Scobleizer - Latest Comments in Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Kabala — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 17:53:21 -0000

You may heed your own advice Scoble. I can recall many times you hyping Microsoft stuff before it was shipped. Including search. This post makes me wonder how much of your previous posts were marketing bulls**t and how much was real. and how much I can trust your opinion going forward…

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

JK — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:58:22 -0000

The live.com Search Engine SUCKS!

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Crystal9154 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:07:21 -0000

SOme more reason why Microsoft blows. MS has introduce a new technology to compete with Adobe Flash/Air called Silverlight 2.0/MFP. The only problem is, if you are a VB programmer, MS cares little about you jumping in at the onset of this technology for the sake of your livlihood. MS is only providing tutorials/webcasts/videos for C# programmers. This irratates me because it gives C# programmers an edge of VB in the marketplace. I have decided to quit MS and move over to Adobe and larn Action Script. I have long been fed up wit MS showing favortism to C# programmers and treating us VB programmers as bastard step-children.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Christine — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 20:30:52 -0000

Google never ships a product everything is always “BETA”. Gmail has been in “BETA” for 2 years. At least the Microsoft guys take a shot at sending out real software.

Microsoft has NEVER shipped software that wasn't beta. Vista still isn't in a state where it should have been RTM, and they've had three quarters of a year to patch it.

Atleast Google is being honest about it.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Sammy Sosa — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:38:38 -0000

This guy just wants publicity. All bloggers at some point "Jump the Shark" this is joke. Google never ships a product everything is always "BETA". Gmail has been in "BETA" for 2 years. At least the Microsoft guys take a shot at sending out real software. I am tired of this BS all software is the same, some sucks some don't. If you don't like it don't buy it or use it.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

vidgrl — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 16:51:25 -0000

As an ex-microsoftie all I can say is sing it brother and sing it loud.

What'd I do after Microsoft? A web 2.0 video RSS system. Could I have done something this cool at MS? Never, and that's the shame. MS has good people and ideas but no ability to execute other than in the staid biz app world it first found success in.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

george — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:03:17 -0000

"Real artists ship"
[Steve Jobs]

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

LayZ — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:08:42 -0000

@268 "Why is it so hard to just spend the money on building something EXCELLENT? Then maybe it could sell ITSELF. Sigh."

While it's certainly easy to apply that to Microsoft and you would be right, it doesn't work that way in anything. If things worked that way there would be no need for ANY company to have a marketing department. Excellent products don't always end up being the best sellers. Is a Toyota Camry the best car? Is McDonald's the best hamburger? Is WalMart the best department store?

Not only do you have to build a good product, you have to figure out how to sell it (even if you selling model means strong arming OEM's). Rail against Microsoft all you want..they certainly have it coming...but you can't deny the fact they know how to market.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Ernst Kuschke (C# MVP) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:53:58 -0000

Robert,

Do you seriously link *popularity* directly to *credibility*? They are two very distinct things, and as you point out in almost each of your blog posts, you might be the former.

I used to read your blog when you started blogging, many years ago, and there were some interesting points. However, I unsubscribed about two / three years ago, I don't even recall exactly when, (long before you left Microsoft) because I just didn't find your popular opinion valuable (to me, personally) anymore.

MVP's are mostly technical guys & gals, and MVP status is *completely* linked to community activity, and renewable annually. (You should know that!) Because of the nature of MVP's, I think you might find that far less MVP's are interested in your ramblings than you like to believe.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Jordan — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:27:46 -0000

"Why is it so hard to just spend the money on building something EXCELLENT?"

Well, that's the real trick, isn't it? (As H. Solo once said.) It's hard because, well, it's hard, but it's made even harder if the corporate culture can't tell the difference between actual systemic thinking and sales thinking.

Marketing/Sales people are defined by their ability to answer a single question: "On a level playing field, with no difference between brands of soap, how can I make consumers prefer mine?"

Even the actual characteristics of the product -- its features, strengths, weaknesses, capabilities, drawbacks, are considered a sub-set of its saleability quotient. Marcus Aurelius said to ask of each thing, what is its nature; what is its purpose. Sales people do not think this way. They ask of each thing, how can I persuade somebody (or force somebody, or bribe somebody) into buying this?

You can sell soap this way, or perfume, or music, or even cars. But you can't do it with software because software is the most abstract product there is, and the true "nature and purpose" of the tool reveals itself too easily.

Balmer probably thinks that Google and Live Search are the same. He thinks he's getting screwed by somebody else's better marketing; this is how a soap manufacturer thinks. You can hear it in their whining about Apple: it's all "marketing," as if people choose iPod over Zune as frivolously as they choose Tide over Bold.

Back in the 1970s and 1980s, this kind of thinking was (obviously) effective for Microsoft because nobody knew any better. DOS? PS/2? Who cares? I just want my spreadsheet! But times have changed, and today's customers won't fall for this "Wow starts now" crap.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Adrian Pletosu — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:24:25 -0000

I certainly hope Google is going to move ahead of Microsoft in the long run. If it's not the technology advance everybody is touting - I am betting on people skills.

