Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
...Microsoft suffers from a pretty unjust fanboi hatred of all things "Bill Gates."...Unlike Steve Jobs, who has/had a fabulous reputation and was widely loved, the Bill Gates-effect still haunts Microsoft....
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I never got the bashing against Microsoft.
Yes, they had been close to 100% market share.
Yes, puns such as "total word domination" had been funny and original.
But basically, everyone had do admit:
They understood their business and succeeded in dimensions, all corporates aim for and only few ever achieve.
And now, in my perception, we see similar tendencies with Apple and even more so with Google.
Personally, I admire both. Plus Amazon and the likes.
In the right segment, I'd gladly work for each of them.
(Or even more happily would accept stock options).
But as soon as those corporates loose their "underdog" status and remain successful or even dominate for some time, hatred arrises.
Personally, I don't mind Google having tons of data about me.
I'm fascinated how cleverly they adjust search results to my history of interests.
And to me, there's an obvious reason why "googling" made it to the dictionaries, but no-one uses phrases like "yahooing" for example.
But still, for some time now, Google seems to attract more and more hatred.
And same has started with Apple. "Is Apple not cool anymore?".
What an idiotic question. Instantaneously I could name 100 corporates, happily trading places with Apple. Or Microsoft, Google, Amazon and the likes.
Obviously, what we experience in our personal life (envy, resentment, malice, ...) is true on higher levels (corporates, countries, ...) as well.
Anyway...
Microsoft's image certainly is one of the reasons, why both Surface tablets don't get the attention they deserve.
But same has happened before with HP TouchPad and BlackBerry PlayBook. Both, in my opinion, did have a more advanced OS than Android or iOS at that time. Both failed miserably.
Lack of apps obviously being one reason. Unfortunately, to some extent, that's true for Surface RT/Windows RT as well.
Being a bit late to the game probably another reason.
Not having the "cool factor" not helping either.
But:
Microsoft, contrary to most competitors, does have the muscles.
And their tablets, especially Surface Pro with Windows 8, are deeply rooted in their core basis.
In my book, Microsoft simply can't afford to leave the game early. They may burn some money. But they did so with Xbox in the beginning as well. I remember the times, when everybody was laughing about Xbox. Well, Sony certainly isn't laughing anymore. Okay, now many laugh about Xbox One again, but we'll see about that.
Meaning: I don't think, Microsoft will give up as easily as HP or BlackBerry did. They can and will invest. And, quite objectively, I find their tablets more than adequate and over time simply rely on the smarts of the market...
So, eventually, I see the 3 giants share the market. Android probably being biggest, due to the licensing and business model of Google. Microsoft and Apple probably being about even in 2 years or so. Apple might further decline in market share, but sticking to a highly profitable model that can be fun for 30% market share as well...