“For 15 years, Microsoft has tried time and again to become a major player on the web… [and] despite having the most popular browser, however, Microsoft has never really monetized the web in a significant way.” – GigaOm
No surprises here. I originally canvassed this problem last October in What’s on Microsoft’s Radar? The question is what can Microsoft do about it?
The simple answer is Microsoft needs to rediscover what made it the market leader in personal computing.
Looking back we can see that Windows wasn’t necessarily the best OS on the market in the early 1990’s. Both Apple and IBM had arguably better products. What made Windows the dominant OS was the developer community who built the apps and games that attracted users to the platform.
Today we hear it’s the Developers, Not Apple, [who] Will Make Or Break The iPad.
Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt has said the same thing about the Nexus One “The phone is defined by the apps”.
The message is clear. It doesn’t matter if you are online or even mobile. The rules are the same as they are for the Desktop. The market leaders empower the developers to build the market for them.
Back in 1995 Microsoft was in the market trying to build a content empire. Partnering with the leading news and magazine publishers to deliver innovative online content. The result was MSN. 15 years on we see Apple trying to do similar things with the announcement this week of the iPod and the iBookstore.
Back in 1995 it appeared self evident that both the content providers and Microsoft would benefit from building an online content empire.
The empire was built and MSN became a dominant player in the online space but as we have seen it never looked like delivering a return on investment. Why? Because as Google has proven repeatedly over the past 10 years content is not longer king and therefore traditional media business models based on delivering media rich content supported by ads on the menu just don’t work online.
By investing in content Microsoft didn’t invest in the future of media. It invested in the past.
As many commentators have said over the past year it’s time for Microsoft to think seriously about getting out of the content business and back into the platform business.
To move forward online, and in the increasingly mobile world, Microsoft needs to redefine it’s flagship product.
The reality is a new re-imagined Windows OS that seeks to
- turn the Mobile Convergence network (i.e. the Web, the Enterprise, the Could and the Mobile) into a manageable desktop toolbox (Be it the desktop on a PC, Tablet, Mobile or even an electronic billboard device), and
- revolutionises the Ctrl OCVZXS experience with a real time, media rich interactive user interface
would render Google and Apple obsolete.
Put very simply: If the next generation Windows OS makes the web browser obsolete then Microsoft will make the competition obsolete. The question is: Is Microsoft up to the challenge?
Further Reading:
“While the company has had a truly amazing past and an enviably prosperous present, unless it regains its creative spark, it’s an open question whether it has much of a future.” - Dick Brass Microsoft’s Creative Destruction
“If Microsoft can find a way to combine success online with success in its traditional software business, the combination could be powerful.” – GigaOm 3 Surprise Scenarios for Microsoft’s Future
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Posted on January 31, 2010
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