Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: What do you see? (A game.)

Author:Robert Cassidy
Posted:7/15/2000; 10:52:14 AM
Topic:scriptingNews outline for 7/14/2000
Msg #:18665 (In response to 18660)
Prev/Next:18664 / 18666

These guys left the software business when they started getting out of the office. They are marketing, like it or not. Gates is Microsoft to millions of people. They respect MS because they respect Gates and his belief in MS. Jobs is Apple. People are exciting about Apple because Jobs is excited about Apple and what it is doing.

The success of a company is most definitely tied to how that guy does on stage. Steve Jobs has been illustrating that point for 20 years. If they think they are in the software business, what are they doing up there? Writing code? I don't think so...

What is .NET? I'm still not sure. Nor is the media by the headlines lately. MS so far has failed to adequately tell us why we must have it. That failure took place on a stage in Redmond. The words don't matter so much. Jobs ideas aren't really any better than anyone elses, but his presentation is. He makes most people want what he's talking about. He tells you why it's important to you personally. (which puts some people off... because it doesn't always feel the same once you get his thing home)

MS doesn't do that. They tell you why they are ushering in the next epoch and what you need to do to prepare and they sit there and toss you a buzzword salad. They will correct this later, when .NET is more real, but right now they blew it, IMO. I think so many people pointed to your read on it because you had an idea in your head which is good enough to assume that they are working in the same way. The buzzwords overlapped enough to assume that you got the concept. You got value from that presentation. You got a glimpse of where to go. I hated it. It casts my next decisions as a consumer in doubt whether they will be .NET compatable or not.

That doesn't happen with Apple any more. They don't tell you where they are going. They only tell you when they are there and expect you to work your ass off to get with the program. That's great for consumers - the message is Apple's alone. No confusion. To developers, it's hell, because they get blindsided by this approach (but you'll note that WWDC wasn't webcast, it was for developers, not consumers, and they didn't mix audiences). The CEO of iDrive was overheard at the last Macworld when Steve first mentioned iDisk: "Uh oh, this doesn't sound good..." He first heard about it at the same time as everyone else. I had an iDisk mounted before that CEO left the building. He must have been pissed. I was ecstatic.

That one hour on stage will be photocopied with decreasing quality over countless news outlets, watercoolers, and strategy meetings around the world. If Ballmer seems arrogant delivering .NET, then .NET will be an arrogant strategy. If Gates is excited about WindowsME, then WindowsME will be exciting. That's how the game is played.

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