For a decade or more, Microsoft became a punchline, with the exception of several significant technological trends. But Microsoft escaped its epic mistakes. Today, it is (again) one of the superstars in the tech world.
The ability of Microsoft to thrive despite all the mistakes can be a heartwarming story about corporate redesign. Or it could be a tragic demonstration of how difficult it is to kill monopolies. Or it could be a little of both.
Considering an important current question, it is pertinent to understand Microsoft's staying power: Today's big tech superstars are successful and popular because they are good at what they do or are they powerful enough to overcome past successes?
Concerns about the Big Tech at the end of 2021 - hopeless lawsuits, proposed new laws and screams - are boiling over in the debate over whether or not we really have the dynasties that will trigger the unique progress of our digital lives. What I'm asking is, what is Microsoft?
I go back to the dark days of Microsoft that lasted from the mid-2000s to 2014. They are not strangely bad. Yes, Microsoft was so awesome, the company was roasted in Apple TV commercials and many in the tech industry didn’t want to do anything about it. The company failed to build a popular search engine, tried in vain to compete with Google in digital advertising and had little success selling its own smartphone operating systems or devices.
No matter how stagnant Microsoft's software is, many businesses still need to buy its technology to run Windows PCs, including Microsoft's powerful back-end computers such as email and document software and servers. Microsoft has used much-needed products to break down new and lucrative business lines, including software that converts traditional corporate phone systems, databases and file storage systems.
Microsoft was not always good in those years, but it was good. More recently, Microsoft has become more financially successful and adaptable to sophisticated technologies than treading water. So is this twist a healthy sign or an encouraging one?
On the healthy side of Ledger, Microsoft has done exactly one great thing: Cloud computing, one of the most important technologies of the last 15 years. That and a cultural shift laid the foundation for Microsoft to succeed despite their strategy and products despite their success. This is the corporate twist we want.
I would say that Microsoft is different from its Big Tech counterparts in that it can be very flexible. The technology sold to Microsoft's customers and companies, not businesses or individuals, does not have to be good to succeed.
Encouraging explanation now: The lesson Microsoft is offering is that the fading star will continue to create meh products, even if it loses its grip on new technologies and suffers from blunt bureaucracy, but its size will attract interested marketing and customers to be successful. ? Was Microsoft so big and powerful that it was invincible, at least enough to bring it to its next action? Are Facebook's or Google's comparable to Microsoft's 2013 - even if they're not great, can they thrive?
I do not have definite answers, and quantity and power do not guarantee that a company will face many mistakes and be relevant. But many plays and fights about technology in 2021 depend on those questions. Ads on Google Search, Amazon Shopping and Facebook can be incredibly good. Or we can not imagine better alternatives because powerful companies do not have to be the best to continue to succeed.
Before we go...
Online Chaotic Campaigns in Miniature: My colleague Sheira Frankel had a wild story about Iranian agents pretending to be Israelis to post divisive messages in small online groups on messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram. Targeting small groups has helped to create problems within communities that trust agents and is a way to avoid being detected by technology companies that monitor false information online.
Yet, even during the sad years at Microsoft, the company made money. In 2013, the year Steve Palmer was forced to retire as CEO, the company made a profit of more than $ 27 billion in taxes and some other expenses than Amazon did in 2020.
nice...
good.
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