This is what differentiates AI from the other Apple sites - in depth, well researched articles. I find it interesting to learn the history of stuff - I've been in the IT industry for over 20 years now and it's always great to hear how technology evolves (or not in the case of Microsoft).
More signs of Ballmer incompetence. That's what happens when the primary qualification for CEO is "Is he the company founder's college buddy?" I have AAPL stock so I'm luvin' it.
you posted this comment in right discussion thread this time, i was wondering why, you had posted this comment in discussion concerning 'NAND Flash Shortage'
With a failure rate of 54% and billions of dollars flushed down the toilet to offer extended warranties to placate those (justifiably) upset customers, I wouldn't consider the Xbox line as "quite decent".
The author has clearly spent a great deal of time writing the story.
There is a significant amount of research and facts included in what is in fact a well written story.
The issue here appears to be that you are in fact just lazy or a poor reader.
It is yet another example of the 'give it to me quick' culture.
Can't be bothered to put any effort in to read the story, so expects someone else to do it for them.
It is the same as all these american TV shows we get at the moment.
Stuff is repeated so many times to make sure people don't miss the point, because they are too lazy to concentrate. These shows could be 1/2 as long if they did not recap after every ad break.
Thank you! That was an excellent post that reflects my feelings exactly.
Microsofts problem is that they split development into a large number of groups who compete with one another.
Apple had this problem as well while working on Copeland. It was one of the reasons Copeland failed. Now Apple is lead from the top in a very directed way. MS doesn't have that kind of direction.
I can say from my own companies that without leadership and direction from the top, people are like a chicken without a head. At MS, it seems as though no one wants to take responsibility at the higher levels for the overall product design. When that's left to lower level management and engineering, things don't work out too well.
This isn't just my take, but one that has been written about many times over the years.
I'll tell you this, having been a partner in an electronics engineering company, you can't let the engineers make the product design and interface. If you do, you'll be overwhelmed with switches and knobs.
The same thing is true for software. Programmers are the worst people to take a product to completion. They need a strong hand on the rudder. Someone to say "no!". If that doesn't happen, you get a product like MS's.
Engineers like to add features. one of their favorite phrases is " Why don't we add...".
You have to tell them "NO!". And mean it.
I don't think that there's anyone at MS who can do that.
Funny, I see it entirely different. Product Management, Marketing and various execs are always asking for additional features. One exec once asked for us to add 'sexiness' to a few our our products. Dev is always having to manage limited resources and hence often has to say "No". Requests that cause bloat seem to come from outside of development, in my experience.
You are right about not letting engineers develop the interface though. Not because you will be overwhelmed with knobs, but I think because you will be underwhelmed. I often see developers leaving UI to the end and not putting much thought into the human side. The devs often expect the users would be fine having to run a script or make a manual change instead of providing a knob for them to use.
When I interviewed for a job with Microsoft a few months ago, I got a brief glimpse at how the "sausage is made". The reason that Microsoft so rarely presents a unified strategy for any given technology is that they operate internally as a confederacy of individual, siloed projects, each of which is led by a senior project manager who is responsible not only for the technical success of his team, but for evangelizing his team's efforts to ensure the fruits of their labor are eventually incorporated into a shipping project.
This in and of itself may not be unusual in a company as large as Microsoft. What was strange to me, and what I think accounts for the disparate array of competing products, is that there isn't strong guidance on how to align individual projects with a coherent corporate strategy. It seems that the PM who shouts loudest, and who has the strongest political ties, gets to ship his team's product, often at the expense of a competing project which may ultimately better align with corporate brand strategy.
There are many examples. The death of PlaysForSure is only the latest example. At one point, I think Microsoft was shipping 5 different, incompatible messaging standards. Look at the mess of different synchronization products and tools that seem to finally be stabilizing with Windows Live.
In most of these instances, the result is that a customer or partner who has invested heavily in Microsoft's latest and greatest solution is left with a technological dead end with no easy way to transition to a viable product.
It's almost as if they need a single leader, with good taste, who can look at each product before it ships and say "this sucks" or "this doesn't align with our brand" or ask "what is this good for?", before the decision to go to manufacturing is made.
It is truly delicious to watch Microsoft slowly descend into the deepest pits of hell.
