Low Expectations Quote of the Day

[jiminator]

I was going to get a windows phone tattoo put on the side of my shaved head. you guys saying I should hold off on that?

 

[Valset]

I have an HTC Touch Pro2 running WinMo 6.5. I have to say I kind of like it. I looked at the Palm Pre and wasn't super thrilled, so I went with the TP2.

But every thing on the internet tells me I'm a total, complete, and utter loser for feeling this way. :shrug:

loser no. outside the curve yes. then again if does what you want and does it well that is awesome. to me its junk compared to my EVO. I also have several friends that hate my EVO so I doubt that its a good measure. A better measure is probably to look at the market acceptance. by that metric WinMo does not look so good. that in no way means that its worthless though, the jitterbug looks pretty bad compared to my EVO but for a lot of people its awesome.

 

[srangara]

I was going to get a windows phone tattoo put on the side of my shaved head. you guys saying I should hold off on that?

Yes, wait until they actually embed a cell phone in your head (with a mic in your tooth and your skull as the amp): Intel Inside.

 

[JayteeBates]

You're walking down a path that can only lead to frustration. A pig will eat from a trough if there is food to be had and so it is with some people and Microsoft products.

There is no fate but what Ballmer makes for you.

Sorry - I may agree that he is a bit of a fanboi, but I think this post is downright silly. Intoning that people who make a living off of providing Microsoft products and services is a pig and by extension someone who does Linux/Mac/whatever else is better than that is disingenuous at best.

Some folks like to make a living and frankly while everyone likes to get down on Microsoft they do a lot right. The standardization they have brought to the computing landscape has revolutionized the world. Grandma is not going to be running that latest Ubuntu distrobution but she sure can fire up Windows and send me email and get lots of "neato" recipes online from Rachael Ray in IE. It also is directly responsible for a good number of the folks here having good jobs.

So while I am not above giving MS a good scathing review when they are behind the curve, and frankly the Win 7 phone thing does look severely lacking, I do not dismiss the importance of Microsoft.

 

[babochee]

phail phone? yep.

 

[jadams]

With my outright refusal to purchase a Google or Apple phone I am left with either continuing on a Blackberry or getting a Win7 phone in March when I'm due for an upgrade. I'm really hoping WinMo7 matures by then.

 

[phide]

Intoning that people who make a living off of providing Microsoft products and services is a pig and by extension someone who does Linux/Mac/whatever else is better than that is disingenuous at best.

I said nothing of Linux or Mac OS. The pig is a zealous Microsoft supporter — someone who feeds at the trough of Microsoft regardless of the quality of the slop and regardless of any other factors.

Some folks like to make a living and frankly while everyone likes to get down on Microsoft they do a lot right.

I have no quarrel with making a living via Microsoft products. It's disinguine, though, to make an argument, as heatless has, that it's impractically difficult for a software developer to make a good living any other way.

The standardization they have brought to the computing landscape has revolutionized the world.

I'd wager that Apple, to this point, has developed or participated in more open standards and open source initiatives than Microsoft has (not that Apple is against proprietary solutions or anything). Microsoft is more prone to developing closed, proprietary solutions that become de facto "standards" by virtue of Windows' immense market share (standards practically forced upon consumers). Which is more beneficial to consumers?

 

[JayteeBates]

I said nothing of Linux or Mac OS. The pig is a zealous Microsoft supporter — someone who feeds at the trough of Microsoft regardless of the quality of the slop and regardless of any other factors.

While you did not specify an alternative OS - essentially there is Microsoft and then Mac/Linux which I inferred from your statement. I read the statement as you referring to all folks who support MS as being pigs not a specific poster here.

I have no quarrel with making a living via Microsoft products. It's disinguine, though, to make an argument, as heatless has, that it's impractically difficult for a software developer to make a good living any other way.

The non-Windows developer faces a more obscure/different and arguably more difficult path than the Windows developer. So I would say I agree it is not impractical, certainly more difficult but not impractical.

