Microsoft in a Fog
December 23, 2008
TechRadar has an interesting write up about Microsoft here. “Has Microsoft Lost It? Rejected by Yahoo, Outgunned by Apple, It’s Fighting for It’s Survival” is required reading for anyone who wants to understand Microsoft’s challenges in search. If you have broader interests than I, you will find the article quite instructive as well. The article is in five parts. For me, the most significant comment was:
Google’s sheer dominance of the search market makes it a hard company to beat – a position that, rather ironically, Microsoft has been in once or twice over the years. As Microsoft’s rivals know all too well, it’s not enough to build a better mousetrap; you also need to persuade huge numbers of people to use it.
For Microsoft to make progress in Web search, the company has to leapfrog over Google. For Microsoft to prevent Google from dominating the enterprise the way it has Web search, Microsoft needs more than home grown me-too innovations, the tired Powerset technology, and the problem-riddled Fast Search & Transfer operation. Paying $1.2 billion for a company whose principal contribution has been a police raid and unwelcome publicity about alleged malfeasance is not going to hobble the GOOG. This is more akin to shooting oneself in the thigh in a New York night club.
What is the path forward for Microsoft? Source: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/26/52270496_89c54f5d98.jpg
The TechRadar analysis tails slightly from page 4 to the conclusion on page 5. But overall, I found a number of useful and interesting ideas to consider. Do I agree with the note of optimism that threads through the write up. No. I think the situation is worsening, and the potential for a customer push back is rising. Nothing brings out the legal eagles like an economic downturn and software that drops cost increases like water balloons from a freshman’s dorm.
Stephen Arnold, December 23, 2008
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