Just recently Google has been named the best place to work in America - out of thousands others. Where is Microsoft there? What is the ratio between disgruntled Microsoft employees and Google employees? In the end - either you like it or not - is the people who make or break it.

Google has a better staff retention coeficient than Microsoft and I hope they will continue having it.

It will take some time but Google will become what Microsoft was a while back - the "go to" company - the one any bright person wants to work for.

Then Microsoft will face the dinosaur's fate - crushed by its own weight.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Jayakumar Hariharan — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 06:22:18 -0000

Arguments do not make people use products, or buy them.
But personal conviction does.

Personally, I don't see anything replacing Microsoft Office, warts and all- on my desktop/ laptop for at least a couple of years, including free for download software and free hosted services.

Jay, from Bangalore
http://ideaburger.blogspot.com

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Lily — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 02:15:35 -0000

So refreshing to hear you say this. A Microsoft contractor, working at an ivy league institution, was pimping the "Live" search krap to the rest of us in the room, and even though MS products usually make me barf I thought I'd at least give it a try. I typed in five addresses. It basically was 1 for 5. Two of the others it couldn't even find, which were basically normal addresses. I was appalled, then realized how typical that was, compared to Google earth, which of course rocks. When I mentioned how kraptastic it was, he said MS's plan was to outspend Google on it so everyone would use it. Which brought me right back to my usual posture re: MS, of wanting to hurl. Just like Word Perfect. Don't bother to BUILD the better product, just try to crush the competition through a business strategy instead. And then to boast about how great krap is? Seriously appalling. Why is it so hard to just spend the money on building something EXCELLENT? Then maybe it could sell ITSELF. Sigh.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Jeff Cochran — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:34:37 -0000

First, a qualification. I am an MVP and I was at the Summit, though not at any of the Live presentations, so I can't vouch for any of the remarks made there.

But I do question why anybody considers that Microsoft's statement that they are "in it to win" is any kind of new information, or anything that anyone would get upset over. Microsoft is always in everything it does "to win." So is Apple, Google, Yahoo, Nike, Coca Cola and the lady that runs the souvenier shop down by the beach. Every business is. And the primary goal of every publicly owned company is to maximize return to the shareholders. Microsoft has been good at that over the years, as have most of the other companies at various periods of time.

Microsoft has rarely gotten the definitive product out the door on the first try. Or often even the second, third or later tries. But they also rarely abandon products. They keep pushing and improving and gaining ground until they have won. And then they keep pushing some more. There's nothing new here, nor anything new in their assertion that they will win, no matter what the category the remark is made about.

And Scoble is correct. Microsoft does not have a winning product in Internet Search. Nor have they ever. But they haven't given up working on it. And they have the money and the power to keep working on it, even if it stays in third place for several more years.

For what it's worth, the MVP's aren't an easy bunch to "talk into doing some cheerleading" and Scoble knows that. They've been bitching about Microsoft's Search for a decade...

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Ezekiel — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:15:08 -0000

The only reason people enjoy video games on PCs is that using PCs makes them so crazed with hatred, rage and genocidal fervor that they can only express it by chasing mutants through mazes and hatcheting them to death.

People who use Macs putter away doing their stuff.

People who use PCs curse at the computers all day, screaming themselves hoarse at the blue screens, aborts, random freezes, spontaneous reboots and non-stop screw ups. By lunchtime, they just want to pull out someone's arm and beat them to death with the wet end.

That's where the video game industry game from. Next week, I'll explain house paint industry.

Zeke

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Paul — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 21:53:54 -0000

Microsoft is what Ma-Bell was. (We are talking worldwide now and then just the USA).

The problem?

How to cut up Microsoft, before it is devoured.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Ari — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:16:26 -0000

@103: You simply do not get it. Online gaming? Where is the fun in that. How does blowing up or shooting your opponents online provide healthy enjoyment and social interaction?

I think Nintendo "gets it". They understand that gaming is not about how fancy your games are or having the most FPS on an online network. Gaming is about having fun and that you can have the most fun by playing against your friends in the same living room.

I have to say that the most fun I had playing any game was this past New Year's Eve at Christine's (girl next door). There was a decent sized group that stayed past midnight playing Cranium (a Canadian board game which combines trivial pursuit, charades and win-lose-or-draw). What made it fun was the social interaction. You cannot get that sort of game with online gaming.

If there was console that I would buy for just a console, it would be the Wii as my first choice. The PS3 looks attractive as a Bluray player that happens to be a console as well.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

El Nos — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 20:02:30 -0000

All this talk of Google being the next Microsoft is rubbish. They are nowhere near becoming this. It's obvious. Just look at their market capitalizations. Google is valued at a much higher P/E and once it misses forecasted earnings, it's going to fall like a ton of bricks. It doesn't even have the potential to grow to Microsoft's size. It's a one dimensional business in a very competitive environment.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Dean812 — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:35:42 -0000

Really the bottom line for Microsoft is this; They are the once great giant who didnt change with the times. They havent completely ignored the security issue BUT what can they do, insecurity is built in to the OS because of its base. Nothing to fix there. You either put up with it or you switch to a Mac.