I'd wager that Apple, to this point, has developed or participated in more open standards and open source initiatives than Microsoft has (not that Apple is against proprietary solutions or anything). Microsoft is more prone to developing closed, proprietary solutions that become de facto "standards" by virtue of Windows' immense market share (standards practically forced upon consumers). Which is more beneficial to consumers?

My issue with Open Standards is that their greatest strength can be their biggest weakness. Since it is "open" anyone can add or modify it as they want. Which can lead to a vast array of implementations. Case in point - I friggin hate supporting the 18 flavors of *nix we have around here at my workplace. To do a simply thing like a banner on the system boot up can be done any one of 10 ways but each OS is different in where you put the text file etc. Heck even different revisions of the same *nix distro puts things in different places in different releases. So sometimes the benevolent dictator (closed source) makes things more manageble. Again balance in life between open source and closed makes for the richest experience. Thus I put forth that MS and their closed source standardization of the OS interface has done the most to make general computing accessible to the masses.

 

[heatlesssun]

I said nothing of Linux or Mac OS. The pig is a zealous Microsoft supporter — someone who feeds at the trough of Microsoft regardless of the quality of the slop and regardless of any other factors.

You've missed quite a few factors yourself. In my case as I've said many times I get my Microsoft software for free but I pay for my hardware so in MY CASE Microsoft tools are the best fit for me because I can use the same tools for both work and personal use which is great leverage as I can focus on the Microsoft platform.

As for the quality of Microsoft technology, like Microsoft I eat my own dog food and I know the strengths and weaknesses of what I use and I don't hype stuff.

Let's take our favorite example, the good old Tablet PC. I've said plenty of times that Windows isn’t as touch friendly as the iPad and of course the iPad has better battery life and is an easier to use device. But at the same time I’ve been using pen and touch on Windows for a long time and there’s a good amount of productivity functions that do work well. And there’s no real analog on ANY OTHER platform to Windows ink currently.

When I’ve made this point time after time it has been a number of the Apple faithful that have proceeded to flame and name call with little to no experience with Tablet PCs. I believe that you’ve called the iPad perfect, I’ve never said that about Tablet PCs, and I’m the zealot? LOL! Both platforms have their weaknesses even if one thinks that Tablet PCs have more flaws.

I have no quarrel with making a living via Microsoft products. It's disinguine, though, to make an argument, as heatless has, that it's impractically difficult for a software developer to make a good living any other way.

Once again, something I never said. I said that BUSINESSES software development is a HUGE Microsoft technology market at the moment, to say otherwise flies in the face of reality. But sure one can make a living with most of the major tools and platforms out there but show me Apple business software jobs. You mentioned 60 companies that do Mac businesses software development, cool, now how many companies do Windows business software? And tons of companies develop in-house applications on Windows, both server and client.

I'd wager that Apple, to this point, has developed or participated in more open standards and open source initiatives than Microsoft has (not that Apple is against proprietary solutions or anything). Microsoft is more prone to developing closed, proprietary solutions that become de facto "standards" by virtue of Windows' immense market share (standards practically forced upon consumers). Which is more beneficial to consumers?

Five years ago what you say about Microsoft would have been FAR more true than it is today. Microsoft LOVES standards these days and they didn't go about locking out Flash which competes against Silverlight.

 

[phide]

The non-Windows developer faces a more obscure/different and arguably more difficult path than the Windows developer.

That's possible, yes. It's also possible that OS X and Linux developers could position themselves to be in greater demand due to the smaller number of developers who focus on these platforms. That demand could translate to potentially lower job security but greater pay, for instance, and that says nothing of independent developers producing and selling desirable applications for non-Windows platforms who have the potential to make significantly more than a developer for a large business software outfit.

This stuff, it's not so cut and dry.

My issue with Open Standards is that their greatest strength can be their biggest weakness. Since it is "open" anyone can add or modify it as they want.

