The December Wired cover article on by Steven Levy, "Saving Microsoft: Can Ray Ozzie Fix the House That Bill Built?" left me with the weird thought that Microsoft may become relevant again.
Ozzie's vision of "software + service" is compelling. They actually have the scale to pull off what Apple envisioned with mobileme - and the monopoly money necessary build services and tools that will be compelling plays for info consumers.
The pieces of Azure (an "operating system for the cloud"), Zurich (web apps and services on top of Azure), Live Mesh (the syncing tools for content/devices), and Office Web Apps would be a combination that no other competitor could match.
The price points can meet each part of the market - with the enterprise paying for no adds, features, and support - and the consumer using ad funded services. It is also in this strategy that the Yahoo buy makes sense.....as the software+service play would fit well with the Yahoo Web apps, communities, and brand.
What I see as missing is hardware. X Box Live has shown that Microsoft can combine hardware and software.....I hope that Microsoft comes out with a Netbook that is so tightly coupled with Windows that it actually works. Hardware should go low and high end (netbooks and high end cloud servers). I've also thought that Google should bring out a Chrome/Android netbook with Linux OS and running everything through Chrome).
Ozzie's Microsoft would be a company that we could believe in. Reading about the culture he is trying to build with his team is a refreshing contrast to the adolescence of Google and cult of Jobs and secrecy at Apple. Ozzie has always been one of the good guys.
Why does this matter for us and education?
1. I've always thought that there is a good chance that Blackboard will be purchased - and Microsoft or Google make the most sense. We could easily find ourselves in a Microsoft world.
2. A relevant Microsoft - particularly if they manage to capture the low-end of the market with either their own Netbook or if Windows starts working well on these machines - would mean that we would have a heterogenous environment for years to come. The Apple penetration will continue to grow - but will not become dominant.
3. A relevant Microsoft is good for our industry - as this will push Google further to innovate and Apple further up the high end of machines and services.
For the first time in years I can envision Microsoft being relevant to our world - and now is the time to start paying attention.
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