And clearly I’m not the only one. Give this article a read and let me know what you think the future of Microsoft and Steve’s roll in it will be.

Steve Ballmer has one more chance to save his job

Personally I think Steve should step down. He just wants to work on what he personally understands not what the market actually wants. He thinks netbooks are a joke and that bit him in the ass. He thinks tablets are a waste of time (even though they have been trying to make the tablet market world for them nearly a decade). He thinks he will dominate a mobile market ruled by hundreds of millions of other devices. He think he can slap a search engine together and get millions of people using it over night.

Microsoft has been resting on the heels of Windows and Office for too long. They need to get something moving. Sure, Sharepoint is cool, but you need more than one product to keep the company moving.

I think Microsoft should spend more time working with Apple and Google than battling them, but hey, I’m not a egotistical, power hungry, madman…

Isn’t this marketing scheme the exact same thing that killed the Kin? Microsoft claimed that device was for everyone and then it bombed within weeks (days really) of being launched. MS seems to have the same mentality about this thing. How can it possibly appeal to hard-core gamers, a 7 year old and grandma at the same time? That’s just stupid!

If Microsoft doesn’t actually define and target an audience (with a slew of spectacular games) then this product will follow in the footsteps of the Kin. Hell, it shares half it’s name already…

Microsoft better turn up the wick, Apple and Google are getting a thousand new apps a day while they’re still struggling to get a thousand apps total.

So who out there is getting a Windows Phone Series 7 unit? Anyone ditching their Apple iPhone for one? Did this latest Apple snafu strengthen the case to switch to another platform or was it insignificant?

And now I see that Microsoft plans to hand a Windows Phone Series 7 device (they *have* to shorten that name!) to everyone in the company. This is part of their "word of mouth" advertising. If nothing else, if they give one to every employee they can always say the number of units shipped was better than the Kin… (Or was it the Kon?)

But as far as features go it just doesn’t have anything I need. I mean seriously, what more can you possibly make Office do? I’ve stated before, Word hit feature saturation in 2003, so did Excel. At this point it’s just being dressed up and shortcuts are being added. The shortcuts are nice but I’m not sure they warrant the massive price tag of the update.

And it looks like Office 2010 might be the first version suffering from market saturation. It seems adoption is a little sluggish for this new version. Again, what is the average user missing? 2010 offers integration with cloud, web and Sharepoint services, but for most folks, that really doesn’t open the checkbook. Most of us are writing standard documents like memos, reports, essays, letters, articles and the like. Hell, you can even do some impressive desktop publishing with Word if you want to. But when you move beyond that your market becomes really small. I really like Word, have for years, even back to the Word 6.0 days which at the time was really quite good. And OneNote is fantastic. I’m only disappointed that it didn’t get more significant upgrades for 2010. Although I rarely use it now, I used to support Excel and it is insanely powerful and useful. I was astounded at the way people would manipulate Excel. It was wondrous, but also a little frightening. And Outlook? Well, Outlook has come a LONG way since it debuted in 2007. I like the 2007 version, but only use about 10% of the features. I check my email and get appointment requests. All those other crazy features really don’t mean anything to me.

But anyway, adding some shortcuts and the ability to publish to the web isn’t going to sell new copies of Office. And even adding all sorts of bolt on packages isn’t going to do it either. Really, what the hell are Groove and Infopath for? Who are you people that are using those apps?

I thought Publisher was really neat back in the day, but is anyone actually using it? I know Powerpoint gets a lot of attention, but what else can you make it do? Is there some sexy dissolve or background we’re missing? Visio is neat, for those who use it (I don’t know anyone who does). Let’s not forget Access. I almost did because I don’t use it.

I use Word, Outlook and OneNote. And if I use 10% of the features available in Word I’d be amazed. Truthfully I wish they would make a bundle of just those three apps and I would be incredibly happy and satisfied.

Office is an impressive bundle, but I think we might already have too much of it…

It’s not like Microsoft hasn’t been patching Win7 though, I get told there’s a new update that I need to install 3 or more times a week. On the one hand that’s a good thing that MS is fixing problems and taking care of issues. On the other, damn that’s a lot of problems and issues to fix.

But the big deal about a Service Pack is that Microsoft has been known to completely change or include functionality with a true SP. However, Ballmer has already stated that this SP won’t be that big a deal. Considering Windows 7 itself is just a massive Service Pack to Vista, yeah, he’s probably right.

I’ve gotten used to Windows 7 now. I’m not saying I like it, because really I still don’t, but I’ve gotten used to the things you can and can’t do with it.

While it sounds great to offer so many choices, part of me thinks this dizzying array of options will actually confuse people. The iPad has its feature set and that’s it. The device works the same no matter where you get it because Apple is the only one that makes it. You aren’t missing a feature your buddy has because they all work the same. The Windows 7 tablets won’t be like that. As Ballmer stated they will have different form factors, some will have keyboards, some will be touch only, others will be dockable, etc. I think the main reason the iPad works and works so well is that you just turn it on and use it. You don’t have to compare one model with another, which features are you going to get, or which can you live without. You really only get two choices, amount of storage space and whether it’s WiFi or WiFi+3G. You just buy it, sync it and you’re done.

I dare say this multiple vendor method may actually muddy the waters too much. Would it have been better for MS to pick one vendor such as Dell, build a single tablet and offer different amounts of storage space? Unfortunately that goes against the way MS does things. They can’t just make a single use version of Windows. They have to make it work on all sorts of disparate hardware making it harder to streamline and optimize.