The term "open standard" usually refers to a specification that is created and agreed upon by more than one entity as part as an initiative by a governing body or standards organization, though in some cases it refers only to a publicly-available standard. As such there is no inherent disagreement upon the standard itself but its implementation by non-affiliated entities into software packages may vary. Even well-defined ISO standards are subject to poor implementations, but that speaks nothing of the quality of the ISO standardization process itself (and is only an ancillary side effect of more than one entity implementing ISO standards).

Linux is not an open standard, by the way. It is open source, but not an open standard. Naturally there are going to be huge variances in terms of how different distributions of Linux implement different things. Linux is certainly not designed to be a cookie-cutter OS and is in fact designed to be highly modular and highly configurable. To suggest that a lack of conformity to some "standard" is a flaw suggests an insufficient understanding of what Linux is designed to be.

I believe that you’ve called the iPad perfect

There is no such thing as "perfection".

I said that BUSINESSES software development is a HUGE Microsoft technology market at the moment, to say otherwise flies in the face of reality.

No, you haven't said that in this thread.

Microsoft LOVES standards these days and they didn't go about locking out Flash which competes against Silverlight.

Adobe Flash is not a standard, nor an open standard. HTML 5, which will be, is not locked out on any Apple device. Unfortunately, Windows Phone does not support HTML 5. So who more embraces open standards, exactly?

 

[JayteeBates]

Linux is not an open standard, by the way. It is open source, but not an open standard. Naturally there are going to be huge variances in terms of how different distributions of Linux implement different things. Linux is certainly not designed to be a cookie-cutter OS and is in fact designed to be highly modular and highly configurable. To suggest that a lack of conformity to some "standard" is a flaw suggests an insufficient understanding of what Linux is designed to be.

That's a conversation for another thread =)

 

[heatlesssun]

There is no such thing as "perfection".

Without doubt.

No, you haven't said that in this thread.

I also never said in this or any thread that there were no development opportunities outside of Microsoft technologies. We’ve had this discussion PLENTY of times before and you know EXACTLY what I’m talking about.

Adobe Flash is not a standard, nor an open standard. HTML 5, which will be, is not locked out on any Apple device. Unfortunately, Windows Phone does not support HTML 5. So who more embraces open standards, exactly?

HTML 5 isn’t even finished and you honestly don’t think that Microsoft will support it when it’s official? There’re doing it on the desktop with IE 9 so you know that the support is coming for phones. HTML 5 support isn't critical at this time, definately not worth holding up WP7.

 

[rflcptr]

HTML 5 support isn't critical at this time, definately not worth holding up WP7.

Apparently it's worth going backwards, since it'll have IE7.

 

[jadams]

Wouldnt "open standard" be an oxymoron?

 

[phide]

That's a conversation for another thread

Indeed.

I also never said in this or any thread that there were no development opportunities outside of Microsoft technologies.

Actually, what you said is that you chose to work with Microsoft technologies because you want to eat and pay your bills. The suggestion being that if you had made another choice — perhaps if you had chosen to instead work with software development on the OS X side — that you wouldn't be eating and wouldn't be able to pay your bills.

Realistically, you chose a path of financial success. Microsoft's role in that success is largely insignificant: You could have chosen another path and likely have been just as successful. When you speak of Microsoft, though, one gets the impression that you feel your path has been set by some sort of higher authority; your destiny preordained, perhaps by none other than Steve "Linux is a cancer" Ballmer. And that's an amusing thought.

HTML 5 support isn't critical at this time, definately not worth holding up WP7.

The importance of HTML 5 support on mobile devices is irrelevant to my point. My point is that it's fairly difficult to argue that Microsoft "loves" standards (read: open standards) when they opt against implementing popular and forward-thinking open standards on their own mobile platforms when their competitors (Apple and Google) have already done so.

 

[heatlesssun]

Apparently it's worth going backwards, since it'll have IE7.

Once again HTML 5 isn't even finished and the lack of current HTML 5 support is as non-issue as it get's especially for a phone. the real power of HTML 5 chokes todays phones.

