Breathing new life into Microsoft

If you are to believe the media blitz, Microsoft is on the ropes. They have just started a massive reorganization. Ballmer has agreed to retire, and they've bought Nokia. They seem to be trying to convince Wall Street that it can still be profitable. Personally I'm not really sure why this is in question. Microsoft is a big company with many fingers in many pots. They have a huge developer talent pool, and have produced some amazing things from their Research and Development department.Sure they are taking hits at the moment, especially to their sacred cash cows, but it doesn't mean that they are done.

People seem to forget just how much stuff runs on windows, and just how often some of those things get upgraded. Retailers, Governments and Financial Institutions hate spending money on replacing things that work, but guess what Windows XP is being killed. That means that these big entities who don't want to spend money upgrading, are being forced to. I guarantee that money isn't going to Linux, and it's probably not going into Windows 8, and that means Microsoft will get another chance to get an end of life boost in another couple of years.

In the meantime they are trying to consolidate their platform. Bringing mobile and desktop together. It's the right move, and they should definitely continue on that. Ballmer said he wishes that he'd put more talent into Windows Phone earlier. Well it's never to late! Get to it! Use some of your XBox pull, Apple and Google seem to be making plays at the gaming market, use what you have and try and beat them to the punch!

Microsoft does slowly seem to be adopting some of the strategies of Google and Apple which is a good thing! Buying Nokia had to happen and ultimately is a good idea. Keep in mind Google did the exact same thing with Motorola, and no one called it a desperation play! Understanding the pain points of an OEM I think will help them ultimately create a better product for other OEMs. It may also be time to think about not charging OEMs for Windows Phone OS, at least for this cycle. It would be a way to increase adoption of that OS by cheaper OEMs and get broader adoption. It also may be time to broaden the horizons of your own apps Microsoft.

Getting Office onto other devices NOW is absolutely vital! People know office, they understand it. To some extent the Ribbon is already touch capable. Release and Android version, release an iOS version! How many management folks really do not need a full laptop? Sure you may be cannibalizing some of your own market by no longer selling your OS, but the reality is that market is already being cannibalized by smaller start ups, Apple and Google Docs! They are trying to eat your lunch, and succeeding! I for one already tell my son to use Google Docs! He doesn't need all the fancy stuff that lives in office, but he does need to have access to it anywhere! If it helps your bottom line and time to market, make two versions, a light and a full featured!

As much as I love Open Source software (and Microsoft is a huge contributor to Open Source despite what you may think), something to keep in mind is that Microsoft makes great tools for business. Office is a VERY powerful tool, and Microsoft's developer tools are absolutely amazing. It really does amaze me how little fan fair Visual Studio gets. Hands down it is the best IDE (Integrated Developer Environment) I have EVER worked with, and they do an excellent job at improving it year after year. C# is a great coding language, and .NET a great framework. I love the fact that thanks to Microsoft and Xamarin I can even use it in Linux, iOS and Android.

With all its irons in the fire, Microsoft has the ability to reorganize and be a strong competitor. I'm not sure they will ever reach the position they had in the 90s, but that doesn't mean they can't be in the thick of things, and it definitely doesn't mean they are down and out. Sure they've made some miscalculations, and missed some opportunities, but that's the great thing about the tech industry. Everything moves so fast today's underdog can be tomorrow's juggernaut, and if any industry has a history of recent turn arounds, its this one. Apple is one example and Yahoo seems to at least be on the path back.

Apple, iOS7, the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C and Innovation

Apple had been on a media blitz. With iOS7 being release yesterday, and the impending iPhone 5s and 5c onslaught, its been dominating tech news today. It seems they are trying to paint the picture that Jony Ive, Craig Federighi and Tim Cook are the happy awesome replacement for Steve Jobs as the head innovators of Apple. They may be able to pull it off, but I must say that some of the quotes that have been coming out of Apple have left me a little less than sure of this. I think Apple makes some beautiful products, but the reality is I'm not seeing the same swagger that I used to see at Apple during the years of Jobs. I am however seeing a lot of arrogance. Thats not to say that Jobs wasn't arrogant, but at least it seemed like he backed it up with some innovation.

I upgraded my iPad 2 and my sons iPhone to iOS7 last night, and played a little, and I can honestly say: meh. In all honesty, iOS needed a UI update. It's looked pretty much the same since 2007, it was getting dated. Now it looks like... well, I'll put it in the terms of my teenage son: "check it out, now it looks kinda like the [Samsung] Galaxy [S4]!" Ouch.

Now I don't want to take that quote out of context, he was thrilled, but as Apple, when your big UI update has you "catching up" to a phone released months ago, you may want to get to work on wowing us a little more next time. I think Apple can do it, clearly they've put a lot of thought into the underpinnings of the OS with things like moving to 64bit architecture etc, so there is definitely more to the update than just fancy UI elements. Speaking of other elements, how the hell did the lock screen vulnerability get past Apple? I can't imagine that would have ever flown with Jobs at the helm, especially with one of big features release on the iPhone 5s was a new security feature!!!!

