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It's worth pointing out that you should take Gassée's views with a grain of salt. Gassée is a former Apple exec who led the Mac team, thus I'd imagine that he
by j_baker 14y ago
It's worth pointing out that you should take Gassée's views with a grain of salt. Gassée is a former Apple exec who led the Mac team, thus I'd imagine that he still has a significant amount invested in Apple (although there is a question of whether that investment is psychological or financial).
Ultimately, I think Gassée is taking the easy way out on this. It's far too easy to jump on the "Windows 8 sucks" bandwagon with the likes of people like Dvorak (who has never wrongly predicted the demise of a tech product). Far more difficult is to examine the reasons why Windows 8 is unpopular. I think a lot of the reason why Windows 8 is unpopular is simply because it's different. Was Sinofsky unfairly scapegoated for problems at Microsoft? I suspect so. Will this give Apple a chance to "finish what Sinofsky started"? I think Apple has its own set of problems to deal with that have nothing to do with what Sinofsky did at Microsoft. Thus, I think linking Sinofsky's departure to Apple is a disingenuous marketing plug.
- Anechoic 14y agoGassée is a former Apple exec who led the Mac team Wasn't he fired from Apple? edit: A quick wiki lookup indicates that he was "forced out" at Apple. The article also reminded me of the issues he had when Apple made some changes to Macs in the late 90's that made it difficult to dual-boot BeOS which caused difficulties for Gassée (nevermind the whole issue of Amelio choosing to acuire NeXT over Be). I think there is just as much reason for Gassée to hold a grudge against Apple as to be "invested" in Apple. (of course his argument may be wrong/right on other grounds, but I don't think it's certain that any allegiance to Apple really plays into the argument at this point)
- ChuckMcM 14y agoI'm sure he left for "personal reasons" :-) But more seriously yes he left in 1990 per Wikipedia. I disliked his marketing claims of 'firsts' for Apple things that were shipping on the Amiga but certainly respected what he tried to achieve with BeOS.
- j_baker 14y agoWell, either way you look at it, it's hard to imagine that Gassée is unbiased and objective. That doesn't mean he's wrong, but it does mean that you need to read it differently. Rather than accept the text as objective reality, you should view it as a perspective on reality that a former Apple executive who was forced to resign is willing to say publicly about Apple's relationship to the firing of Steven Sinofsky at Microsoft (while conveniently not mentioning Apple's firing of Scott Forstall). That is an incredibly shaky foundation to build an opinion on, is it not?
- meanJim 14y agoHe gives a quick little mention "We’ll give a quick but deep hat tip to its ferocious and now deposed champion, Scott Forstall, and leave the discussion of his own exit for a future Monday Note."
- pooriaazimi 14y ago@meanJim: You've been hall-banned for almost a year... Just thought you need to know! > meanJim 7 minutes ago | link [dead] [-] [collapse whole thread] > He gives a quick little mention "We’ll give a quick but deep hat tip to its ferocious and now deposed champion, Scott Forstall, and leave the discussion of his own exit for a future Monday Note."
- contextfree 14y agoI have yet to encounter an unbiased and objective commentator. I think he's wrong about this, but not because of his history with Apple. Actually I think your whole mindset here is totally backwards. You don't need a reason to not listen to someone on some topic, you just need to not have a reason to listen to them. I don't know why we should think Gassee has any particular insight into Microsoft today.
- Toshio 14y ago> "Far more difficult is to examine the reasons why Windows 8 is unpopular. I think a lot of the reason why Windows 8 is unpopular is simply because it's different." I think we have a pretty good idea by now why windows 8 is going to fail in the marketplace. Usability professionals have already chimed in.
- j_baker 14y agoOh. Well if "usability professionals" have offered opinions, it must be settled, right? They are the authorities on OS business models.
- gojomo 14y agoYou say, "take with a grain of salt". I'd say, "enjoy the seasoning provided by Gassee's decades of relevant industry experience".
- j_baker 14y agoI will give you one thing: euphemism is an artform. :-)
- IheartApplesDix 14y agoOr "enjoy the chocolate from my fudge factory!"
- streptomycin 14y agoHe was also the founder of Be, which was trampled by Microsoft's anti-competitive monopolistic practices.
- kabdib 14y agoReally? What evidence do you have regarding tramping of BeOS specifically? I thought that BeOS was interesting, but not compelling enough to make a switch to (much like the NeXT stuff).
- streptomycin 14y agoI'm not entirely sure what you're asking for (obviously I have no new evidence of ancient history), but I'm generally referring to this type of thing: http://www.birdhouse.org/beos/byte/30-bootloader/ http://www.birdhouse.org/beos/byte/30-bootloader/
- rbanffy 14y agoI don't think Microsoft ever addressed BeOS specifically, but pretty much everything they did to ensure no PC manufacturer has any financial incentive to install anything but DOS or Windows on their PCs was as effective against BeOS as it was against OS/2, DR-DOS, DesqView etc...
- shawn-butler 14y agoBe alleged in a lawsuit[0] that ms settled without admitting wrongdoing for US ~$23 million that Hitachi, Compaq and others vacated agreements in place to ship pcs preloaded in dualboot configurations with BeOS and Windows due to ms anger and resulting anticompetitive threats. Be was pretty much a shell company by the time the lawsuit was filed and resolved. [0] http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Microsoft+Pays+$23m+to+Settle+BeOS+Antitrust+Suit.-a0107384535 http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Microsoft+Pays+$23m+to+Settle+...
- ladzoppelin 14y agoThe other problem is saying "Windows 8 sucks" is wrong making the whole article one big marketing gimmick.
- rbanffy 14y agoIf you use 8 after using 7 along with Android tablets and iPads for a while, you'll perceive it as a huge improvement. If you come from a Mac or Linux background with iPads and Android tablets, you'll find it unbearable (a bit less than 7, but, still, a horrible experience). If you come from a straight XP-Vista-7 sequence with little non-deskop experience, Windows 8 will feel like a mixed bag.
- Aaronontheweb 14y agoWhat data do you have showing that Windows 8 is actually unpopular in terms of sales volume, given that it's only been in market for three weeks?
- rbanffy 14y agoIf it were a huge success, Microsoft would be exhaustively celebrating the fact, showing the sales numbers everywhere. The lack of numbers is a bad sign.
- jussij 14y agoWindows 8 seems to working for well for Nokia - http://www.smartcompany.com.au/information-technology/052980-a-senior-sony-executive-has-revealed-the-company-is-developing-a-new-android-based-flagship-smartphone-aimed-at-competing-against-the-apple-iphone-and-samsung-galaxy-s3-in-an-interview-with-financial-times-deut-3.html http://www.smartcompany.com.au/information-technology/052980...
- cremnob 14y agoPaul Thurrott has said Win8 sales are below Microsoft's internal targets. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57551433-75/windows-8-sales-well-below-projections-report-claims/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57551433-75/windows-8-sale...
- Aaronontheweb 14y agoCool, unverifiable rumor from a single anonymous source. Sounds credible to me.