Microsoft, infamously, has been willing to lose billions year after year on new products in the hope of future success. They spend as much as anyone on basic re

Microsoft, infamously, has been willing to lose billions year after year on new products in the hope of future success. They spend as much as anyone on basic research and incubations with no certainty of productization. For better or worse they've also taken on major redesigns of existing products focused on future scenarios at the risk of damaging short-term success (e.g., Windows 8, office 2007). None of those things fit his narrative about narrow short-term profit maximization. (The example of the above he does mention - Xbox - he dismisses because it's not that profitable! So when something is profitable it's a sign of narrow short-term profit focus, but if it's not it's irrelevant because profit is what matters. Huh?) Microsoft does seem to have trouble turning its R&D activity into breakthrough products, but his attempt at a narrative explaining why just doesn't fit the facts and doesn't make sense.