
Eight Years of Wrongness - raganwald
http://msftextrememakeover.blogspot.com/2008/06/eight-years-of-wrongness.html
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krschultz
I generally hate microsoft-bashing (though a Linux user, I find it a waste of
time), but this is actually insightful rather than just a "MICROSOFT SUXXORS"
piece

~~~
raganwald
I would describe this piece as criticizing Microsoft's management rather than
criticizing Microsoft. The difference may seem subtle to people who dislike
Microsoft, but while criticizing Microsoft usually means criticizing what they
are trying to do (bully people, monetize other people's R&D, monopolize
markets), this author is criticizing their ineffectiveness in doing it.

And he does a really good job of drilling down into detail.

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allenbrunson
oh man, i _love_ this. microsoft is weaker than it's ever been, and it's only
going to get worse. _better_ , i mean!

i was working at be when the company went out of business, largely due to
microsoft's monopolistic practices. what was left of be even won a small
settlement from microsoft on just those grounds.

i wonder if this development means it's almost time for a new round of amigas,
ataris, and yes, be's. that was an exciting time to be in the high-tech field,
i'd love for those days to return.

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designtofly
This rant has nothing to do with the fundamentals of the company. It is a
complaint about the under-performing stock. While I am a believer in the free
market, I hardly think that the stock price is the be-all indicator. Let's
face it, the stock price is a measure of the speculation of a company. As
fashionable as it is to bash Microsoft, it's hard for MSFT to build
speculative value. There's nothing that MSFT, with Ballmer or anyone else, can
do to bring the wow-factor in this climate.

With MSFT bashing the "in" thing, the personal vendettas of the likes of
Neelie Kroes (<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/technology/11soft.html>),
MSFT faces a futile battle if they want to raise the stock price. I applaud
MSFT and Ballmer for not giving into Wall St. and foolishly trying to boost
the stock price at all costs. I think MSFT is extremely well positioned to be
an industry leader.

The other problem is that MSFT has become so diversified, that speculation is
difficult since the success of any particular business unit gets diluted on
the bottom line. In addition, no one seems to care or pick up on a lot of
really great Microsoft successes. For instance, Microsoft’s Health Vault
(<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/business/10kaiser.html>). You can bet that
if Apple came out with a program like that, the stock price would shoot up 20%
overnight.

In summary, I think MSFT is still a great company that is well positioned and
I am happy to have Ballmer at the top. He is a great businessman that
understands how the company operates. He certainly doesn't have the charisma
and cult-following of Steve Jobs, but I don't think MSFT needs that to do
well.

~~~
raganwald
"I applaud MSFT and Ballmer for not giving into Wall St. and foolishly trying
to boost the stock price at all costs. I think MSFT is extremely well
positioned to be an industry leader."

Hello Mr. Investor? We want your money. What's that? No, you don't get any
returns, we're going to become an _Industry Leader_.

Seriously, if they don't want to actually make money for their investors, they
ought to go private. They need to buy _all_ of the stock back from the public
markets and then they can do whatever they want.

If they want to sink billions into XBox just so they can thump their chest
about having a successful platform, as a private company they can do that.

If they want to release products like Zune just so they can thump their chest
about being the hub of the digital media lifestyle, as a private company they
can do that.