Which brings me to the new iPhone. The lines are forming, but they usually do for new iDevices, because after all they are luxury "must have" item. Apple devices always have been sold at a premium. in 20 years I have never looked at an Apple device and thought of it as cheap. Even when the company was struggling in the 90s! That being said, Tim Cook taking shots at Android and the "cheap" market seemed strangely defensive to me. I mean by now you should know that Apple products aren't cheap. I'm still not sure what people expected out of the iPhone 5c. I certainly didn't expect a new $50 iPhone. I expected it to be cheaper than the iPhone 5s but where they priced it is about where I expected it. Realistically it's a way of cutting some of the costs of manufacturing the iPhone 5 to keep the margin on those devices where they were.

The iPhone 5C is simultaneously a way of taking trying to make a play on the used phone market. Right now the iPhone 5 starts at around $400 on eBay. While the iPhone 5c is a little pricier at $549 unlocked, you can guarantee that is new, works, and won't have any issues during activation! Alternatively you can buy it on contract with one of these new upgrade plans that the carriers are offering! That's where the brilliance of this move comes into play!

So I think rumors of Apple's demise might have been largely overplayed. They seem to be playing the media and marketing game better than anyone at the moment. Despite Tim Cook being defensive when it comes to talking about Android, Apple is still making the right moves for them. While I'd love to see some huge technological innovation from Apple, I just think in the mobile market were not going to see the level of innovation we've been used to over the last few years. I would have liked to see something more distinctly Apple in iOS7 rather than doing Android Apple Edition. I do believe that Apple is still Innovating, just maybe not in ways that we expected.

Expecting revolutionary new mobile phone innovations

Ok seriously guys its time to take it down a notch. Everyone getting on Apple's case about not innovating, and I miss Steve Jobs. All those jumping down Google, Motorola, Samsung, and HTC's throats about Android phones not being faster, sleeker and generally just totally revolutionary. Even those scoffing at Microsoft and Nokia for not making Windows Phone an amazing third option and pushing the boundaries. Really, its time to stop.

Am I the only one that remembers when the transition from Desktops to Laptops happened? There was a time when you had to choose between power and portability. People used to wait with anticipation for Intel and AMD to launch new products. Somewhere along the way the sacrifice between power and portability diminished and ushered in the era of laptops. Desktops and servers were quickly relegated to those who either wanted home gaming systems, Do it yourselfers, and data centers.

Do you remember the last time you saw someone actually having a desktop as the primary computer at their desk? In my experience if there was a desktop present, chances are the user either had a laptop quietly stowed away in case they needed to go mobile. Do you remember the last great innovation of laptops? It was when Apple introduce the MacBook Air. You know the introduction of the "Ultrabook". That was in 2010. Do you remember the last time a desktop introduction was revolutionary? Me neither, but it was probably around the time Gateway was shipping out PCs in Cow patterned boxes.

So why is it we expect our phones to get more and more awesome and change our lives in more dramatic ways EVERY 6 MONTHS TO A YEAR, and yet laptops and desktops get a pass? Look here is the reality, we have reached peak phone. I mean seriously what more can you really do with a 6 cubic inch device? These things have more power than the computers we used to send men to the moon. Allow me to repeat that. NASA sent men to the fucking moon with less computing power than you are currently taking pictures of your dinner and cat with. Don't even get me started on the media and games you carry with you AT ALL TIMES!

So am I saying to give Apple, Microsoft, Google and the various Android manufacturers a pass? Absolutely not. They will make iterative improvements that in a few years will make the phones in our pockets look quaint. You've lived through an amazing time. You got to witness the birth and rapid evolution of a brand new era in human/machine interaction, but now it's time to lower our expectations a little. When one of these companies sends out an announcement for their new flagship device temper your enthusiasm a little. Don't expect anything earth changing, because as far as the mobile phone goes, it's probably not happening again.

Smartwatches - A solution looking for a problem

I get it. Tech companies need to make money. They need to produce new shiny toys for all of the good little geek girls and boys. But I do not understand the sudden massive push for smartwatches.

I'll admit it, I was one of the early backers for the Pebble! I have one of them sitting on my desk. Generally it gets charged, then loses its charge without me even putting the thing on! Its not that its a bad little piece of technology,  its just that is that it is a solution looking for a problem to solve.

Lets take a look at what we get from using one of these devices. The main purpose of all of these devices is to essentially notify you when something happens on your smartphone. Now I don't know about you, but pulling my phone out of my pocket or picking it up off my desk is not exactly difficult or time consuming, and I am the owner of a Galaxy Note 2 and father of a tech infatuated toddler! If anyone would have a difficult time looking at a phone its me! So if its not helping me there whats the point?

It would be naive of me to think that there aren't any other use cases for these devices, and I understand that many tech companies are simply trying to get ahead of the curve and hoping to produce the next iPad. I just don't think that this is a device that can make our lives better.