 

[heatlesssun]

Actually, what you said is that you chose to work with Microsoft technologies because you want to eat and pay your bills. The suggestion being that if you had made another choice — perhaps if you had chosen to instead work with software development on the OS X side — that you wouldn't be eating and wouldn't be able to pay your bills.

Realistically, you chose a path of financial success. Microsoft's role in that success is largely insignificant: You could have chosen another path and likely have been just as successful. When you speak of Microsoft, though, one gets the impression that you feel your path has been set by some sort of higher authority; your destiny preordained, perhaps by none other than Steve "Linux is a cancer" Ballmer. And that's an amusing thought.

Once again, I’ve been doing paid business software development almost literally before you were out of diapers. When I got in to IT businesses used DOS and then went to Windows, that was the MARKET driving this, not me. Business software development jobs were plentiful and well-paying and still are though not like the 90’s. I couldn’t give a damn if it was OS X or Linux or whatever and what Steve Ballmer says about Linux is completely irrelevant. If Linux or iOS or Android is where the good money and plentiful jobs are that’s what I’ll do. I’ve only said the same thing to you literally a dozen times and for whatever reason you totally misrepresent what I say every time.

So to be CRYSTAL clear about it, I’ll go where I can make money and for now and the last 20 years that’s been with Microsoft technologies, plain and simple. The money’s good and the jobs are plentiful. Do you honestly think I give a flying fuck about anything else? You can say as much as you want that OS X business software jobs are plentiful but you delusional if you think that it comes anywhere CLOSE to Windows. That’s not saying that I’m a pig worshiping at the Microsoft trough or that OS X developers can’t get good jobs, I’m simply saying that in the business world OS X just doesn’t register high on the list of deployed technologies. Once again, that’s the market, not me. I’ve been doing this stuff for 20 years, and you?

QUOTE=phide;1036292747]
The importance of HTML 5 support on mobile devices is irrelevant to my point. My point is that it's fairly difficult to argue that Microsoft "loves" standards (read: open standards) when they opt against implementing popular and forward-thinking open standards on their own mobile platforms when their competitors (Apple and Google) have already done so.[/QUOTE]

Yes, they've implemented an incomplete standard on devices that are currently so underpowered that that can't take full advantage of HTML 5 anyway. How many Javascript heavy HTML 5 sites do you access from your iPad? Standards are great, HTML 5 support however at this time is just a bullet point. The browsers aren't ready, the tools aren't ready, developers are just getting up to speed and most mobile devices can't handle it anyway. Yeah, forward thinking in a bullet point kind of way.

 

[Runningflame570]

While somebody mentioned above that this is exactly the means that drove Microsoft to total world domination, it doesn't seem to have the threat it used to. Who really thinks they can win any other way?

What drove Microsoft to total world domination was a combination of incredibly corrupt business practices, incredibly wealthy and connected parents, and incredible luck.

There is no IBM to peddle their crap to anymore, they aren't able to steal from Xerox PARC on this one, the marketplace has already developed, is actually looking semi-competitive, and what Microsoft is offering is bunk.

When the market exists and competition is already present Microsoft loses. The one exception to this was Unix and the Unix vendors of the time have no one but themselves to blame on that one.

You might choose to use the Xbox 360 as an example but they launched a year early and are presently getting their previously 10 million console lead destroyed by Sony, having already been destroyed by Nintendo a long time ago.

 

[heatlesssun]

When the market exists and competition is already present Microsoft loses. The one exception to this was Unix and the Unix vendors of the time have no one but themselves to blame on that one.

Uh, you forgot a biggie, Office. Remember WordPefect and Lotus? No else does either.

You might choose to use the Xbox 360 as an example but they launched a year early and are presently getting their previously 10 million console lead destroyed by Sony, having already been destroyed by Nintendo a long time ago.

Of course, the Xbox has lost, it's been canceled.

 

[phide]

If Linux or iOS or Android is where the good money and plentiful jobs are that’s what I’ll do.