Agreed. Wow! It's hard to believe Microsoft is this screwed up and yet it's very believable. This looks like the slow beginning of the end for Microsoft. They are slowly losing their control over the web with IE, a new generation of users are moving away from Office at significantly higher percentages, and Google will be releasing Chrome OS next year. Windows 7 had better be a consumer success because it's already looking as if businesses are still quite content with XP.
The impression you get of Microsoft is that it is like 'Office Space'. You have ten different bosses and no sense of direction or purpose.
Yesterday a respected subjective opinion columnist, a reviewer of consumer technology products and a commentator on technology issues, Walter Mossberg gets bashed left, up and down by the fannies who could not stomach Windows 7 receiving a stellar review from someone who for years has heaped praise upon Apple. SOmeone even posted that he was paid off by Microsoft to write that. Perhaps you all need to now read Walt's code of ethics:
Today that very legitimate news story is being superceded on here by "an anonymouse tipster's" story (anti Microsoft , of course) and is being welcomed on here as if he came down from the Mountain and received the 11th Commandment!
Yesterday a respected subjective opinion columnist, a reviewer of consumer technology products and a commentator on technology issues, Walter Mossberg gets bashed left, up and down by the fannies who could not stomach Windows 7 receiving a stellar review from someone who for years has heaped praise upon Apple. Someone even posted that he was paid off by Microsoft to write that.
Some "one". You're correct, that comment was made by just one person. I personally never was a fan of Mossberg, I find his attitude quite pompous in videos, and I always just saw him as a bit of an Apple fanboy. He's in that small group that doesn't want to offend Jobs too much in case they get their private club (Apple-journalist) membership revoked.
If he praises an Apple product to high heaven I still pay no attention to him. Whether I have a similar opinion or not than him on any subject I ignore his stuff. I think Windows 7 is a decent release, but I use a Mac because I prefer the Mac. People who prefer Windows 7 are welcome to, that's up to them. You need to chill dude, you've been posting some crazy stuff over the last few days and keep contradicting yourself. Don't respond with anger, seriously, just take some time away from this forum. Come back in a week or a few days with a fresh look on things, and relax a little. Stop talking this site so seriously or you'll end up popping a vein or something.
We know there or fanboys here, but there are also a number or objective people here too. You're going to find all kinds if you look hard enough. It's all just fun.
For the record: The UI on Windows 7 doesn't appeal to me like that of the UI on SL. I just think Apple have better taste when it comes to user interfaces. Overall I think SL provides a better user experience, and I think that difference is not small. For me it's more about the little details that make the OS great, and Apple has a better eye for those little details on the whole. As a result of how Apple works they seem to tend to get more right than other companies, for whatever reason. They invariably end up providing a far more cohesive product that's simpler to use than the other guy's, and that looks better too.
Some "one". You're correct, that comment was made by just one person. I personally never was a fan of Mossberg, I find his attitude quite pompous in videos, and I always just saw him as a bit of an Apple fanboy. He's in that small group that doesn't want to offend Jobs too much, in case he gets his private club (Apple-journalist) membership taking away.
If he praises an Apple product to high heaven I still pay no attention to him. Whether I have a similar opinion or not than him on any subject I ignore his stuff. I think Windows 7 is a decent release, but I use a Mac because I prefer the Mac. People who prefer Windows 7 are welcome to, that's up to them. You need to chill dude, you've be posting some crazy stuff over the last few days and keep contradicting yourself. Don't respond with anger, seriously, just take some time away from this forum. Come back in a week or a few days with a fresh look on things, and relax a little. Stop talking this site so seriously you'll end up popping a vein or something.
I prefer a Mac too and while not all Apple products are great, most are. But I will never be a fanboy of anything and close my mind to reality. However as other unbiased members on here stated yesterday (and I was really glad to hear them speak out) , different strokes for different folks. I don't know what's right for you and you don't know what's right for me.
you posted this comment in right discussion thread this time, i was wondering why, you had posted this comment in discussion concerning 'NAND Flash Shortage'
Heh, I had a Ballmer moment (of incompetence). Fixed it on the other thread already.
The author has clearly spent a great deal of time writing the story.
There is a significant amount of research and facts included in what is in fact a well written story.
The issue here appears to be that you are in fact just lazy or a poor reader.
It is yet another example of the 'give it to me quick' culture.
