- psychotik 14y agoAnd Windows 7 had none of the services that it should. It's 2012, don't you think it's a bit late already?
- kineticflow 14y agoProbably because Microsoft was deathly afraid of being accused of "bundling".
- ww520 14y agoWasn't Windows Vista beyond bad at the time? Windows 7's mission was to retrofit that. Adding more features (cloud, services, whatever) would have delayed the fix to the damages caused by Vista. He's probably more focused in delivering a solution fast then. On that he had succeeded. The lack of services in Win7 was more of a fault of the guy(s) causing the Vista fiasco in the first place.
- randomfool 14y agoIn 2009, Microsoft had 5 Presidents- Sinofsky, Stephen Elop, Robbie Bach, Qi Lu and Bob Muglia. All but Qi Lu are now gone. Not a good sign of Ballmer's ability to choose leaders.
- abhimishra 14y agoAnd of course, we can expect that Ballmer will still be around...
- w1ntermute 14y agoHere's Ballmer's letter about Sinofsky's departure: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638174/steve-ballmers-letter-to-team-on-sinofsky-departure http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638174/steve-ballmers-le... Edit: Sources inside Microsoft say a clash of personalities led to Sinofsky's departure: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638340/microsoft-steven-sinofsky-departure-personality/in/3402655 http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638340/microsoft-steven-... Steven Sinofsky's letter to Microsoft employees explaining his departure: http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638770/steven-sinofskys-letter-employees/in/3402655 http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/12/3638770/steven-sinofskys-...
- _delirium 14y agoI don't have strong opinions on any of this, but that letter really reads weirdly. It has an almost-no-transition set of segues between "congrats for all the work you've done recently", "Sinofsky is leaving", and "so here is who's in charge now", with a conspicuous lack of explanation or connection between those points.
- bitwize 14y agoWelcome to corporate damage control 101. A former co-worker of mine used to occasionally bring up the first company email he received: "Effective immediately, so-and-so (not my coworker, someone from a different department) is no longer employed at <company name>. There will be no further comment on this matter."
- 14y ago
- barista 14y agoCourier : J Allard :: Surface : Sinofsky Both of them equally sad departures. The latter more so.
- sriramk 14y agoCourier didn't cause J's departure and neither did Surface SteveSi's. Besides, Surface has been out for a week.
- kineticflow 14y ago... and before anyone quotes that the Surface sold "modestly", please cite the source because the original article making rounds this morning was corrected since the quote was taken out of context.
- mtgx 14y agoAnd Ballmer has already decided to say the "sales were modest". Maybe he already knew why Sinofsky will soon leave.
- anonymfus 14y agoHe did not. He said that Microsoft's approach to sale was modest. Then misquoting and English-to-French-to-English translation did their jobs. Official statement: >When asked about Surface, Steve’s use of the term “modest” was in relation to the company’s approach in ramping up supply and distribution of Surface with Windows RT, which has only been available via our online store and Microsoft retail and holiday stores in the U.S. and Canada. While our approach has been modest, Steve notes the reception to the device has been “fantastic” which is why he also stated that “soon, it will be available in more countries and in more stores.”
- fish2000 14y agoAllard WAS Courier. Saying it didn't cause his departure is like saying that the dealer hitting 21 doesn't cause you to go over: arguably true but besides the point. Allard bet big and lost -- a sad loss in my opinion but a losing bet regardless.
- benihana 14y agoTypical Microsoft of late. Apple makes a tablet, then Microsoft makes a tablet. Apple fires some executives, then Microsoft fires some executives.
- dudus 14y agoFollowing your line of thought SteveB should die next year.
- panacea 14y agoNote to you: you're discussing real people.
- cookingrobot 14y agoI know you're being silly.. but reality is messier than that. Apple released a tablet in 1993. Microsoft released serious tablets in 2002. Apple again in 2010, and now MS with their own branded device. Reality is less about leading a trend than hopscotching the competitor.
- WayneDB 14y agoSlight correction and additional facts: The Newton was not a tablet. Nobody referred to it as a tablet at that time and nobody categorizes it as one now. The Psion Series 3 PDA arrived on the market before the Newton in 1991, and had a sizable user base by 1992.
- fish2000 14y agoRight, it was a Personal Digital Assistant -- the emphasis was on handwriting recognition; much of the Newton's pop-culture legacy is how ceaseless the lampooning of this features' flaws were at the time (regarding which, I had a MessagePad 130 and it was all more or less true). But so while it wasn't called a tablet and differed a bit from the near-Platonic contemporary tablet form, it's pretty close to a tablet in terms of UX, use-case, obvious apps...
- danek 14y agoI'm curious about what 'Sinofsky-ization of teams' means. could you elaborate?