If this is Steve Ballmer's version of spin, then Microsoft needs to put a merry-go-round on its Redmond campus. Because Steve's spinning so slowly and poorly that he's actually standing still, not unlike Microsoft's stock price.
Strong rumors this week have it that there's an executive shakeup on the way at Microsoft. Oh, really? There's one on the way? So the fairly recent departures -- for various reasons -- of, say, Ray Ozzie, Jeff Raikes, Stephen Elop, Robbie Bach and Bob Muglia didn't count as a shakeup? Ballmer released Bach and Muglia, and just kind of let Ozzie depart, but the shakeup is apparently still to come. Oh, do tell. More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 09, 20117 comments
There was a time when Route 128 right here in Greater Boston was the hub, so to speak, of the technology industry. Before any number of areas with the name "Silicon" in them popped up in a significant way and pushed Massachusetts aside, Boston was the place where technology originated and lived.
Many of technology's greatest innovations and most significant ideas came to life here, and behind many of them was Ken Olsen, cofounder of Digital Equipment Corp. (Yes, we know --"digital" spelled it with a small "d.") Olsen died this week at age 84 and left behind a legacy as one of the great entrepreneurs in American history. (Incidentally, he was a tremendous supporter of Gordon College in Wenham, Mass., which is the fine alma mater of your editor's lovely wife.) More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 09, 20112 comments
First and foremost, many thanks to Scott Bekker and Jeff Schwartz for writing this newsletter last week while your editor was tied up with other things. Bekker and Schwartz were also tied up with other things, but they stepped up in your editor's time of need.
We'd love to start this entry with some sort of Super Bowl reference...but we really just don't have one. So, uh, congratulations to the Packers...and people of Wisconsin. Hopefully this will make up for your state university's loss to TCU in the Rose Bowl.(Yes, your editor is still giddy about that.) More
Posted by Lee Pender on February 07, 20115 comments
Huh. We could have sworn that Windows Phone 7 was going to be another Microsoft laughing stock following in the rich tradition of Vista and the Kin phone. We might have even mentioned something to that effect in this space once or twice.
Well, as it turns out, we were wrong. No, really! Microsoft doesn't exactly have an iPhone rival yet, but it did ship 2 million units last quarter. Hey, that's not bad at all, even though units shipped doesn't necessarily mean units sold. More
Posted by Lee Pender on January 27, 20113 comments
When your editor first read
this
, he thought it said "Online Services Support Lifestyle Policy." Turns out it says "lifecycle," which makes more sense but seems far less intriguing somehow.
Posted by Lee Pender on January 27, 20110 comments
You know that famous photo of the Microsoft staff from 1978? Well, somebody (not for the first time--but it's still interesting) caught up with all the folks in that photo and provided updates on
what they're up to
these days. Some are millionaires, some less so--and only one is no longer with us. One is even a cattle rancher, which we find very cool. Plus, there's '70s hair and clothing to be re-admired. That alone made the story worthwhile to us.
Posted by Lee Pender on January 27, 20110 comments
OK, we'll admit it -- we like the Bing ads where people shout random things at some poor person who just wants an answer to a simple question. If only Bing were that much better than Google search, we'd be devotees of Microsoft's engine. But we really don't see that big of a difference between the two, other than the pretty pictures Bing has in the background of its start page.
More
Posted by Lee Pender on January 26, 20114 comments
The doomsday forces are out again. Microsoft is in peril, trouble, turmoil, danger...and this time, the threat is the beloved iPad.
Yes, the iPad is invading the enterprise, or so worries Microsoft. To her credit, Mary Jo Foley posted an internal Microsoft slide show about the iPad without predicting impending doom in Redmond. The Microsoft presentation is aimed at partners and is intended to show them how to compete against the dreaded interloper from Apple that is suddenly moving from living rooms into cubicles. More
Posted by Lee Pender on January 26, 20111 comments
And back in the world of boring but really important stuff, Amazon has launched a cloud-based bulk e-mail service called SES. What's that? SES reminds you of that old Abba song "SOS," too? Well, you read our minds. (Be patient through the brief advertisement. The '70s camera effects in this video are well worth the wait. As are those Swedish harmonies...although it's pretty clear that this video came out before the era of cosmetic dental surgery.) You're welcome.
Posted by Lee Pender on January 26, 20110 comments