__/ [ BearItAll ] on Friday 28 April 2006 12:39 \__
> Roy Schestowitz wrote:
>
>> Microsoft earnings slip below targets
>>
>> ,----[ Quote ]
>> | update Microsoft on Thursday reported third-quarter sales and earnings
>> | that were below what some analysts were expecting and said future
>> | earnings will be dented as it aims to boost its Windows Live Internet
>> | services and other new businesses.
>> `----
>>
>>
>
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+earnings+slip+below+targets/2100-1014_3-6066028.html?tag=nl
>
>
> I wonder what exactly they have planned for the Internet. If the loss is
> due to investment then its a heck of a lot of investment.
In another article pertaining to this (among many others that address it
directly), Ballmer blamed piracy:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/04/28/ballmer_microsoft_prices/
Then you have the BBC with a more positive perspective:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4952846.stm
Rather than expected growth (assuming prices inflate and more people use
computer), they concentrate on revenue/profit.
This reminds me of the figures that would have you believe that Microsoft
earn space in the server room. Some studies spoke about revenues from
servers, but not number of servers. This means that overpriced units can
give a false pictures and the true facts show that only 1 in 3 servers sold
runs Windows.
> .NET2 of cause will figure highly, and probably a few more variations on
> the SharePoint idea. I know that they are currently giving away many of the
> net2 development tools, and they are good versions, not chopped down but
> some areas of them still being developed, and looking for ideas amongst the
> developers community.
>
> But none of that seems to warrent such a high investment.
You are right in pointing out that they invest a lot in research
(marketing-related research as much as technical, I bet you). To linger on
the subject of market research, Microsoft can spy on their users to study
figures on usage. They can also fix prices and conduct so-called
'independent' studies that serve as FUD. Lastly they spend many millions
spreading the 'gospel', e.g. buying "linux" from Google AdWords.
> We have heard before that MS wants all of it's major office applications to
> be web based interfaces, I wonder if that is what they are investing in. I
> think that Linux would also benefit from more web based interfaces, leaving
> the bulk of the application on the server, then we don't really need to
> worry what client the user has in order for them toy use Linux
> applications. Ok, who else just had a flash back to their mainframe days?
> But the difference is that we now have much better client machines all with
> java engines on them.
The move to the Web is forced by demand for portability, as well as pressure
from competitors. Google recently acquired Writely who make software that
can render Word obsolete. There are many others such applications
(spreadsheets, databases, calendars, E-mail). All they need is time and
advertisements, much of which can be done by a friend or colleague demo'ing
them, for free.
http://news.com.com/Microsofts%20nightmare%20inches%20closer%20to%20reality/2100-1012_3-5877197.html?tag=nefd.lede
,----[ Quote ]
|
| The nightmare is inching closer to reality and Microsoft execs
| are apparently paying attention to the decade-old alert. As part of
| a management shuffle, Microsoft said Tuesday it would make hosted
| services a more strategic part of the company and fold its MSN Web
| portal business into its platform product development group, where Windows
| is developed.
|
| Another memo, called 'Google?The Winner Takes All (And Not Just
| Search),' is also making the rounds. This internal memo, written in 2005,
| argues that Google threatens Microsoft and the company's crown jewel,
| Windows.
`----
As some others have said, Vista (or Vista 2) may be the last O/S from
Microsoft. A decade ahead, expect network/USB boots with Web services as the
centre of all. Look at the bright side: security issues set aside and 60% of
Vista's code, which awaits a major re-write, may be conceded. It will most
probably be GNU/Linux and Open Source, joint with Web services (Google,
Yahoo and the smaller players). Peripherals are not an issue and
backup/local storage becomes a notion of the past.
Microsoft know it's an evolve-or-die scnario, but Windows Live is already
dead. Gates failed to spot the trends early enough and his ugly, aggresive
practices are exposed to a wider public, which leads to apathy.
Best wishes,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | Reversi for Linux/Win32: http://othellomaster.com
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux ¦ PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
1:25pm up 20:30, 13 users, load average: 0.59, 0.60, 0.73
http://iuron.com - next generation of search paradigms
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