Considering some iOS app developers have managed to pull in over $10,000 in the span of a week, yeah, I'd say there's certainly a fair amount of money to be had developing iOS apps. Sales to that degree are atypical but it at least demonstrates the possibility for massive profit potential. Linux I'm not sure about. My guess is that most of the money in that market is on the administration side. Android, however, is obviously a thriving application market and is most certainly growing at a rate significantly faster than anything centered around Windows.

You can say as much as you want that OS X business software jobs are plentiful but you delusional if you think that it comes anywhere CLOSE to Windows.

Well, why are you restricting yourself to business software? Given your skillset, I don't imagine you'd have any difficulty transitioning into writing non-business software. I mean, you're writing Windows Phone apps, right? That isn't exactly "business software".

You kind of make the argument that, on the business side, Windows is dominant, but it's more of an arbitrary means to an end to make the argument that Windows is more viable for you as a developer than alternative platforms than it is anything else.

Yes, they've implemented an incomplete standard on devices that are currently so underpowered that that can't take full advantage of HTML 5 anyway.

What HTML 5 applications, specifically, can I not run on my iPhone with satisfactory levels of performance? Do you have a list?

 

[Valset]

Uh, you forgot a biggie, Office. Remember WordPefect and Lotus? No else does either.

while I don't agree with him totally those are pretty big examples of what he is talking about. Remember the old saying DOS isn't done until Lotus won't run? I remember Microsoft being extremely underhanded during all this. That is not to say that they didn't do some things right and what not but to say that they had to compete on a level playing field is to gloss over a large amount of what I can only describe as F'ed up #@@@. They played dirty, illegal, and sometimes blatantly immoral. as I sit here and type this on my nice fast computer running windows 7 (nice OS BTW) I can't say that their success absolves them of any of that. There is always a lot of hate for MS and there will be as long as people remember how they got to where they are.

I don't know what this means to the winmo platform. they are up against players as big as themselves. but it sounds like they did some things right. and MS is a master at gaining themselves an advantage even if their product isn't the best.

 

[heatlesssun]

while I don't agree with him totally those are pretty big examples of what he is talking about. Remember the old saying DOS isn't done until Lotus won't run? I remember Microsoft being extremely underhanded during all this. That is not to say that they didn't do some things right and what not but to say that they had to compete on a level playing field is to gloss over a large amount of what I can only describe as F'ed up #@@@. They played dirty, illegal, and sometimes blatantly immoral. as I sit here and type this on my nice fast computer running windows 7 (nice OS BTW) I can't say that their success absolves them of any of that. There is always a lot of hate for MS and there will be as long as people remember how they got to where they are.

I don't know what this means to the winmo platform. they are up against players as big as themselves. but it sounds like they did some things right. and MS is a master at gaining themselves an advantage even if their product isn't the best.

Microsoft is a convicted monopolist, yes they played dirty pool. Find me a company that doesn't play these kinds of tricks. Microsoft went to got sued, went court, lost, then won. Then the EU went after them and others. So Microsoft paid a price for their actions which is more than I can say about a lot of companies guilty of immoral actions these days.

But this notion that Bill Gates' parents were more powerful than IBM, Apple and other is BS. PLENTY of companies could have EASILY competed in the desktop space IF THEY HAD WANTED. I just don't believe in this complete victim hood bullshit, be it companies OR individuals. Plenty of people had plenty of opportunity to compete against Windows and just FUCKING DIDN'T. End of story.

 

[Valset]

Microsoft is a convicted monopolist, yes they played dirty pool. Find me a company that doesn't play these kinds of tricks. Microsoft went to got sued, went court, lost, then won. Then the EU went after them and others. So Microsoft paid a price for their actions which is more than I can say about a lot of companies guilty of immoral actions these days.

