Departing Microsoft software architect warns of post-PC world
After announcing last week that he would be stepping down as Microsoft's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie has posted an essay where he warns that the end is near for the Redmond company's way of doing business. Despite all of the businesses that Microsoft has gotten into over the past two decades, only two account for the bulk of the company's enormous profits: Windows and Office.
According to Ozzie, these platforms are getting too complex to build and use. This is likely to spur both to move toward simpler, more appliance-like systems, such as mobile phones and tablets. While Ozzie praises the progress that Microsoft has made with online services like Live, Office 365, SharePoint and others, he warns that many opportunities have been squandered, especially in mobile.
Ozzie highlights the success of other companies in agile innovation in a rapidly changing marketplace. While Apple, Facebook, and Google are never mentioned by name, those are clearly the examples that Ozzie thinks Microsoft should be following.
[via Electronista]
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After announcing last week that he would be stepping down as Microsoft's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie has posted an essay where he...
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On a lark, I ran Ozzie's farewell letter through Microsoft Word's readability test. It crashed Word. That is not a joke; Microsoft Word 2003 actually froze on my machine and I had to End Process.
On the second try - and after ignoring Word's complaints that "intrapreneurial" and "transmedia" are not real words - it finally spat out a Flesch Reading Ease score of 41.6 (Microsoft's own documentation says you should aim for a score of 60-70) and a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 11.9 (where 7.0 to 8.0 is ideal).
Steve Ballmer's response:
"Wha....huh?"
Isn't that actually Karl Rove?
October 26 2010 at 12:14 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyAgree...Microsoft has been following and Windows 7 or 8 is their follow up with no clear innovation.
R & D for a big scrappy multi-touch table that's way expensive...Bill was the first to bail out even before anyone sees the sinking ship.
"those are clearly the examples that Ozzie thinks Microsoft should be following."
There's the problem, they're always "following."
Microsoft is out. Apple is in. Apple should buy the company and change the world.
October 26 2010 at 11:08 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyApple should snatch this guy up and hire him. He could teach Apple what not to do!
October 26 2010 at 10:54 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI'm glad someone sees it... I'm surprised Microsoft's business model has lasted this long. I mean they haven't introduced very much innovation in their core products at all really since XP (I find no advantage to using 7 over XP in general), and most of their income is a result of mistakes made by IBM and its competitors over 25 years ago.
October 26 2010 at 10:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyYeah, one of few high-rank execs at Microsoft that seems to recognize how Microsoft is missing the boat so often and how this will seriously bite them at some point in the future, and he is leaving. It seems everyone at Microsoft who has a clue or a vision is abandoning the ship.
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