Beyond Computing
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Microsoft has always been a software company, after all it's MICROcomputer SOFTware that's in the name. I'm not sure if that's where it came from, but most of us have always seen Microsoft as Word, Excel, and Windows first and foremost with everything else coming up next. Indeed over the years, Windows and Office have provided the vast bulk of Microsoft's revenue.
So I was browsing around the web recently and ended up on the Microsoft home page, which I rarely visit. I tend to start at /sql, /technet, /msdn, or somewhere like that. I noticed the following items prominently at the top of the page:
- An XBOX 360 ad saying you can watch movies and TV on your console now.
- A live search ad with "wine tasting" as the default terms
- The limited edition pink Zune available.
- A note about the new Surface Computing products
- An ad for Silverlight
- A clip about a promotion for Forza 2 on the XBOX
- A compatibility pack for Office 2007
- A download for Microsoft Accounting Express 2007
- A note about the VB Labcasts
- A trial download for the System Center 2007
Of the ten main things that appear besides navigation, only 3 are really technical software. Two are software for Office and the other 5 are non-technical things. For a large software company, it seems that entertainment is becoming a priority.
And it's to be expected. It's hard for Microsoft to make great gains in the IT world. They do continue to ebb and flow in their software's use as Linux, MySQL, and other alternatives get better and more people try them, but one of the places they are looking to grow is in non-technical software. Not really even consumer software, but rather living room, digital lifestyle, type products.
It's kind of amazing to see this huge company that I've watched for decades start to morph into something new. And be successful at it.
Whether they'll become a huge presence in our digital lives outside of IT, I'm not sure, but they are off to a great start. I know my 8 year old definitely is more of a Microsoft kid than a Sony kid at this point.
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"I know my 8 year old definitely is more of a Microsoft kid than a Sony kid at this point. "
Only because he can't have played on the Nintendo Wii yet - now be a good father and get him one - you won't regret it
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A global brand which displays astonishing corporate arrogance, spying on its customers, missing a surge in demand for significant new technologies, delivering faulty product which blows up in the customers faces, and new products which are late, over-priced when compared with the competition, and barely compatible with their previous products.
Yes I am talking about Sony, learn a lesson from Microsoft guys!
David
If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
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And me, I am a 40 year old kid! I LOVE my XBox 360 and play Gears of War with my 18 year old son quite often. I even have more achievements than he does at this time.
I do have to say, being involved heavily in SQL Server (not a DBA though) and being a developer in Visual Studio, I certainly have the best of both worlds.
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For years it seemed odd that we still saw the Microsoft Mouse and, later, the Natural (in the "not at all" meaning of the word) Keyboard. And then came the XBox...
Then again, Google looks like a website until you buy a bright yellow rack-mount Google Search Appliance...
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I played Call of Duty with my kids on the Xbox at the weekend and ended up getting completely fragged
.I wonder if SQLServer will run on an Xbox so I can sneak one past accounts as a backup machine?
Then I can practice at work and avoid them blitzing me into the ground...
David
If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
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It's easy to be so wrapped in the business/tech side that one misses where the real action is...
Improved databases don't change people's lives. The real action is in the consumer world, with the rest just hanging on for the ride.
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
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I agree, consumers are reshaping the way the Web is used, and business is having to adapt
If it ain't broke, don't fix it...
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I don't know how practical it is, but the demos for Surface are pretty cool.
Scott
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The drive to develop integrated, useful consumer devices is beginning to reach critical mass. I actually think Microsoft is behind schedule on this. The Zune is a miserable failure compared to the iPod.
XP Media Center edition never really gained traction - Apple TV looks to be doing relatively well, and may improve as time progresses.
From what I remember reading, Microsoft is not making much on the XBox, selling it for a loss - or possibly breaking even. Time will tell if they can gain enough market share to eventually make a buck on it. They have also been bested by Nintendo Corp with the Wii. I think Microsoft is showing that it has very little common vision and direction.
I don't see a lot of "innovation" coming from the company - and even less copy-and-improve (for which they've gained notoriety - and some bad press - in the past). Perhaps there are examples I'm overlooking?
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Sony have played the same trick they did last time - the Playstation 2 launch was also a debacle, but the Playstation 2 was a nifty piece of kit so it bought the market. They think they can do the same with PS3, although in this case they are also giving away Blu-Ray readers - my in-laws bought a PS3 because they can get a hidef video player for half the price, they're not interested in games.
Microsoft are playing the same game, buy the market with subsidised kit. However, there is one important difference.
A friend of mine (who incidentally designed Motor Storm for the PS3, good career move, that) showed me his 360 the other day - he's got Vista running on his PC, which he uses to download bit torrents, so he's got about a terabyte of dodgy movies. I thought it was interesting that his 360 found his PC on the wireless network and now works as a media server for his movies (and mp3s). It was all pretty seamless, it even buffers the stream for him so he gets no lag, and works for Hidef. I was impressed.
In their haste to launch Sony missed the trick to turn the PS3 into a media centre, fact is they really were lucky to get the few titles they did out for the launch date. Doubtless they'll get there, but it is unlikely they'll beat MS.
Compare and contrast to Nintendo, who have a world beating product which actually makes money on the hardware..... OK, the integration isn't there like it is with the 360, but still it found my wireless network no problem, handled the WPA2 encryption easily, and is now happily browsing the web, if not doing much else (apparently if I have friends with one we can allow our game characters to wander about between our machines). I can only assume functionality will turn up on the Nintendo portal to interact with my PC at some point (?)
Just to reiterate - BUY A WII, it is great for parties and even my granny loves it.
Hmm... Consoles as media servers - well the PS3 has a huge edge technically over the 360, it must be said, but MS hold the key to Vista.
We shall see, but I wouldn't write Sony off just yet.....
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While I think the XBOX hardware loses money, live and the games make it up. Especially with the micropayments system they have with points, it's pretty slick.
I'm also seeing some of the new games allow Vista and the XBOX to play together in a multi-player scenario. Now that's interesting. Play with your kids, but you don't have to buy 2 XBOXs.
Sony's too big to die and they have a nice consumer division, movies, etc., but they've definitely dropped the ball on capturing the living room away from Microsoft.
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LOL! I know all about those Microsoft Points (which soon will probably be the world's uniform currency) as I buy them quite often! And not just for my XBox, but my son's XBox and the Zune players.
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I am anxiously awaiting Windows Home Server. No monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Plug it into the network, install the client on the PCs and you have automatic backups. I saw a short demo during lunch at TechEd and it even "normalizes" the backups; each block on the drive gets a unique hash of the data so that a particular file will only have one copy on the server, regardless of how many places it's stored on the various computers on the network. If you have more than one drive in the server then you are doubly protected since it will automatically store two copies of all the backups. The only thing you have to worry about is a natural disaster that would take out all the computers at once and even that can be averted by using a product like Norton 360 that provides off-site backups via the Internet.
You can also share your media files from the server but I thought the backup features were the most compelling.
[font="Tahoma"]Bryant E. Byrd, BSSE MCDBA MCAD[/font]
Business Intelligence Administrator
MSBI Administration Blog
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