But this notion that Bill Gates' parents were more powerful than IBM, Apple and other is BS. PLENTY of companies could have EASILY competed in the desktop space IF THEY HAD WANTED. I just don't believe in this complete victim hood bullshit, be it companies OR individuals. Plenty of people had plenty of opportunity to compete against Windows and just FUCKING DIDN'T. End of story.

most companies do not play that dirty, nor do they get away with it. and what MS finially payed for it actions was drop in the bucket to what they made

as for gates parents, I have no idea where that came from. How got got to power was from the means I list above, so far I know.

and as for why they didn't I said MS did some things right, and gates was brilliant in this: he saw the potential where others should have. no one can take that from him.

 

[Shambler]

Can't we just talk about the TM2?

 

[heatlesssun]

most companies do not play that dirty, nor do they get away with it. and what MS finially payed for it actions was drop in the bucket to what they made

as for gates parents, I have no idea where that came from. How got got to power was from the means I list above, so far I know.

and as for why they didn't I said MS did some things right, and gates was brilliant in this: he saw the potential where others should have. no one can take that from him.

Companies get away with a LOT, I've seen plenty, money covers a multitude of sins.

All I'm saying that anyone who thinks that Microsoft TOTALLY stole there way to were they are is just being an moronic zealot.

 

[Luxor]

Like I said 2009, and again this year... Android is where its at.

Microsoft, you wasted money and failed once again...... the Microsoft Kin phone was hyped pretty bad to where it got annoying and it tanked like a rock in a pond.

Microsoft always seems to be the old college grad trying to pick up the hipster 16 year olds.... always too late to the game microsoft, when will you hire some young guys with marketing brains?

PICK ME! I'll move to Washington!

 

[Valset]

Companies get away with a LOT, I've seen plenty, money covers a multitude of sins.

All I'm saying that anyone who thinks that Microsoft TOTALLY stole there way to were they are is just being an moronic zealot.

That it completely true. (both counts) MS did a lot right and gates had some real vision. but ether extreme should be avoided. MS got where it was by the combination of innovation, theft, vision, and blatantly illegal acts.

the question here is can they repeat this now? they are in a similar situation but with some real differences this time. I am very interested to see how this will play out.

 

[Bambi]

Im just waiting for them to hurry up and release a phone with it, so that i can say goodbye tmobile and ether gets Sprints Evo 4g or something else.

 

[heatlesssun]

Like I said 2009, and again this year... Android is where its at.

Microsoft, you wasted money and failed once again...... the Microsoft Kin phone was hyped pretty bad to where it got annoying and it tanked like a rock in a pond.

Microsoft always seems to be the old college grad trying to pick up the hipster 16 year olds.... always too late to the game microsoft, when will you hire some young guys with marketing brains?

PICK ME! I'll move to Washington!

Kin was hyped? That's funny. But sure Android is hot but Windows 7 Phone is even hotter now for millions of .Net developers. We shall see.

 

[heatlesssun]

Considering some iOS app developers have managed to pull in over $10,000 in the span of a week, yeah, I'd say there's certainly a fair amount of money to be had developing iOS apps. Sales to that degree are atypical but it at least demonstrates the possibility for massive profit potential. Linux I'm not sure about. My guess is that most of the money in that market is on the administration side. Android, however, is obviously a thriving application market and is most certainly growing at a rate significantly faster than anything centered around Windows.

Sure Android is growing faster than Windows, it's 2 years old compare to over 20. But I don't see want ads screaming for thousands of iOS or Android developers either. Side jobs and quick hits are awesome but not going to quite my day job for that but I'll keep my eye out on things, if the need and or opportunity comes to invest signigficant amounts on time on these platforms that has a great chance to pay off, then sure. But my core skill set is .Net and THAT'S the reason I'm intrested in W7 Phone. And that's the thing about Microsoft tools and something Microsoft is EXTREMELY good at, getting developers on board with new stuff by leveraging what they already know. This has worked out for me VERY well over the last 2 decades and maybe it won't pan out but it also isn't taking a ton of time or costing me anything either.