Can't be bothered to put any effort in to read the story, so expects someone else to do it for them.
It is the same as all these american TV shows we get at the moment.
Stuff is repeated so many times to make sure people don't miss the point, because they are too lazy to concentrate. These shows could be 1/2 as long if they did not recap after every ad break.
People like the one you're responding to are very scary. It seems like they want others to "tell" them what to think rather then investing the time and energy to make up their own mind. It a sad state that many seem to have sunk to.
Today that very legitimate news story is being superceded on here by "an anonymouse tipster's" story (anti Microsoft , of course) and is being welcomed on here as if he came down from the Mountain and received the 11th Commandment!
So sad and so very stupid.
This story has come from two anonymous sources from two separate websites. Please cite the last time that AI was incorrect with a story? The story may be anti-Microsoft but this is an Apple website and the story seems to be true.
I listened to the same stuff when people were angry when they published a story saying there would be no cameras inside the new touch. AI's sources are always right on and Dilger/McClean is no exception.
With a failure rate of 54% and billions of dollars flushed down the toilet to offer extended warranties to placate those (justifiably) upset customers, I wouldn't consider the Xbox line as "quite decent". And they've been in the game console business for years now, a competently run company would have already figured out how to avoid high catastrophic failure rates.
If I were a MSFT stockholder, and thankfully I'm not, I would be going to the annual meeting to ask "Why is Mr. Ballmer still running this company?"
Microsoft. . . a GM for the 21st century.
They've been in the game console business for years now... a competently run company would have already figured out a way to MAKE THE DIVISION PROFITABLE. Anyone who's against Microsoft's monopolistic practices who goes out and buys a Windows-subsidized XBox is pretty hypocritical, IMHO. How can you compete against a company/division which has no intention of being profitable?
(IMHO) their game consoles [..] are quite decent..
Have to disagree, my near-namesake. I've bought xboxes off ebay to run xbmc on, as media centres. The hardware is beefy, sure, but what kind of MORON product designer thinks that that level of fan-noise is acceptable in the living-room?
Apple knows that noise matters more than MHz. Most of the time..
Comments
This is what differentiates AI from the other Apple sites - in depth, well researched articles. I find it interesting to learn the history of stuff - I've been in the IT industry for over 20 years now and it's always great to hear how technology evolves (or not in the case of Microsoft).
Seconded!
More signs of Ballmer incompetence. That's what happens when the primary qualification for CEO is "Is he the company founder's college buddy?" I have AAPL stock so I'm luvin' it.
you posted this comment in right discussion thread this time, i was wondering why, you had posted this comment in discussion concerning 'NAND Flash Shortage'
How else can one account for the chunk missing in their logo ?
Apple is just sinfully delicious!
With a failure rate of 54% and billions of dollars flushed down the toilet to offer extended warranties to placate those (justifiably) upset customers, I wouldn't consider the Xbox line as "quite decent".
Hmm... I guess that aspect of it is mediocre!
How rude and ignorant of you.
The author has clearly spent a great deal of time writing the story.
There is a significant amount of research and facts included in what is in fact a well written story.
The issue here appears to be that you are in fact just lazy or a poor reader.
It is yet another example of the 'give it to me quick' culture.
Can't be bothered to put any effort in to read the story, so expects someone else to do it for them.
It is the same as all these american TV shows we get at the moment.
Stuff is repeated so many times to make sure people don't miss the point, because they are too lazy to concentrate. These shows could be 1/2 as long if they did not recap after every ad break.
Thank you! That was an excellent post that reflects my feelings exactly.
Microsofts problem is that they split development into a large number of groups who compete with one another.
Apple had this problem as well while working on Copeland. It was one of the reasons Copeland failed. Now Apple is lead from the top in a very directed way. MS doesn't have that kind of direction.
I can say from my own companies that without leadership and direction from the top, people are like a chicken without a head. At MS, it seems as though no one wants to take responsibility at the higher levels for the overall product design. When that's left to lower level management and engineering, things don't work out too well.
This isn't just my take, but one that has been written about many times over the years.
I'll tell you this, having been a partner in an electronics engineering company, you can't let the engineers make the product design and interface. If you do, you'll be overwhelmed with switches and knobs.
The same thing is true for software. Programmers are the worst people to take a product to completion. They need a strong hand on the rudder. Someone to say "no!". If that doesn't happen, you get a product like MS's.
Engineers like to add features. one of their favorite phrases is " Why don't we add...".
You have to tell them "NO!". And mean it.
I don't think that there's anyone at MS who can do that.
Funny, I see it entirely different. Product Management, Marketing and various execs are always asking for additional features. One exec once asked for us to add 'sexiness' to a few our our products. Dev is always having to manage limited resources and hence often has to say "No". Requests that cause bloat seem to come from outside of development, in my experience.
You are right about not letting engineers develop the interface though. Not because you will be overwhelmed with knobs, but I think because you will be underwhelmed. I often see developers leaving UI to the end and not putting much thought into the human side. The devs often expect the users would be fine having to run a script or make a manual change instead of providing a knob for them to use.
It is truly delicious to watch Microsoft slowly descend into the deepest pits of hell.
This in and of itself may not be unusual in a company as large as Microsoft. What was strange to me, and what I think accounts for the disparate array of competing products, is that there isn't strong guidance on how to align individual projects with a coherent corporate strategy. It seems that the PM who shouts loudest, and who has the strongest political ties, gets to ship his team's product, often at the expense of a competing project which may ultimately better align with corporate brand strategy.
There are many examples. The death of PlaysForSure is only the latest example. At one point, I think Microsoft was shipping 5 different, incompatible messaging standards. Look at the mess of different synchronization products and tools that seem to finally be stabilizing with Windows Live.
In most of these instances, the result is that a customer or partner who has invested heavily in Microsoft's latest and greatest solution is left with a technological dead end with no easy way to transition to a viable product.
It's almost as if they need a single leader, with good taste, who can look at each product before it ships and say "this sucks" or "this doesn't align with our brand" or ask "what is this good for?", before the decision to go to manufacturing is made.
Excellent article from the Prince as always.
It is truly delicious to watch Microsoft slowly descend into the deepest pits of hell.
Agreed. Wow! It's hard to believe Microsoft is this screwed up and yet it's very believable. This looks like the slow beginning of the end for Microsoft. They are slowly losing their control over the web with IE, a new generation of users are moving away from Office at significantly higher percentages, and Google will be releasing Chrome OS next year. Windows 7 had better be a consumer success because it's already looking as if businesses are still quite content with XP.
The impression you get of Microsoft is that it is like 'Office Space'. You have ten different bosses and no sense of direction or purpose.
Yesterday a respected subjective opinion columnist, a reviewer of consumer technology products and a commentator on technology issues, Walter Mossberg gets bashed left, up and down by the fannies who could not stomach Windows 7 receiving a stellar review from someone who for years has heaped praise upon Apple. SOmeone even posted that he was paid off by Microsoft to write that. Perhaps you all need to now read Walt's code of ethics:
http://allthingsd.com/about/walt-mossberg/ethics/
Today that very legitimate news story is being superceded on here by "an anonymouse tipster's" story (anti Microsoft , of course) and is being welcomed on here as if he came down from the Mountain and received the 11th Commandment!
So sad and so very stupid.
This is so pathetic.
Yesterday a respected subjective opinion columnist, a reviewer of consumer technology products and a commentator on technology issues, Walter Mossberg gets bashed left, up and down by the fannies who could not stomach Windows 7 receiving a stellar review from someone who for years has heaped praise upon Apple. Someone even posted that he was paid off by Microsoft to write that.
Some "one". You're correct, that comment was made by just one person. I personally never was a fan of Mossberg, I find his attitude quite pompous in videos, and I always just saw him as a bit of an Apple fanboy. He's in that small group that doesn't want to offend Jobs too much in case they get their private club (Apple-journalist) membership revoked.
If he praises an Apple product to high heaven I still pay no attention to him. Whether I have a similar opinion or not than him on any subject I ignore his stuff. I think Windows 7 is a decent release, but I use a Mac because I prefer the Mac. People who prefer Windows 7 are welcome to, that's up to them. You need to chill dude, you've been posting some crazy stuff over the last few days and keep contradicting yourself. Don't respond with anger, seriously, just take some time away from this forum. Come back in a week or a few days with a fresh look on things, and relax a little. Stop talking this site so seriously or you'll end up popping a vein or something.
We know there or fanboys here, but there are also a number or objective people here too. You're going to find all kinds if you look hard enough. It's all just fun.
For the record: The UI on Windows 7 doesn't appeal to me like that of the UI on SL. I just think Apple have better taste when it comes to user interfaces. Overall I think SL provides a better user experience, and I think that difference is not small. For me it's more about the little details that make the OS great, and Apple has a better eye for those little details on the whole. As a result of how Apple works they seem to tend to get more right than other companies, for whatever reason. They invariably end up providing a far more cohesive product that's simpler to use than the other guy's, and that looks better too.
Some "one". You're correct, that comment was made by just one person. I personally never was a fan of Mossberg, I find his attitude quite pompous in videos, and I always just saw him as a bit of an Apple fanboy. He's in that small group that doesn't want to offend Jobs too much, in case he gets his private club (Apple-journalist) membership taking away.
If he praises an Apple product to high heaven I still pay no attention to him. Whether I have a similar opinion or not than him on any subject I ignore his stuff. I think Windows 7 is a decent release, but I use a Mac because I prefer the Mac. People who prefer Windows 7 are welcome to, that's up to them. You need to chill dude, you've be posting some crazy stuff over the last few days and keep contradicting yourself. Don't respond with anger, seriously, just take some time away from this forum. Come back in a week or a few days with a fresh look on things, and relax a little. Stop talking this site so seriously you'll end up popping a vein or something.
I prefer a Mac too and while not all Apple products are great, most are. But I will never be a fanboy of anything and close my mind to reality. However as other unbiased members on here stated yesterday (and I was really glad to hear them speak out) , different strokes for different folks. I don't know what's right for you and you don't know what's right for me.
Peace.
you posted this comment in right discussion thread this time, i was wondering why, you had posted this comment in discussion concerning 'NAND Flash Shortage'
Heh, I had a Ballmer moment (of incompetence). Fixed it on the other thread already.
How rude and ignorant of you.
The author has clearly spent a great deal of time writing the story.
There is a significant amount of research and facts included in what is in fact a well written story.
The issue here appears to be that you are in fact just lazy or a poor reader.
It is yet another example of the 'give it to me quick' culture.
Can't be bothered to put any effort in to read the story, so expects someone else to do it for them.
It is the same as all these american TV shows we get at the moment.
Stuff is repeated so many times to make sure people don't miss the point, because they are too lazy to concentrate. These shows could be 1/2 as long if they did not recap after every ad break.
People like the one you're responding to are very scary. It seems like they want others to "tell" them what to think rather then investing the time and energy to make up their own mind. It a sad state that many seem to have sunk to.
This is so pathetic.
Today that very legitimate news story is being superceded on here by "an anonymouse tipster's" story (anti Microsoft , of course) and is being welcomed on here as if he came down from the Mountain and received the 11th Commandment!
So sad and so very stupid.
This story has come from two anonymous sources from two separate websites. Please cite the last time that AI was incorrect with a story? The story may be anti-Microsoft but this is an Apple website and the story seems to be true.
I listened to the same stuff when people were angry when they published a story saying there would be no cameras inside the new touch. AI's sources are always right on and Dilger/McClean is no exception.
Well, they certainly have a precedent.
What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the country!
*
With a failure rate of 54% and billions of dollars flushed down the toilet to offer extended warranties to placate those (justifiably) upset customers, I wouldn't consider the Xbox line as "quite decent". And they've been in the game console business for years now, a competently run company would have already figured out how to avoid high catastrophic failure rates.
If I were a MSFT stockholder, and thankfully I'm not, I would be going to the annual meeting to ask "Why is Mr. Ballmer still running this company?"
Microsoft. . . a GM for the 21st century.
They've been in the game console business for years now... a competently run company would have already figured out a way to MAKE THE DIVISION PROFITABLE. Anyone who's against Microsoft's monopolistic practices who goes out and buys a Windows-subsidized XBox is pretty hypocritical, IMHO. How can you compete against a company/division which has no intention of being profitable?
(IMHO) their game consoles [..] are quite decent..
Have to disagree, my near-namesake. I've bought xboxes off ebay to run xbmc on, as media centres. The hardware is beefy, sure, but what kind of MORON product designer thinks that that level of fan-noise is acceptable in the living-room?
Apple knows that noise matters more than MHz. Most of the time..