Which leads me to my second point, people are leaving MS in droves for Apple's Mac. Why? Because it just makes sense. I mean its a no-brainer. These Macs don't and HAVENT ever gotten viruses, they dont get spyware, malware, they dont stop woring for no reason like PCs dod, they are just a stable, very beautiful way to do your computing.

This is a common story in the world of business. Companies that fail to see where things are going fall away and become footnotes of the progression of their market. Its happened before, and trust me, it WILL happen again. Why ANYONE would use a Microsoft based computer is trylu beyond me. I mean WHY would you want to do something the hard way? Since Macs swicthed to Intel, they are as compatiable for Windows and Windows based programs as a true pc would be. There zero reason NOT to swicth to a mac and HUNDREDS of reasons to get the hell away from an insecure, unstable, and very expensive OS like Windows.

Do yourself a favour, buy a Mac and you will wonder why the hell you didnt do it sooner. Much sooner. I know I did.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Richard Steven Hack — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 18:20:15 -0000

Microsoft priorities?

Making Bill Gates rich.

That's it. Period. Full stop.

Anything that doesn't do that - like security, reliability, common sense - goes by the wayside.

Look at the latest spin by Microsoft - Vista security holes are supposed to be rated down because Vista has more security features than XP!

Oh, please.

Then they roll out another Microsoft blogger with a comparison of security vulnerabilities between OS's (using the same crap criteria that has been discredited a thousand times in the past). Guess who comes out on top?

Why? Because Vista is going nowhere and OneCare is eating people's Outlook emails, that's why. So the spin machine rolls into action immediately.

Let me clue you people in.

ANYBODY at Microsoft who is allowed to talk to the public is a LIAR. ANYBODY. EVERYBODY.

(Except that guy last week who described OneCare as "missing bits and pieces" and "should not have been released" - and he's undoubtedly on the unemployment line this week.)

Microsoft does not sell software. It sells LIES.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Ezekiel — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:41:13 -0000

Mr Weller,

These are exactly the kinds of hooks that cults used to keep people locked into place:

1 - The mission is essential for advancing humanity
2 - Taking all this abuse will be worthwhile, because the institution is finally reforming and can do its best work
3 - The members are passionate and therefore righteous and I am among them

Read Churches That Abuse or really any accepted work on cult mind control. Get out of there. At some level, you know you want to escape.

Zeke

1) I continue to feel that my job does good things for good people. I’m passionate about what I do and the product I promote to people
2) I somehow believe the Microsoft culture will change in a significant way in the near future. Then again, I’ve thought that for too long now. Feel free to accuse me of rampant optimism.
3) We have an ENORMOUS supply of passionate developers that are engaged in different technologies, doing really cool things

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Robert Scoble — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 17:39:09 -0000

#252: Microsoft talks about "winning" all the time. Here's Steve Ballmer talking about winning in his interview with me. http://channel9.msdn.com/Sh...

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Guiness — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:52:29 -0000

Robert: “maybe they ARE looking for me when they type Robert. PC World named me one of the most important people on the Internet. So did Forbes.”

Mike: Every once in a while, the ego shines on through the rants :)

////////

"Every once in a while"? Scoble aggrandizes himself in nearly every one of his blogs.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Jordan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:36:37 -0000

@ Dave 251,

Makes a great deal of sense. I respectfully refer you back to my earlier comment 202, where I'm struggling to make a similar point in a more convoluted fashion.

The venn diagram of the company and the venn diagram of Windows are fundamentally interrelated; formal systemic errors in one cause errors in the other.

Re: Microsoft tells MVPs “we’re in it to win” — Really?

Guiness — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 16:32:17 -0000

"Brian: I’m discouraged by people who assume that I made my name at Microsoft. I had more than 1,000 readers a day when I joined Microsoft. I planned conferences for programmers in the 1990s. I did a LOT BEFORE I was a Microsoft employee (and, was quoted in Time Magazine saying that Microsoft should split itself up BEFORE I was an employee).

---

LOL
Robert, when you were at MS, your blog carried some weight *because* you were at MS. Now, you are just another self-appointed know-it-all blogger (that in reality knows very little), and the only reason, the ONLY reason you get much of a following at all is because you were at MS. Believe me, your blog, objectively speaking, sucks badly. The writing is horrible, the topics are repetitive in the extreme, the layout is barebones. If not for your MS history, you'd have veryl little following at all.

Sorry, but you are NOT Plato, Aristotle, or Socrotese. You're nothing more than a blogger using your MS-history to give your word psuedo-gravitas. That's it! Get over yourself, please.