And Microsoft is still using Windows not a tablet OS. Windows 7 has tablet features bolted onto it, but it’s not a tablet OS. I think it’s going to have a lot of wasted code and plenty of services/features that will go unused and just take up resources.

Strangely I think what we’re going to see is some strange cross between Netbooks and Tablets. But whatever we get they need to act quickly. By the time these guys get their tablets to market, Apple will already be releasing features of the iPad 2.0.

As one person from Microsoft puts it:

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-employees-embarrassed-over-kin-failure

the same person who headed up the Kin project is now leading WP7, which is leaving employees on uneasy ground after the Kin launch.

But no matter how you look at it, MS is struggling to find their way in the mobile market and many people think Windows Phone 7 might already be doomed. And in some ways I agree. Microsoft is taking way too long to get their product out the door. Regardless of why and who the Kin was marketed to, it was pulled and discontinued. Why should consumers feel confident with buying into the 7 series when the very same thing could happen? If sales don’t hit the right numbers within the first few weeks/months is the 7 series going to get kicked to the curb and users will be left with a useless device? Apple has sold nearly 2 million iPhone4 units and well over 2 million iPad units. The Droid has over 100,000 activations a day. And the Blackberry is still wildly popular and shows no signs of stopping. Simply put, Microsoft is millions of units in the hole and they don’t even have a competitor in the race yet.

Some say Microsoft can easily make up that ground because their device and OS will be superior. I don’t believe it will be, but putting that argument aside, how much is it going to cost people to switch? Microsoft owns the desktop space and it’s hard for people to switch to something else because of the investment they’ve made in software. Plus, do their favorite apps exist on the new platform? Microsoft is now facing the exact opposite problem in the mobile space. People have invested money in the hardware and software of their current platform and it’s going to be too expensive to switch *to* Windows. I’ve easily spent $75-100 (I really don’t want to know the exact figure) on software for my Touch. The people I work with have spent about the same. Even if the Windows Phone was better are we all going to throw that money out the window and jump to a new platform? And do those apps and games exist in this new environment? Where are the 200,000 apps for the 7 series? What is the compelling reason switch? And considering the bad track record Microsoft currently has with products (Vista, Kin, Courier – even thought it wasn’t a product people believed it was and they wanted it), who has the confidence to make the switch?

http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Windows-Phone-7-is-doomed/1278093601

I don’t think that applications will be a significant factor in smartphones. Most things will be browser based. In any case, I think Microsoft should do a deal with Nokia.They are a perfect match.

The MS phone could be brilliant, but I disagree with this comment and feel that apps will make or break a platform. Many things will be browser based, but so much more will be app based because it gives the user a much better experience. And the list of incredible apps is growing everyday, but they’re growing for platforms other than Windows Mobile.

MS is WAY behind and as I see it they really don’t have a solid plan for digging themselves out of this hole. iPhone and Droid are gaining massive market share and Microsoft is still on the sidelines tying their shoes. At this rate the game will be over before MS even gets on the field.

Microsoft pulls plug on Kin

And speaking of games, what exactly is the hardcore gamer going to play? Will he or she jump around the living room with a faux shotgun in hand blasting zombies? I’m sure hours of holding an imaginary steering wheel will be quite enjoyable. Pretending to swing at a virtual tennis ball sounds like a blast too. But seriously, besides looking like a complete idiot as you jump and dance around the living room what games will people offer? This technology seems well suited to casual games like Bedazzled, Tetris, Cogs, Farmville, Plant vs. Zomies, but first person shooters and racing games seem insanely awkward.

With that in mind, why would the hardcore gamer want this again? Oh, yeah, to keep the kids in the house quiet…

Microsoft: ‘Hard-core’ will be first to buy Kinect

“We were ahead of this game, in terms of software for phones,” Ballmer told Mossberg. “We are not ahead of this game. We haven’t fallen off the face of the planet, but we were ahead of this game and now we find ourselves at No. 5 in the market.”

Ballmer acknowledged that Microsoft had missed a design and release cycle, and he took personal responsibility for the failure. “I chose to make a set of leadership changes in the team of people building and executing on our Windows Phone software,” he said.

Fact of the matter is, MS has been in the mobile game for years now and hasn’t made a dent. They’ve been trying to make something happen since 2001 and obviously it hasn’t worked out for them. And as with so many other markets, they’re so far behind I doubt they will ever catch up.

The number of tech blunders is really starting to take its toll. It’s actually pretty amazing that Microsoft is still raking in billions per quarter in profits considering how aimless and hapless they are these days. Windows, Office, SQL and Exchange are still bringing in the big bucks, but they aren’t blazing into new territories. Their old stalwarts are keeping them afloat as they keep trying, but ultimately failing to bring new ideas and products to market. The Microsoft luster is really wearing off.

And there is no disputing Microsoft is making mistakes. Its facts like this that show the glory days of Microsoft are clearly behind them:

If you invested $1,000 in Microsoft stock on January 2, 2001, and reinvested all your dividends, you have roughly $1,468 today, or a 47 percent return over nearly 10 years. By contrast, $1,000 in Apple stock purchased on the same day is now worth $34,526.88, for a return of more than 3300 percent.

Steve Ballmer admits mobile failures