Well, why are you restricting yourself to business software? Given your skillset, I don't imagine you'd have any difficulty transitioning into writing non-business software. I mean, you're writing Windows Phone apps, right? That isn't exactly "business software".

I've worked in banking, pharmacuticals, tobacco, health care, food services, insurance, and probably something else I forgot. You say I chose the Microsoft path. No I didn't. I got my first job when my Dad got me a little gig setting up a database, and it wasn't running OS X, iOS, Android, or Windows, just DOS. In 1990 however came Windows 3.0 and ALL of these industries made huge investement in Windows that continues today. If the market had gone with Macs guess what I'd be invested in today? You really just don't seem to want to acknoledge the obvious.

You kind of make the argument that, on the business side, Windows is dominant, but it's more of an arbitrary means to an end to make the argument that Windows is more viable for you as a developer than alternative platforms than it is anything else.

Never said this. I said that there were a LOT more Windows jobs in the business world thatn iOS or Android for now and that's a fact. Sure that could change and as I said I keep an eye out for what businesses want so that my skills match to allow me to make decent money. It's just that simple.

What HTML 5 applications, specifically, can I not run on my iPhone with satisfactory levels of performance? Do you have a list?

Try this and good luck! http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/#/experience

Running on an HP tm2 C2D SU9600 with a Radeon 4550 GPU.

Can't we just talk about the TM2?

I'm always happy to oblige that request!

 

[WAKASHIZuMa]

I think the whole Microsoft is all evil argument is getting old

Has Microsoft done questionable things? Yes. Did they use other means to achieve success? Absolutely

But none of it really matters. What Microsoft did was they were extremely smart to take advantage of their opportunities when the time came. A lot of companies didnt and they did. They did used other means to get their way, but they were also awake and agile; the same traits that has been missing from Microsoft during the last 10 years

 

[WAKASHIZuMa]

No edit so I add it here

Every company has its peak and then eventual slowdown

I remember Sony used to be the dominant force of 70s and 80s and relatively 90s. They had spectacular designs, great ads, quality products and basically enjoyed the same hype and reputation Apple has today. Today they are struggling

Microsoft from mid 90s used to be the dominant force of computer industry. Windows 95 was what I would consider the peak of Microsoft and from there they maintained it to Windows XP. From 2005 Microsoft has been missing things left and right and truth to be told unlike many folks I don't think its Ballmer. It's the management structure of company which has carried from Gates days

Nowadays this is Apple's turn and they are the king. I don't know which company is going to take over after Apple as the next big guy, but it wont be Microsoft or Sony when it happens

Once your peak is over, it's all about maintaining the success at a relatively constant level and in that regard, Microsoft has done quiet well. Sony failed. Apple failed and came back with a vengeance

 

[phide]

You say I chose the Microsoft path. No I didn't.

Obviously you did. Funny you would accuse me of not acknowledging the obvious and then you say something like this.

If you did not choose to work with Microsoft products, who chose for you? Who chooses what clothes to put on before you walk out the door? Who chooses what car you're going to buy next week? Do you choose or does someone else make that choice for you?

Try this and good luck! http://www.beautyoftheweb.com/#/experience

Sure. Just have Microsoft design it properly and I'd be happy to. Perhaps Apple could lend them a hand with that (considering they developed Canvas, you know).

 

[heatlesssun]

Once your peak is over, it's all about maintaining the success at a relatively constant level and in that regard, Microsoft has done quiet well. Sony failed. Apple failed and came back with a vengeance

Apple has done stupendously well most of the last decade, and it's still not nearly as profitable as Microsoft. Microsoft got lazy in the mobile space no doubt about it but they have a TON of IP to bear on the problems. Windows 7 Phone is a step in a comeback. Apple was almost dead and has done well. Microsoft is in FAR better shape than Apple was in the late 90's. If they focus and stick with it they'll be just fine long after we're all dead and gone. And I would say the same of Apple, Google, IBM, HP and a whole host of other tech companies.

All of these companies has VAST resources, none of them is going anyway time soon and will continue to make money hand over fist.