»Microsoft has become a bit of a joke. Yes, its Windows operating system still runs on more than 90 percent of PCs, and the Office application suite rules the desktop. But those are old markets. In new areas, Microsoft has stumbled. Apple created the iPod, and the iTunes store, and the iPhone. Google dominates Internet search, operates arguably the best e-mail system (Gmail) and represents a growing threat in mobile devices with Android. Amazon has grown to dominate online retail, then launched a thriving cloud-computing business (it rents out computer power and data storage), and capped it off with the Kindle e-reader. Microsoft’s answers to these market leaders include the Zune music player, a dud; the Bing search engine, which is cool but won’t kill Google; Windows Mobile, a smart-phone software platform that has been surpassed by others; and Azure, Microsoft’s cloud-computing service, which arrives next year—four years behind Amazon.
How did this happen? How did Microsoft let tens of billions in revenue (and hundreds of billions in market capitalization) slip through its fingers? Hassles with antitrust regulators distracted Microsoft’s management and made the company more timid. But the bigger reason seems to be that in January 2000, Gates stepped down as CEO. It’s been downhill ever since.
—Lyons, on the fall of MSFT
(via newsweek)
To top it all off, Microsoft’s efforts to stay hip and relevant are reminiscent of the time my mom did the Macarena. See Figure 1:
(video)
Or in Figure 2, where they use a Mac to show off Microsoft’s “Songsmith” software. Songsmith is basically if you took garageband, cut off it’s testes and forced it to watch Barney for a week straight…
(video)
If you still aren’t sure why Microsoft isn’t exactly flourishing by now, you’re probably one of the marketing wizards behind this steaming pile of internal sales video…
(video)
OK I’ll stop. There’s another good one here if you’re interested.
In Conclusion, Microsoft:
