Thanks for asking great questions today. We had a great day here in the Scoble house. Had a nice goodbye party with tons of great people (we had just as many Google employees at the house today as attended Gnomedex yesterday). Lots of good New Orleans cookin! Anyone wanna come over and help eat it? The beer is still cold. Anyway, let’s get started.
BRAD ASKED: “What’s the one thing your most proud of about your time at MSoft, the one thing you might do differently, and the one thing you didn’t get to do but wanted to?”
MY ANSWER: Getting Steve Ballmer to change Microsoft’s support of a Washington State Gay Rights bill which led to its passing. That was probably the riskiest thing I did but I told my mom I’d look for ways to stand up for minorities in society and glad to help play a part in that. What might I do differently? I’m still sad I didn’t learn to program. I think it hurt my credibility with developers both inside and outside the company and I wish I had more skills. Even now I’m finding that I’m interested in learning more about how to build things rather than just mouth off about them. What was the one thing I wanted to do? I really wanted to go to China and India and see what Microsoft was doing there. I was planning a trip to India when I decided to change jobs. Hopefully I’ll still get to do something like that but it’ll be looking at Microsoft and other software companies from the outside rather than the inside.
BROOK ASKED: “What is Microsoft’s internal perception of what you did for them, and have the noticed a change in public perception?”
MY ANSWER: There are more than 60,000 employees at Microsoft and the perception would vary widely from employee to employee. Many employees (nay, most) still don’t know who I am or care what’s going on in the blogging world. But, today I had more than 100 people at my house, a large percentage of whom were Microsoft employees (including executives from Research and Audio) so I think that demonstrates the extraordinary love I’ve felt from most Microsoft employees that I’ve run into over the years. As to change in public perception. It’s hard to sense that, but in internal measurements I have seen show sizeable movements in our survey results. I really only cared about what customers thought anyway and I keep hearing that Microsoft is an easier company to deal with now than it was four years ago. Here’s another way to look at it: today you can go to Google, search “OneNote blog” and find Chris Pratley who runs the OneNote team. You can leave him a comment and tell him you think his product sucks. And you can see how he, and his team, reacts to that. To me that’s a huge change from how I used to help people in newsgroups before blogs.
STEVEN ASKS: “What can you tell us about RSS/OPML/XMLRPC and the internal opinions of Microsoft? (ie. Don’t care so much about RSS readers, dime a dozen)”
This is an area where we’ve seen Microsoft make huge adoptions. When I started at Microsoft three years ago they didn’t have RSS in any product. Now they have it in lots including Sharepoint, which is the intranet tool used by many many Fortune 100 companies. I can’t understate that enough. And, if I helped by saying that Microsoft product planners and marketers who didn’t support RSS should be fired then I’m very happy to have played my part. OPML is also supported by Outlook for inbound and outbound RSS feeds. I think you should watch what Ray Ozzie does in this area very closely. The stuff I saw before I left was astounding.
HE ALSO ASKS: “You switched to WordPress because Matt added OPML support, do you still use Manilla, Frontier or the OPML Editor and are Microsoft doing anything at all within this realm?”
Sharepoint looks very close to Manila. I am still using the OPML Editor and will use it more in the future at PodTech.
RANDY ASKS: “Now for a tough question Robert. Do you think Windows is a drag on product teams, not a factor, or a benefit to other product teams? Explain.”
It’s both a drag and a benefit. First, the drags. Windows only ships once every two to five years (at least the consumer Windows like Windows 95, 98, ME, XP, and now Windows Vista). So, if a developer comes up with some killer new feature he or she needs to wait until the next version will ship. Features under development today won’t ship until 2008 or later. I know a lot of people who like working more on Windows Live technologies (like Virtual Earth) for just that reason — they can ship new features every few weeks and don’t need to wait for Windows to ship.
Benefit? Well, anything you put into Windows will be used by millions of people. Even a feature hidden deep inside a control panel will get massive usage. There aren’t many software projects in the world where you can say “my little tiny feature will get used by millions, or maybe hundreds of millions of people around the world.”
That said, I’d like to see Windows be a bit more agile in shipping out new features. I want a Media Player, for instance, that has podcasting support built in. How long are we going to have to wait?
BRIAN ASKS: “Is there a super-duper secret backhannel method for communicating directly to Bill Gates?”
Nope. He answers email sent from Microsoft employees to billg@microsoft.com (he answered a couple of mine directly which always thrilled me and other employees who got this treatment). Employees can also submit “ThinkWeek” papers directly to him. I spent some time looking through the ThinkWeek site (it’s open to every employee) and you can see BillG interacting with tons of different employees right there. So can any employee interact with him.
Oh, and customers can email him at the same address, but then it’s a little more likely that one of his assistants will answer it.
Getting into his office physically is a bit harder, but not impossible. The best way is to write a killer ThinkWeek paper about something that he wants to learn more about. Some of my writing was included in a paper written by Lili Cheng and a few other researchers and that turned into a 1.5-hour conversation about RSS and blogs. That turned into public statements by BillG and let to RSS being included in many projects throughout the company.
JEFFREY ASKS: “Who’s Mini?”
I don’t know. He says he met me once, though. The only guy I know who knows him is Jay Greene who is a journalist at BusinessWeek. I asked him to sell Mini out, but, of course, Jay refused. I’m sure Jay will be happy to confirm to anyone that Mini isn’t me, though. (I’ve been asked that more than once lately).
GEORG ASKS: “I’m from Austria and will be in October in San Francisco. Stupid question: Will there be something like a geek-dinner?”
I’ve been telling everyone that all you need to do is bring a bottle of wine and you are welcome at our new house in Half Moon Bay (we have a guest room and we love meeting bloggers, geeks, developers, interesting people). And, of course, we’ll have lots of fun events.
GABE ASKS: “Three things you would change at Microsoft?”
1) I would incubate more products outside of Microsoft for a longer period of time. What do I mean by that? Well, I’ve seen lots of things change this industry that were done by small teams of people. Xbox? Two people. .NET? A handful. Live.com? A handful. Or, look outside the company. How many people built my favorite TechMeme? One! The problem is that if any team develops something that’s cool it’s brought into the main mother ship very quickly now. That slows them down as they now need to deal with being dependent on other people and other teams. In fact watch what Google does. They keep teams separate which makes them look chaotic and not strategic but it lets them innovate longer before they get sucked into the “integration” phase. I’d also like to see teams forced to get some momentum on their own before being integrated into Office or Windows or Live.com. The MSN Spaces team, for instance, got so many users so fast that they needed to focus most of their energy the first year on infrastructure rather than features. If they hadn’t been integrated into MSN Messenger for another year maybe that would have forced the team to compete on the basis of sheer features instead of integration. But, keep in mind that I’m full of shit too and doing what I say might have really screwed up things. That’s what’s fun about business. No one really knows the right idea until after it’s been discovered, implemented, and customers chime in.
2) I would actually start a new company that’s designed to destroy the old one. Xerox got very close to doing that with Xerox PARC, but the executives weren’t able to pull the trigger. Imagine what our industry would have been like if the executives there HAD pulled the trigger?
3) I would put a single person in charge of naming and fire anyone who didn’t listen to the dictator. I’d do the same thing about corporate image. Same with conference planning. Same with advertising. Committees just suck the soul out of the best ideas. On the other hand, I would hate to be that person cause if you screwed up you’d have no one else to blame.
HE ALSO ASKS: “Three companies you would purchase and or merge with?”
I always wished we got along better with Sony. Some parts of Sony just make beautiful products. I used a Sony camcorder. I’m watching a Sony TV. It’s stunning. Jeff Sandquist loves his new tiny Vaio notebook. But, integrating Microsoft’s corporate cultures would be very difficult, and the DOJ would never allow the game divisions to exist in the same company.
SCOTT ASKS: “What didn’t Microsoft want you to blog about?”
The one thing I was asked to stay away from was legal issues. Mostly for my own protection. Executives told me stories about spending months away from home to spend time in courtrooms. They all say it was the worst experience of their lives and they didn’t wish that on their worst enemies.
JIM ASKS: “Does Ray Ozzie have what it takes to change the Microsoft macro development culture from cathedral to bazaar?”
Yes. I came very close to staying at Microsoft just because of Ray. I hope everyone gives him a chance.
CHRIS ASKS: “Why do people hate Microsoft?”
Because Microsoft has treated many companies and people poorly. I have lots of stories about that. Remember before I worked at Microsoft? Someone at Microsoft tried to get me fired from a job. I’ve talked with lots of journalists who feel that Microsoft just tries to control what they write and don’t talk with them like human beings.
But, there’s something deeper. It’s the same reason I hate the Yankees. We hate entities that are on top. Our culture loves to make people bigger than life and then rip them down. That culture is exactly why so many people read gossip magazines (or, in our industry, why ValleyWag is already so popular).
UMA ASKS: “So what are your thoughts about fixing the blogging mess at Microsoft (since now you can really speak your mind ?)”
If you think it’s a mess at Microsoft you should hear stories from other companies. Most other companies’ employees in the world aren’t allowed to blog at all. Personally I LOVE the mess. It creates opportunities for you! If you think it’s a mess, clean up something. Invite people out for coffee and see if you can work together with other people to make it better.
I keep bugging execs to blog, for instance. They’ll get a clue about the power of doing this sooner or later. If they don’t, they’ll be fired and then the “clued in” leaders will get a shot. Just stick around. That type of change in the corporate world is coming and coming fast. The audiences are just getting too connected. Look at how fast my story broke. All you need to do is tell 15 bloggers something and if it rings true it’ll get repeated around the world. That’s what gets executives fired.
That’s what I was trying to warn Steve Ballmer about. The fact that he isn’t talking with the grassroots IS getting noticed.
GERT ASKS: “f you had a good/huge say in the development of Windows Vista: what would be the first thing to be changed, added, …”
First of all, the best stuff I’ve seen is the small things. 1,000 small things put together make a great experience. Things that bug me? The small things. The UI that isn’t consistent across all apps and all Windows. Why is that? Because Microsoft internally is like a hundred companies all under the same roof. Those companies often have their own ideas about how things should be done. It comes out in the small things. And, conversely, when things enthrall you that’s probably where tons of small things were done well.
But, specifically? My computer doesn’t understand that I have different roles. Why does it look the same when I’m using Second Life as it does when I’m watching a movie or as it does when I’m editing my blog or when I’m working on a spreadsheet. My computer is stupid (keep in mind I’m using Maryam’s new MacBook Pro and it’s just as stupid). I’d like it to understand a lot more about the roles I’m in and bring me experiences (and files and apps) that match those roles. For instance, when I’m watching a movie, why doesn’t my Sidebar pull up a YouTube gadget that lets me watch more videos after my movie is done? It should recognize that I’m in a movie-watching, or entertainment role. When I’m working on a spreadsheet, that stuff should go away and I’d love to see things like Money, a calculator, financial tools, stock reports, and other stuff that’d be in a “money management” role. But, our computers are stupid.
Don’t even start thinking about Steve Gillmor’s “attention” ideas.
ALFRED ASKS: “Who is the person you most wanted to interview for Channel 9 but didn’t get to interview?”
David Cutler. He is more responsible for the kernel than anyone else but doesn’t give interviews anymore. I heard that he wants his work to speak for him, which I respect. But I’d still love to interview him cause those of us using Windows really are playing inside his ideas and that would be fascinating.
A ASKS: “What would you say is the biggest flaw at Microsoft?”
Its inability to see small things when those things are still small. Did Microsoft see RSS eight years ago? No. Did it see blogging five years ago? No. Did it see search eight years ago? No.
It’s the small things that’ll do a big company in.
JOHNNY ASKS: “Do you think Microsoft should have tried to be more international and less USA-national?”
That’s always a problem in the tech industry, but Microsoft actually is a leader here. Most products are released in 26 languages. One video I did that still is in the hopper on Channel 9 is one I did with the localization teams. Really great stuff they do. But, there’s more to do. Microsoft has offices all over the world, though, and that’s a huge strength that it has that it should use more.
CAROLUS ASKS: “Now that you are leaving, are you going to buy a Mac, and only run windows when you absolutely have to?”
Yes. I am buying a Mac. But I’m also buying another Tablet PC.
I will probably run Windows Vista on my Mac. I’m using Maryam’s new MacBook Pro right now and I still don’t like OSX as much as Vista. But, I know lots of people don’t agree with me there. Yes, I’ll use Windows Vista as my main OS. The latest builds are really looking great, although I’m still having problems with drivers here and there.
SHE ALSO ASKS: “When will Mac and Windows become one?”
Well, with Parallels and BootCamp, it’s getting closer. But, I doubt they’ll ever be totally one. There are too many APIs on each one that only work well natively. Rebuilding those so that they both would run together would be akin to tearing down New York and rebuilding it from scratch. Not gonna happen due to sheer economics. Not to mention that the people who built the buildings aren’t working in the industry anymore.
SEARCHENGINES ASKS: “1- http/xml ultimately became known as AJAX last year – and took off – why did microsoft not attempt to promote the technology and publicize it.”
Whenever you ask a question like this you need to realize that Microsoft is a business. Now, phrase the question again: “what would the business value be of publicizing a marketing term like AJAX?” I don’t see any. What do you see? I think Microsoft is completely happy simply to employ Scott Isaacs and other geeks who developed the core technology underneath AJAX.
SEARCHENGINES ALSO ASKS: “MSN search engine only became a unique engine last year – why did Microsoft go YEARS without attempting to create an individual search engine.”
Because it didn’t look like search was going to be a big business. Google, in fact, almost went out of business. The other day I met a guy who worked at Exodus and told me that Google almost was closed down because it couldn’t pay its bills. It wasn’t until AdSense came along that Microsoft woke up to the fact that there was a business there.
Google was a small thing that Microsoft missed.
JACK ASKS: “Do you have a non-disclosure agreement with MS?, if there isn’t, will you join Google instead of PodTech?”
Yes, I do. But, I think what you are really asking is about a non-compete agreement. I think I have one of those too.
I’m not going to Google and doubt I would. Although if they want to offer me millions of dollars I sure would listen! Heheh.
JACK ASKS: “How should Microsoft view its competition-should it focus on the bigger competitors or the smaller ones?”
If you are building music stars, can you build them by copying Elvis or the Beattles? No.
Microsoft should focus on doing interesting things with software that help humans. If it does that, it’ll thrive for a long long time. If it just copies its competitors it’ll find that it’ll be increasingly difficult to hire the smartest people. Which will cause them to go into a death spiral. Smart people want to build innovative new things. They don’t want to copy what someone else does.
Hey, look at maps. No need to copy. None of the big companies has let me put reviews on addresses on maps. Wake me up when the innovation is done!
Translation: focus on doing things to help people live their lives and the rest of it will take care of themselves. That said, do watch what your competitors are doing to see if they learned something you didn’t see.
BRETT ASKS: “The actual number isn’t important but I wanted to know if there *was* a number that would have kept you at Microsoft? Did Microsoft ever ask you, “What would it take to keep you?” or were you leaving regardless of what they could have done?”
I’ve thought about that a lot. I’m sure that there’s a number that would have gotten me to stay for a while longer. But, I don’t believe that really would have mattered long term.
I’m a guy who likes taking risks and trying new things. As my mom was dying I realized I just wanted to shake my life up a lot and try something dramatically new/different. Having failure on the table again as a possiblity was a bit part of my decision. Oh, and getting rid of our twice-a-month commute down to California to see Patrick.
RONPIH ASKS: “Why did you decide to take a job at Microsoft?”
Because it is a company I admired and wanted to learn more about. And, because an executive bought a Tablet PC and was so passionate about gadgets that we’d have interesting conversations. Then he started reading my blog and asked if I’d be interested in joining the evangelism group.
Having someone show some interest in me and my career was intoxicating and exciting.
RONPIH ALSO ASKS: “What, if anything, changed your perceptions of the reasons you decided to take a job at Microsoft in the time you worked there?”
My reasons were only strengthened. It is — by far — the most interesting company in the world right now. Google seems sexier, but does Google have a research division? Does it have an Xbox team? Does it do everything from mice to Hotmail? No. Microsoft stands alone in my mind. It also is the most interesting organization of humans that I can think of. Despite its flaws it still builds the software that most of us use everyday.
RONPIH ALSO ASKS: “What obstacles did you encounter that made your job more difficult than it had to be?”
That’s a hard one to answer. I didn’t hit a lot of the stuff you might expect. Yeah, PR at the beginning gave the Channel 9 team a bit of trouble but we won them over.
I think that if there’s a thing that made my job more difficult it was the constant and increasing email load. I wish I had the temerity to ask for help with that.
RONPIH AGAIN: “What made you consider an offer from another company?”
I helped write the offer. So, of course I was interested in it! 
I covered this already in blog posts before. 1) I saw a dramatic new user model developing (content for portable devices and computers) and I wanted to try some new ideas I had. 2) I wanted to be back down in the Bay Area to be closer to our families. 3) I liked John Furrier and believed in him. 4) The team he was building was top-notch and interesting. 5) There was a considerable potential reward for the risk I was taking (I was trading in the best job in the industry for something unknown and that had the potential of failure).
RONPIH: “Would you consider working at Microsoft again in the future?”
Absolutely.
RONPIH: “What advice would you give to your successor?”
Be yourself. Don’t try to be my successor. I don’t wish that on anyone. Could Elvis copy the Beattles? No.
Build relationships with as many people as you can. Listen to feedback, particularly the harsh stuff (lots of geeks don’t like it when they are told off, instead, assume that they are right and you are wrong).
RICHARD ASKS: “What really happened to Longhorn? It was such an ambitious and groundbreaking product around PDC 2003. Vista is NOT Longhorn!”
Huh? Name one thing that Longhorn would have let you do that Vista doesn’t let you do.
DMAD ASKS: “Why did you keep whining about your less than $100,000/yr salary? Do you were fairly compensated
for carrying around a camera and interviewing people that actually worked on products that were intended to make money for the company?”
Because I was getting offers for more that I kept turning down. My value to the company had gone way behind just “carrying around a camera.” Demonstrates that you have no clue about what I actually did. One example? I spoke at Google to Google’s best customers and they gave me a better rating than 98% of the other speakers. Is that valueable? You betcha and companies were willing to pay for that. Why do you think that Steve Jobs is worth billions? Most of what he does is communicate with other people.
JAWAHAR ASKS: “Will you revive “talkingmoose” ?”
Hmmm, that might be fun, but I really don’t think a character blog or an anonymous blog is the best use of my time.
ENZO ASKS: “For the upcoming generations, like those whom have just graduated from college or high school, would you recommend working at Microsoft? Or would you suggest anywhere else?”
I can’t answer that. For some people I’d definitely recommend working at Microsoft. For others a startup might be more appropriate. It depends on what you’re trying to do. For instance, Emre, who works in Research, just came to Microsoft from Stanford. He said he considered startups and other big companies and no other company he researched was doing as much interesting work as Microsoft was doing.
Joe, we are not a constitutional democracy, we are a Republic… big difference.
as for gays being fired from a job, simply because they are gay? That is already illegal. but it is illegal under an umbrella of issues that are illegal to fire someone for, and have been for some time now.
MS is among the frontrunners in the business world for allowing same sex benefits…
what Robert supposedly “talked Steve Balmer into supporting” was SPECIAL rights, for an already protected class of people; the American Worker.
Joe, we are not a constitutional democracy, we are a Republic… big difference.
as for gays being fired from a job, simply because they are gay? That is already illegal. but it is illegal under an umbrella of issues that are illegal to fire someone for, and have been for some time now.
MS is among the frontrunners in the business world for allowing same sex benefits…
what Robert supposedly “talked Steve Balmer into supporting” was SPECIAL rights, for an already protected class of people; the American Worker.
Lauri, then you might explain why many Microsoft employees wrote me and said “thanks” and explained why they remained in the closet. See, even if something is illegal, still doesn’t make it uncommon. It’s very hard to prove discrimination, too. Truth is we don’t have many people who have an open mind to people who are different than themselves.
Lauri, then you might explain why many Microsoft employees wrote me and said “thanks” and explained why they remained in the closet. See, even if something is illegal, still doesn’t make it uncommon. It’s very hard to prove discrimination, too. Truth is we don’t have many people who have an open mind to people who are different than themselves.
Lauri, you’ve obviously never been to New Orleans. Or Las Vegas during New Years. Or, San Francisco during Bay to Breakers. There are naked heterosexuals there in public. In Berkeley one naked guy even went to UC Cal.
And we don’t live in a Democracy. If we did we’d see the majority beat up the minority everytime.
Sounds like you’d be happy in Nazi Germany. There the majority had its say.
I’m more into protecting minorities from being crapped on by the majorities.
Lauri, you’ve obviously never been to New Orleans. Or Las Vegas during New Years. Or, San Francisco during Bay to Breakers. There are naked heterosexuals there in public. In Berkeley one naked guy even went to UC Cal.
And we don’t live in a Democracy. If we did we’d see the majority beat up the minority everytime.
Sounds like you’d be happy in Nazi Germany. There the majority had its say.
I’m more into protecting minorities from being crapped on by the majorities.
Not to mention quite a few beaches in Florida, Hawaii, and California. Even the ones who wear clothes only cover a few square inches of their bodies.
Not to mention quite a few beaches in Florida, Hawaii, and California. Even the ones who wear clothes only cover a few square inches of their bodies.
Robert, I lived in New Orleans for about two years.. so, try again.
And are you calling me a Nazi? Wow… truly classy. And since the gays are NOT in fact “being crapped on” by the majority, this issue is less than interesting to me.
Guess you just cannot answer it truthfully; you’d prefer to have our laws legislated to us, than let the public have any say. Its the way of the lefties … make laws that the rest of us spend decades trying to extract back out, since they are wholly unecessary.
And for being such an advocate for “tolerance” you have shown zip, zero none for anyone that doesnt agree with your leftie bent. Good luck with that.
Robert, I lived in New Orleans for about two years.. so, try again.
And are you calling me a Nazi? Wow… truly classy. And since the gays are NOT in fact “being crapped on” by the majority, this issue is less than interesting to me.
Guess you just cannot answer it truthfully; you’d prefer to have our laws legislated to us, than let the public have any say. Its the way of the lefties … make laws that the rest of us spend decades trying to extract back out, since they are wholly unecessary.
And for being such an advocate for “tolerance” you have shown zip, zero none for anyone that doesnt agree with your leftie bent. Good luck with that.
One more thing; as for the gays who are in the closet still? That isnt because of what society says; its because they are inherently dishonest people. Dishonest with themselves, and everyone around them.
If we have to give them special rights so they can come out of the closet, then thats just sad. Nobody makes that decision but THEM. Not us.
And before you try that childishness of “guess YOU dont know any gay people!!!” I have a great brother who is gay, as well as a few uncles .. various friends, and our family doctor for the first 8 years we lived here.
Go try painting someone less intelligent into a corner with your hand wringing… it aint working.
One more thing; as for the gays who are in the closet still? That isnt because of what society says; its because they are inherently dishonest people. Dishonest with themselves, and everyone around them.
If we have to give them special rights so they can come out of the closet, then thats just sad. Nobody makes that decision but THEM. Not us.
And before you try that childishness of “guess YOU dont know any gay people!!!” I have a great brother who is gay, as well as a few uncles .. various friends, and our family doctor for the first 8 years we lived here.
Go try painting someone less intelligent into a corner with your hand wringing… it aint working.
and one last thing, then im truly done with discussing anything of merit on your blog.
the naked gays who simulate sex on the streets in their Pride Parades are just an embarrassment to society as a whole. so, comparing a girl in a bikini on a beach to a gay male in assless chaps simulating sex with his partner of the moment is a bit of a stretch, even for you.
and one last thing, then im truly done with discussing anything of merit on your blog.
the naked gays who simulate sex on the streets in their Pride Parades are just an embarrassment to society as a whole. so, comparing a girl in a bikini on a beach to a gay male in assless chaps simulating sex with his partner of the moment is a bit of a stretch, even for you.
Lauri,
I didn’t say you’re a Nazi. Please be a careful reader. I said you would have LOVED the 1940s society in Germany. Why? Cause the majority kicked ass over the minority.
I answered the question very straightforward: we live in a representative democracy. Where law rules, not the mob. You want the mob to rule. I don’t.
I’ve seen what that gets us. Our Republican mob is taking away rights left and right.
And, if you think Gays are treated equally well everywhere (even in California, where I have observed hate acts on playgrounds and murders on the street of San Francisco) you are drinking better Merlot than I am on this Fourth of July. Can I have some?
Since you lived in New Orleans (I’m still not sure about that) then you might talk to Ernie the Attorney and hear his stories of sex acts that take place during Mardi Graw. Heterosexual ones. Right out in front of everyone. And I’m not talking about the flashing of mamary glands that Maryam and I saw either.
Lauri,
I didn’t say you’re a Nazi. Please be a careful reader. I said you would have LOVED the 1940s society in Germany. Why? Cause the majority kicked ass over the minority.
I answered the question very straightforward: we live in a representative democracy. Where law rules, not the mob. You want the mob to rule. I don’t.
I’ve seen what that gets us. Our Republican mob is taking away rights left and right.
And, if you think Gays are treated equally well everywhere (even in California, where I have observed hate acts on playgrounds and murders on the street of San Francisco) you are drinking better Merlot than I am on this Fourth of July. Can I have some?
Since you lived in New Orleans (I’m still not sure about that) then you might talk to Ernie the Attorney and hear his stories of sex acts that take place during Mardi Graw. Heterosexual ones. Right out in front of everyone. And I’m not talking about the flashing of mamary glands that Maryam and I saw either.
Scoble, I’ve read your blog for a few years now and admittedly have had mixed feelings about most of your writing. I’ve never commented here before but given I work for Apple I want to clarify that what you do, whether you call it communication or carry around a camera, is not at all comparable to the what Steve Jobs. The reason MS is not willing to pay you X dollars is because you don’t have a measurable impact on their bottomline, it’s simply not worth it because they can create a new Scoble very easily. On the other hand, someone like Steve Jobs. a great developer or even a salesmen deal directly with the companies business and thus are valued for higher. They cannot be replaced so easily.
Your type of work, blogging, is of value to Podtech. That is their core business, and thus they are willing to compensate you for it. Hopefully that helps clarify to you why MS or even us at Apple wouldn’t pay you more then 100k a year.
Scoble, I’ve read your blog for a few years now and admittedly have had mixed feelings about most of your writing. I’ve never commented here before but given I work for Apple I want to clarify that what you do, whether you call it communication or carry around a camera, is not at all comparable to the what Steve Jobs. The reason MS is not willing to pay you X dollars is because you don’t have a measurable impact on their bottomline, it’s simply not worth it because they can create a new Scoble very easily. On the other hand, someone like Steve Jobs. a great developer or even a salesmen deal directly with the companies business and thus are valued for higher. They cannot be replaced so easily.
Your type of work, blogging, is of value to Podtech. That is their core business, and thus they are willing to compensate you for it. Hopefully that helps clarify to you why MS or even us at Apple wouldn’t pay you more then 100k a year.
Macboy: how do you know that Apple didn’t offer me a job? I turned down quite a few jobs around the industry for more money than I’m making at Podtech.
And a Scoble can be created quite easily? Hmmm, it takes at least nine months and a Scoble has to be involved in the process and all the ones I know are already taken!
But, seriously, if you think that a new one of me can be created quickly then you are smoking good dope over there in Steve Jobs’ land. Can you bring some to my house in Half Moon Bay when I arrive?
You did miss that I got the best reviews at Google’s Zeitgeist after only Malcolm Gladwell, didn’t you? That I beat a Vice President of Microsoft’s audience scores there who also spoke. That I beat the CEOs from AOL, Yahoo, and many other big name places. If it’s so easy to communicate with audiences why didn’t anyone else beat me?
Communication is NEVER as easy as it seems.
Hell, all of Bill Gates speech writers and coaches still haven’t helped HIM become as good a communicator as Steve Jobs.
Macboy: how do you know that Apple didn’t offer me a job? I turned down quite a few jobs around the industry for more money than I’m making at Podtech.
And a Scoble can be created quite easily? Hmmm, it takes at least nine months and a Scoble has to be involved in the process and all the ones I know are already taken!
But, seriously, if you think that a new one of me can be created quickly then you are smoking good dope over there in Steve Jobs’ land. Can you bring some to my house in Half Moon Bay when I arrive?
You did miss that I got the best reviews at Google’s Zeitgeist after only Malcolm Gladwell, didn’t you? That I beat a Vice President of Microsoft’s audience scores there who also spoke. That I beat the CEOs from AOL, Yahoo, and many other big name places. If it’s so easy to communicate with audiences why didn’t anyone else beat me?
Communication is NEVER as easy as it seems.
Hell, all of Bill Gates speech writers and coaches still haven’t helped HIM become as good a communicator as Steve Jobs.
Robert,
I suggest you learn about the actual country you live in: the US is a representative republic regardless of what you wish we were, which means we are NOT a representative democracy.
As for Republicans taking away your rights? LOL! Thats a good one. I always get a kick out of the predictable responses of people who hate that the President’s first job is to protect the country.
But we’ll show Bush come 08… cause I’m never voting for him again!
Robert,
I suggest you learn about the actual country you live in: the US is a representative republic regardless of what you wish we were, which means we are NOT a representative democracy.
As for Republicans taking away your rights? LOL! Thats a good one. I always get a kick out of the predictable responses of people who hate that the President’s first job is to protect the country.
But we’ll show Bush come 08… cause I’m never voting for him again!
Thanks for correcting me, I just misspoke there. Too much emotion, not enough thinking. Heheh.
At times of “protection” is when we always hand over our rights. We’re so predictable.
Thanks for correcting me, I just misspoke there. Too much emotion, not enough thinking. Heheh.
At times of “protection” is when we always hand over our rights. We’re so predictable.
Excellent insights Robert and one that my profession could learn a great deal from. All done without buting NDAs etc. That’s an art.
Excellent insights Robert and one that my profession could learn a great deal from. All done without buting NDAs etc. That’s an art.
[...] Robert Scoble has penned a Q&A style ‘exit interview’ that covers questions many people would like answers to about the goings on inside Microsoft. He does it with aplomb and style. In it he raises issues that resonate with me (edited down for brevity): [...]
@66. Well, I must admit you are sticking to the talking points, well. Rights being taken away for “protection”. Seems no one had a problem with it during Roosevelt’s tenure, but could that be because he was a Dem? Nah!
No one is saying gays don’t get treated unfairly. But, often it’s their own doing because they shout from the rooftops that they are gay and demand that they get special rights? Do you come into a room and announce you are straigth. Again, I could care less what your sexual proclivities are, it shouldn’t be relevant to anything.
Your denseness never ceases to amaze me. I never said heterosexuals don’t engage in PDA’s. Gays do to, I have no problem with that. What I said was heterosexuals don’t organize “Straight Pride” parades and demand that attention be given to them because f of their sexual choice like many gays do. I have met, worked with, and are friends with many gays that are in fact embarrassed by such parades and the demands to heard, given “special rights” and wanting to use the court system to create laws rather than enforce them. They feel that in the long run it is counterproductive. Amazingly by not choosing to shout their gayness from the rooftops saying “We’re here and we’re queer”, they find that they get treated rather fairly.
As for your attack on MacBoy, again your defensiveness gets in the way of seeing his point. So you got good irrelevant scores at some random tech conference. Other than you, who the hell cares? No one but you likely remembered it a day later. How many of those scores resulted in more sales of MS software? Shipping Vista sooner? Taking share away from your competitors? Yea, again, I know numbers that translate into profits don’t matter to you when it doesn’t support your position, but his point was your actual job at MS seemed to be easily plug and playable, not your extracurricular activities.
And Lauri, not sure what you would be showing Bush in ’08. He can’t run again.
@66. Well, I must admit you are sticking to the talking points, well. Rights being taken away for “protection”. Seems no one had a problem with it during Roosevelt’s tenure, but could that be because he was a Dem? Nah!
No one is saying gays don’t get treated unfairly. But, often it’s their own doing because they shout from the rooftops that they are gay and demand that they get special rights? Do you come into a room and announce you are straigth. Again, I could care less what your sexual proclivities are, it shouldn’t be relevant to anything.
Your denseness never ceases to amaze me. I never said heterosexuals don’t engage in PDA’s. Gays do to, I have no problem with that. What I said was heterosexuals don’t organize “Straight Pride” parades and demand that attention be given to them because f of their sexual choice like many gays do. I have met, worked with, and are friends with many gays that are in fact embarrassed by such parades and the demands to heard, given “special rights” and wanting to use the court system to create laws rather than enforce them. They feel that in the long run it is counterproductive. Amazingly by not choosing to shout their gayness from the rooftops saying “We’re here and we’re queer”, they find that they get treated rather fairly.
As for your attack on MacBoy, again your defensiveness gets in the way of seeing his point. So you got good irrelevant scores at some random tech conference. Other than you, who the hell cares? No one but you likely remembered it a day later. How many of those scores resulted in more sales of MS software? Shipping Vista sooner? Taking share away from your competitors? Yea, again, I know numbers that translate into profits don’t matter to you when it doesn’t support your position, but his point was your actual job at MS seemed to be easily plug and playable, not your extracurricular activities.
And Lauri, not sure what you would be showing Bush in ’08. He can’t run again.
Cool.
Cool.
[...] First Scoble, and now Rocketboom. Is pro blogging not all its cracked up to be? Anyone out there successfully doing it? (FYI, I have a real job, blogging doesn't bring home my bacon). I can't imagine it's unbearable for someone that high up in the blog ranks. Any insight from any pro bloggers? [...]
Dmad, while I’m mostly with you (& Lauri) on “gay rights” (and Lauri on “representative republic”), I must say that Scoble’s proof is more compelling than you suggest with your latest rhetorical flourishes.
It is NOT irrelevant that Scoble has been recently rated so highly as a “communicator” — against distinguished peers and competitors. And the gig was not discretely “extracurricular.” It’s pertinent to his point that Scoble can communicate.
Now, you may argue that Scoble would be little without his Microsoft leverage. Maybe (though he’d likely reply with more historical evidence, e.g., Ch.9). But how many employees had opportunity to leverage Microsoft? And where is the near equivalent…at the same ethical level (i.e., excluding mini)? Maybe Scoble is not just a compelling communicator (external to Microsoft) but also a persuasive politician (internal).
And you could press your point on ROI. Coming from the Direct Marketing world, I sympathize. We want everything to be denominatable, trackable. But some things can’t be. Some values can’t be so reduced. “Helping to change the face of Microsoft” is a fuzzy feat. (But it might be a real feat, nonetheless!)
But to suggest that Scoble’s role (not mere “job”) is “plug and playable”…. Really? (Technically, Steve Jobs’ job is too. How many more copies of hardware has Steve directly sold…than, say, Sculley?)
Now, granted, Scoble is no CEO, President, or Founder of Apple or Microsoft. But that’s not the point. We are entering a new (tech) era, and Scoble has been one of its chief communicators…for a chief company and her customers.
And consider the “News.” Were Rather, Jennings, Brokaw (or Cronkite) heads of their companies? Yet are their roles “plug and play”? Blogging may be different, but not so completely as you seem to suggest. Not for non-News companies…
Yesterday it was PR, today it is blogger as “bridge” between customer and corporation. What if 1,000,000 read him and 1% soften toward Microsoft while Microsoft actually becomes more “friendly”? Is there no value there?
Finally, are you quite sure that no one, nowhere, has reconsidered buying Microsoft (stock or product) in partial consideration of Robert’s words? (If so, I’ll happily provide a personal case study.)
As we learned from one of the founders of “Direct Marketing”: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Words change the world. While I do not support Robert in his use of them for certain advocacies, I recognize his distinctive skills for what they are. Their value should not be understated.
Dmad, while I’m mostly with you (& Lauri) on “gay rights” (and Lauri on “representative republic”), I must say that Scoble’s proof is more compelling than you suggest with your latest rhetorical flourishes.
It is NOT irrelevant that Scoble has been recently rated so highly as a “communicator” — against distinguished peers and competitors. And the gig was not discretely “extracurricular.” It’s pertinent to his point that Scoble can communicate.
Now, you may argue that Scoble would be little without his Microsoft leverage. Maybe (though he’d likely reply with more historical evidence, e.g., Ch.9). But how many employees had opportunity to leverage Microsoft? And where is the near equivalent…at the same ethical level (i.e., excluding mini)? Maybe Scoble is not just a compelling communicator (external to Microsoft) but also a persuasive politician (internal).
And you could press your point on ROI. Coming from the Direct Marketing world, I sympathize. We want everything to be denominatable, trackable. But some things can’t be. Some values can’t be so reduced. “Helping to change the face of Microsoft” is a fuzzy feat. (But it might be a real feat, nonetheless!)
But to suggest that Scoble’s role (not mere “job”) is “plug and playable”…. Really? (Technically, Steve Jobs’ job is too. How many more copies of hardware has Steve directly sold…than, say, Sculley?)
Now, granted, Scoble is no CEO, President, or Founder of Apple or Microsoft. But that’s not the point. We are entering a new (tech) era, and Scoble has been one of its chief communicators…for a chief company and her customers.
And consider the “News.” Were Rather, Jennings, Brokaw (or Cronkite) heads of their companies? Yet are their roles “plug and play”? Blogging may be different, but not so completely as you seem to suggest. Not for non-News companies…
Yesterday it was PR, today it is blogger as “bridge” between customer and corporation. What if 1,000,000 read him and 1% soften toward Microsoft while Microsoft actually becomes more “friendly”? Is there no value there?
Finally, are you quite sure that no one, nowhere, has reconsidered buying Microsoft (stock or product) in partial consideration of Robert’s words? (If so, I’ll happily provide a personal case study.)
As we learned from one of the founders of “Direct Marketing”: “The pen is mightier than the sword.” Words change the world. While I do not support Robert in his use of them for certain advocacies, I recognize his distinctive skills for what they are. Their value should not be understated.
[...] I read this Scoble piece called You’re exit interview of me a couple of days ago but forgot to link to it. He’s answering questions from his readers about leaving his position at Microsoft. Some really good questions and I found his answers very well thought out. It’s funny I’m finding myself far more interested in his Blog since he resigned. Not sure why exactly. Maybe because he’s jumping into a space which I find very interesting. [...]
Scoble – I’ve worked at MS for more than 5 years – how is it that I’ve never heard of you nor what you do?
Scoble – I’ve worked at MS for more than 5 years – how is it that I’ve never heard of you nor what you do?
Irwin, I don’t know. Where you been all this time?
Irwin, I don’t know. Where you been all this time?
@68
Dmad, its a joke…of course Bush cant run again. But the Dems better start trotting out something new other than “I hate George W Bush” if they hope to ever get elected again.
Granted, for most conservatives GW is far too liberal – so, the Dems better pull one big rabbit out of their hats come 08…. but I dont think its likely.
@68
Dmad, its a joke…of course Bush cant run again. But the Dems better start trotting out something new other than “I hate George W Bush” if they hope to ever get elected again.
Granted, for most conservatives GW is far too liberal – so, the Dems better pull one big rabbit out of their hats come 08…. but I dont think its likely.
So, Robert, you take pride in helping throw us back into the days when only the rich could vote and when, oddly enough, minorities had NO say-so in the rights of the land? “How so”, you might ask?
Back in our early colonies, land ownership is what granted voting rights to an individual. This generally kept out those “pesky minorities, women and poor people” — leaving the decision making to high-minded rich people. Never mind the fact that the majority of people were NOT rich and minorities were too busy getting beaten by their plantation “owners” to go house shopping (please DO sense my outrage and sarcasm all at once).
You support having multi-billion dollar mega-corporations push their weight around to pass laws. (and even put aside the fact that you pushed for the two richest white guys in the company to put their support behind this bill). By doing so, a single few rich guys who run the company can bowl over the opinions of the masses — effectively putting us back before the 15th amendment, the 19th amendment, and the voting rights act.
You stated that you wanted churches to stay out of politics yet our whole political system was created out of the need for religious liberty. I also didn’t see you complaining when Congress made a law that created the Department of Education and then prohibited the free exercise of religion there (which had been done since we landed on Plymouth Rock).
Be truthful, you aren’t fighting for minorities, you are pushing an agenda that would not have passed if you really believed in the democratic process.
Furthermore, this country was not founded on minority rule; it was founded on majority rule. All individuals are conferred the same rights, but when those votes are tallied, the most votes win. If that means that the majority of people say that you can’t wear purple shirts on Friday, then by golly, that’s what needs to happen. This is why these decisions were supposed to be left to the states and local governments. Communities could make up rules that made sense to them, and some large group of nay-sayers from across the country couldn’t force them to change just because they felt they should.
The point being Robert, you subverted the democratic system, pushed for two rich white guys to put their weight behind a law, then got out of the state so that you could revel in screwing the system once again. Let me guess, you voted for Kerry?
So, Robert, you take pride in helping throw us back into the days when only the rich could vote and when, oddly enough, minorities had NO say-so in the rights of the land? “How so”, you might ask?
Back in our early colonies, land ownership is what granted voting rights to an individual. This generally kept out those “pesky minorities, women and poor people” — leaving the decision making to high-minded rich people. Never mind the fact that the majority of people were NOT rich and minorities were too busy getting beaten by their plantation “owners” to go house shopping (please DO sense my outrage and sarcasm all at once).
You support having multi-billion dollar mega-corporations push their weight around to pass laws. (and even put aside the fact that you pushed for the two richest white guys in the company to put their support behind this bill). By doing so, a single few rich guys who run the company can bowl over the opinions of the masses — effectively putting us back before the 15th amendment, the 19th amendment, and the voting rights act.
You stated that you wanted churches to stay out of politics yet our whole political system was created out of the need for religious liberty. I also didn’t see you complaining when Congress made a law that created the Department of Education and then prohibited the free exercise of religion there (which had been done since we landed on Plymouth Rock).
Be truthful, you aren’t fighting for minorities, you are pushing an agenda that would not have passed if you really believed in the democratic process.
Furthermore, this country was not founded on minority rule; it was founded on majority rule. All individuals are conferred the same rights, but when those votes are tallied, the most votes win. If that means that the majority of people say that you can’t wear purple shirts on Friday, then by golly, that’s what needs to happen. This is why these decisions were supposed to be left to the states and local governments. Communities could make up rules that made sense to them, and some large group of nay-sayers from across the country couldn’t force them to change just because they felt they should.
The point being Robert, you subverted the democratic system, pushed for two rich white guys to put their weight behind a law, then got out of the state so that you could revel in screwing the system once again. Let me guess, you voted for Kerry?
> Not to mention quite a few beaches in Florida,
> Hawaii, and California. Even the ones who wear
> clothes only cover a few square inches of their
> bodies.
> Comment by Robert Scoble — July 4, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
And did you stop to ask everyone if they were all heterosexual/homosexual? How could you tell? Oh, they were holding hands with a woman? I have gay friends that do that all the time. The difference is, Robert, I have some gay friends. I don’t approve of the lifestyle and they know it. They don’t agree with my beliefs, and I know it. The difference is that we have common sense and respect for one another’s differences. They have enough sense to say that it’s wrong for people to parade down a street naked just as much as anyone else.
Another tactic of the drones that schools like Berkley pump out is that they immediately tell people they are Nazis or compare them to Nazis simply because they don’t let the minority viewpoints overrun majority views. How about holding up a real argument instead of resorting to ad hominem? Once you actually come back with facts and agree to stay on point, then we can discuss this intelligently. Until then, you are just another drone following the brainwashing you were given in the socialist school system we can state-run universities.
> Not to mention quite a few beaches in Florida,
> Hawaii, and California. Even the ones who wear
> clothes only cover a few square inches of their
> bodies.
> Comment by Robert Scoble — July 4, 2006 @ 12:11 pm
And did you stop to ask everyone if they were all heterosexual/homosexual? How could you tell? Oh, they were holding hands with a woman? I have gay friends that do that all the time. The difference is, Robert, I have some gay friends. I don’t approve of the lifestyle and they know it. They don’t agree with my beliefs, and I know it. The difference is that we have common sense and respect for one another’s differences. They have enough sense to say that it’s wrong for people to parade down a street naked just as much as anyone else.
Another tactic of the drones that schools like Berkley pump out is that they immediately tell people they are Nazis or compare them to Nazis simply because they don’t let the minority viewpoints overrun majority views. How about holding up a real argument instead of resorting to ad hominem? Once you actually come back with facts and agree to stay on point, then we can discuss this intelligently. Until then, you are just another drone following the brainwashing you were given in the socialist school system we can state-run universities.
Interesting stuff, I wondered how this happened.
Interesting stuff, I wondered how this happened.
I hope I’m not too late to add to this. I’m an ex-’softie who spent the last few years in the Windows division. At the risk of being lost amongst the trolls but with the hope of actually helping someone out there . . . here are my reactions.
My perception is that most ‘softies might not know you because most folks live in silos. The annual tech fair is an eye opener for a lot of people who don’t have any idea what the rest of the company is doing. Is it any surprise that “Scoble” isn’t a buzzword internally? If I would change one thing about Microsoft culture it would be this. Or maybe the empire-building that I believe eventually leads to the silo lifestyle.
IE 7 and Vista both have (shoddy) RSS client support. Not to mention the Live initiative. It’s not that everyone at Microsoft is clueless, but rather that unless something has a solid business model it just ain’t gonna happen. People outside of Microsoft didn’t see the HUGE internal furvor from the folks with their boots on the ground (Individual Contributors) about OSS as everyone tried to get senior management to realize that Linux, Firefox, et al. were not only viable, but possibly a threat to some of the company’s bottom line. I realize this runs counter to the silo statement above, but there are certainly some if not many engineers in the company who are real geeks, seeking out all the new cool things. Heck, RaymondC’s sig used to be “just another Linux hacker”. For better ___ support, the mantra is always “wait for the next service pack”. Probably applies in this case.
Windows release cycles seem to have changed. The old model is 1) release the RTM version and 2) everyone finally runs it once you release SP1. The new model is to add 3) there’s some “refresh” release like XP SP2 or WS03 R2 that is sort of a mini-RTM for a new OS. That seems to be the mechanism to add all those features that customers really wanted but just didn’t ship at RTM. I wasn’t an exec. I don’t know what happens most days in the war meetings. I’m just a nobody. That’s only what I observed from the trenches. I suppose it’s better than the wait for NT4 SP4 was.
Remaking Microsoft into two camps, the younger of which is intended to kill the elder, sounds too much like an Apple nightmare of yore. I don’t think you’re Mini, but maybe you’re related to Steve Jobs. As an engineer, that sounds dreadful. I leave it to anyone interested to Google up that history lesson. *shudder*
I completely agree about the need for a naming dictator. Forget about the personas. I’ve never met Abby or Ichiro. I’m more worried about my mom. I *love* my mom. The whole Messenger confusion is only one example of the needless support headaches I have with her. Maybe in some imaginary world those things bother Abby or Ichiro. I have no idea. I only know that mom doesn’t like it.
I also agree that people hate Microsoft because it is now Goliath. I still remember when it was David instead. David could fight kinda dirty ’cause he was the underdog. Goliath needs to just stand there and take the hurt. Microsoft as David has gone the way of the Blibbet. Were I a bit more superstitious I’d cry out “resurrect the Blibbet”, but I’m not. Goliath isn’t cool. I don’t know how to change that.
As far as roles go in Windows . . . well . . . that’s a deep problem. Look to the NT object manager and ask how it should be changed to “understand” roles. Start there at the core and build out. I agree that the development community as a whole (and Microsoft especially) needs to start thinking in terms of roles. In practical terms, things are a little better in Unix-land. In design terms . . . um . . . I don’t want to start a flame war, so I’ll lay off. Suffice it to say that there are some really smart people in the Windows division who are starting to think about roles instead of just entities and their permissions (a big part of the problem is rooted in the security model). Expect a big change in the way stuff works. In 10-15 years.
I hope that I didn’t break my NDA somehow with these statements.
On the inability to see small things: Absolutely any new initiative needs a business model. How much income can that new thing make? How much will the company lose if it doesn’t implement that? The little things usually don’t have any definable $$$ impact. I agree that there ought to be more flexibility to explore new income sources (meaning cool new tech), but unless you’re in research that’s probably not going to happen at Microsoft. Yes, there needs to be change. Taking small risks can pay off in the large. Taking large risks that the company keeps dumping money into might do that, too, but for my money I’d rahter have thousands of small longshot bets than only a handful of allegedly-not-longshots that seem to eventually pan out to be money pits.
Will Mac and Windows become one? Was that supposed to be a real question or a troll? Do that DaveC interview you wanted to do. Then go talk with some devs on Mach. I just don’t see that happening. Ever. Apple currently (and quite happily) runs on a Unix(-like?) kernel. Windows is NT, which at heart is very VMS-like. Unix and VMS are oil and water (or vice versa). Dual booting might become more common. Once Bootcamp RTMs I’m going to go buy a Mac. There have been too many problems reported from early adopters for me to want to trust Bootcamp yet, though.
On the Google love (or not?): Google treats its engineers amazingly well. I have no idea about the non-engineers. It’s biggest draw as an employer is exactly that. Work on cool stuff with very little management or process overhead, ship frequently, live/breathe tech but eat tasty healthy free food, be surrounded by some of the smartest people in the industry, and spend one day a week working on something else – whatever else, but be productive. Tell any engineer “I’m going to take away all of the little problems in your day to day life and let you just focus on solving problems”. Hired. Period. That’s Google. What they actually produce doesn’t really excite me and I’ll probably never work there, but I can see the reason they drain brains away from the likes of Microsoft.
