4 ms·

While I agree that the Windows team needs a singular vision about what they want their product to be, the advice given by the author is starkly reminiscent of t

While I agree that the Windows team needs a singular vision about what they want their product to be, the advice given by the author is starkly reminiscent of the strategy adopted by Blackberry when they realised consumers weren't interested in using their products any more. For Microsoft to abandon the consumer market and solely focus on a sub-section of 'doers' would be to set in motion an unstoppable slide into obscurity, as it did with Blackberry. Increasingly people only have one device and they're not going to choose a product which is only good for 50% of what they want. This mythical group of people who only care about using products for business just doesn't exist. What they need to do is to make the product better so that people in general like using it again. It's that simple.

jinushaun 13y ago
Even Jobs himself used the car/truck analogy to compare OS X to iOS. I think he's right. These are separate products. One is for work, the other one is more general purpose. There will always be more cars than trucks, but there will always be a need for trucks. You're not going to be hauling manure or towing a boat in a car. The question for MS is will they be OK with selling trucks in a car world? Will they be satisfied with how much money they would make selling only trucks to farmers and construction companies? I say MS needs to make cars and trucks. They need to make the best trucks out there without compromises. The best cars without compromises. Not this weird car/truck hybrid.
- alexcason 13y ago
  I agree. As with most bad products and failing companies, the problem here is focus. Microsoft need to have a vision about what products they want to create and go about making them with a singular focus on producing something which customers will love. It's not about abandoning consumer software or business software, it's about making something great, regardless of it's purpose.
r00fus 13y ago
> What they need to do is to make the product better so that people in general like using it again. It's that simple. Problem is that it's not so simple. They need to decide from which direction to make it "better", then drive that as a distinguishing factor. This can't be done if there isn't leadership from the top driving that priority incessantly (and demanding good reasons for exceptions). E.g.: make an SSH built-in client so I don't have to install f*ing putty on every Win install to get decent work done. The cloud is here, and SSH is a core part of it's workings. Embrace and extend if you have to, but make it a native experience.

jinushaun 13y ago

Even Jobs himself used the car/truck analogy to compare OS X to iOS. I think he's right. These are separate products. One is for work, the other one is more general purpose. There will always be more cars than trucks, but there will always be a need for trucks. You're not going to be hauling manure or towing a boat in a car. The question for MS is will they be OK with selling trucks in a car world? Will they be satisfied with how much money they would make selling only trucks to farmers and construction companies? I say MS needs to make cars and trucks. They need to make the best trucks out there without compromises. The best cars without compromises. Not this weird car/truck hybrid.

alexcason 13y ago
I agree. As with most bad products and failing companies, the problem here is focus. Microsoft need to have a vision about what products they want to create and go about making them with a singular focus on producing something which customers will love. It's not about abandoning consumer software or business software, it's about making something great, regardless of it's purpose.

r00fus 13y ago

> What they need to do is to make the product better so that people in general like using it again. It's that simple. Problem is that it's not so simple. They need to decide from which direction to make it "better", then drive that as a distinguishing factor. This can't be done if there isn't leadership from the top driving that priority incessantly (and demanding good reasons for exceptions). E.g.: make an SSH built-in client so I don't have to install f*ing putty on every Win install to get decent work done. The cloud is here, and SSH is a core part of it's workings. Embrace and extend if you have to, but make it a native experience.