In regard to Richard’s question about Longhorn and Vista: Gotta ship the bits. Sometimes that means cutting most or all of the 3 main pillars you were building the product around. Oh, well. Anything good will eventually wander back into the source tree and ship in a later version. Maybe one day we’ll finally see all of the Cairo features on a desktop. Who knows?
And about working at Microsoft: I went to Microsoft straight out of college. I spent ~7 years there working at a company that I would consider to be one of the best “finishing schools” for software engineers. On the one hand, there are smart people there working on almost anything you’re interested in doing in software. On the other, it’s like New York, New York – it can be rough; if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. I recommend it highly. I interviewed with several companies who told me that they prefer candidates with that kind of background.
Thanks for hearing/reading me out. I apologize for the length of the comment and also for my lack of any spelling or grammar checking. Hope it’s not too offensive to the dictionary-huggers out there.
- Drew
I hope I’m not too late to add to this. I’m an ex-’softie who spent the last few years in the Windows division. At the risk of being lost amongst the trolls but with the hope of actually helping someone out there . . . here are my reactions.
My perception is that most ‘softies might not know you because most folks live in silos. The annual tech fair is an eye opener for a lot of people who don’t have any idea what the rest of the company is doing. Is it any surprise that “Scoble” isn’t a buzzword internally? If I would change one thing about Microsoft culture it would be this. Or maybe the empire-building that I believe eventually leads to the silo lifestyle.
IE 7 and Vista both have (shoddy) RSS client support. Not to mention the Live initiative. It’s not that everyone at Microsoft is clueless, but rather that unless something has a solid business model it just ain’t gonna happen. People outside of Microsoft didn’t see the HUGE internal furvor from the folks with their boots on the ground (Individual Contributors) about OSS as everyone tried to get senior management to realize that Linux, Firefox, et al. were not only viable, but possibly a threat to some of the company’s bottom line. I realize this runs counter to the silo statement above, but there are certainly some if not many engineers in the company who are real geeks, seeking out all the new cool things. Heck, RaymondC’s sig used to be “just another Linux hacker”. For better ___ support, the mantra is always “wait for the next service pack”. Probably applies in this case.
Windows release cycles seem to have changed. The old model is 1) release the RTM version and 2) everyone finally runs it once you release SP1. The new model is to add 3) there’s some “refresh” release like XP SP2 or WS03 R2 that is sort of a mini-RTM for a new OS. That seems to be the mechanism to add all those features that customers really wanted but just didn’t ship at RTM. I wasn’t an exec. I don’t know what happens most days in the war meetings. I’m just a nobody. That’s only what I observed from the trenches. I suppose it’s better than the wait for NT4 SP4 was.
Remaking Microsoft into two camps, the younger of which is intended to kill the elder, sounds too much like an Apple nightmare of yore. I don’t think you’re Mini, but maybe you’re related to Steve Jobs. As an engineer, that sounds dreadful. I leave it to anyone interested to Google up that history lesson. *shudder*
I completely agree about the need for a naming dictator. Forget about the personas. I’ve never met Abby or Ichiro. I’m more worried about my mom. I *love* my mom. The whole Messenger confusion is only one example of the needless support headaches I have with her. Maybe in some imaginary world those things bother Abby or Ichiro. I have no idea. I only know that mom doesn’t like it.
I also agree that people hate Microsoft because it is now Goliath. I still remember when it was David instead. David could fight kinda dirty ’cause he was the underdog. Goliath needs to just stand there and take the hurt. Microsoft as David has gone the way of the Blibbet. Were I a bit more superstitious I’d cry out “resurrect the Blibbet”, but I’m not. Goliath isn’t cool. I don’t know how to change that.
As far as roles go in Windows . . . well . . . that’s a deep problem. Look to the NT object manager and ask how it should be changed to “understand” roles. Start there at the core and build out. I agree that the development community as a whole (and Microsoft especially) needs to start thinking in terms of roles. In practical terms, things are a little better in Unix-land. In design terms . . . um . . . I don’t want to start a flame war, so I’ll lay off. Suffice it to say that there are some really smart people in the Windows division who are starting to think about roles instead of just entities and their permissions (a big part of the problem is rooted in the security model). Expect a big change in the way stuff works. In 10-15 years.
I hope that I didn’t break my NDA somehow with these statements.
On the inability to see small things: Absolutely any new initiative needs a business model. How much income can that new thing make? How much will the company lose if it doesn’t implement that? The little things usually don’t have any definable $$$ impact. I agree that there ought to be more flexibility to explore new income sources (meaning cool new tech), but unless you’re in research that’s probably not going to happen at Microsoft. Yes, there needs to be change. Taking small risks can pay off in the large. Taking large risks that the company keeps dumping money into might do that, too, but for my money I’d rahter have thousands of small longshot bets than only a handful of allegedly-not-longshots that seem to eventually pan out to be money pits.
Will Mac and Windows become one? Was that supposed to be a real question or a troll? Do that DaveC interview you wanted to do. Then go talk with some devs on Mach. I just don’t see that happening. Ever. Apple currently (and quite happily) runs on a Unix(-like?) kernel. Windows is NT, which at heart is very VMS-like. Unix and VMS are oil and water (or vice versa). Dual booting might become more common. Once Bootcamp RTMs I’m going to go buy a Mac. There have been too many problems reported from early adopters for me to want to trust Bootcamp yet, though.
On the Google love (or not?): Google treats its engineers amazingly well. I have no idea about the non-engineers. It’s biggest draw as an employer is exactly that. Work on cool stuff with very little management or process overhead, ship frequently, live/breathe tech but eat tasty healthy free food, be surrounded by some of the smartest people in the industry, and spend one day a week working on something else – whatever else, but be productive. Tell any engineer “I’m going to take away all of the little problems in your day to day life and let you just focus on solving problems”. Hired. Period. That’s Google. What they actually produce doesn’t really excite me and I’ll probably never work there, but I can see the reason they drain brains away from the likes of Microsoft.
In regard to Richard’s question about Longhorn and Vista: Gotta ship the bits. Sometimes that means cutting most or all of the 3 main pillars you were building the product around. Oh, well. Anything good will eventually wander back into the source tree and ship in a later version. Maybe one day we’ll finally see all of the Cairo features on a desktop. Who knows?
And about working at Microsoft: I went to Microsoft straight out of college. I spent ~7 years there working at a company that I would consider to be one of the best “finishing schools” for software engineers. On the one hand, there are smart people there working on almost anything you’re interested in doing in software. On the other, it’s like New York, New York – it can be rough; if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. I recommend it highly. I interviewed with several companies who told me that they prefer candidates with that kind of background.
Thanks for hearing/reading me out. I apologize for the length of the comment and also for my lack of any spelling or grammar checking. Hope it’s not too offensive to the dictionary-huggers out there.
- Drew
Drew, thanks, I appreciated every one of your comments, even the ones that disagreed with what I said. I learned a lot, and that’s the most I can ask for. Would love to meet you someday.
As for new company to compete with the old? I guess that’s what we’re getting with Google anyway. Too bad that Gates didn’t just spin off an Internet division to compete with the old fogeys anyway back in the late 1990s. If he had maybe Google wouldn’t have existed. But, that’s the innovator’s dilemma, isn’t it?