Posts with tag "Mini-Microsoft"

Dumbass idea for the weekend – Mini-Microsoft should remove his mask

Category: Technology
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2 comments
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Posted 1594 days ago

bullfit I am sure that a lot of folks don’t have the first clue who the hell Mini-Microsoft is and nor do they care but for those of us that watch and write about Microsoft this anonymous blogger is a staple. While we might suppose M-M is a man they could very well be a woman but either way M-M provides some of the best inside discussion on Microsoft on the web.

If there is one thing that can be said about M-M is that they aren’t shy about expressing their thoughts on the company and with sharp intelligent posts. As a result one of the on-going guessing games amongst tech bloggers in this area is – who is Mini-Microsoft?

I admit to wondering that myself and like other would love to actually find out one day who M-M is but I don’t believe that anything would be gained by the mask being removed. To this point I totally agree with Dan Morrill over at Techwag when he pointedly disagrees with M-M revealing who he/she is.

Dan wrote his post in rebuttal to what I would suggest is the dumbass idea of the weekend posted over at TechFlash by Todd Bishop, where he writes that Mini-Microsoft should reveal who they are in order to prove to the world that Microsoft is indeed a changed company – or not.

Now Dan writes some well thought out reasons why this is a bad idea but I would just add the following – keeping it simple and all that – this is a stupid fucking idea and to even suggest it in our current downturn especially is brain dead.

With the reputation that Mini-Microsoft has revealing who he/she is would be like painting a bull’s-eye on their back. All this would do is ensure their place in some soup kitchen line-up because I doubt very much that whoever this M-M personage is they would have a very hard time find work once the mask was removed.

Personally, I’m with Dan. I hope that Mini-Microsoft never reveals who they are and at some point become another Internet legend that is talked about in the halls of Microsoft.

Mini … keep the mask on, unless of course you want to email me and let me in on the secret (mum’s the word if you do).

My turn at the Microsoft/Yahoo fiasco

Category: Technology
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6 comments
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Posted 1957 days ago

This deal is nothing but Ballmer's swan song I have; like most folks in the tech blogosphere, been following the growing mess that is surrounding the whole Microsoft – Yahoo purchase/merger/acquisition. While it seems that a lot of bloggers are cheering on the bold (?) move by Yahoo to turn down the $44Billion dollar offer that Microsoft put on the table Robert Scoble in his typical fashion thinks that Yahoo has made a mistake.

For the most part though I have let the whole thing slide by because as far as I am concerned the idea of Microsoft buying up Yahoo is borderline lunacy that only shows how wrapped up we have become in the almighty advertising dollar. It is as if software is no longer driving the computer industry other than a way to provide fresh fodder for all those ad networks out there.

The other thing that really concerned me was the inevitable problems that would arise when you go about meshing two totally divergent corporate philosophies and workforces. For that I was waiting for Mini-Microsoft to have his say because I couldn’t see an event like this go by without his thoughts on the whole thing.

And not being one to fail M-M today posted his look at what is going on. While he does talk a bit about the whole advertising angle he also mentions his confusion over what was said by Ballmer in the past and what is being said now about buying Yahoo:

I was on the internal Microsoftie bandwagon that Steve Ballmer was steering not too long ago that an acquisition of Yahoo! didn’t make sense for Microsoft. So when the unsolicited offer went through, I was like a whole bunch of other confused senior people looking around trying to figure out what changed and why this suddenly was the right thing to do and to bet the company on.

As both hoped for and expected was his take on the hit that Microsoft would take trying to absorb (save the Borg jokes – they were old days after first said) 14,000 or so new employees. While he points out that even with the addition of all these new people the purchase of Yahoo isn’t bringing anything to the table to correct screwed up offerings by either company

Microsoft absorbing Yahoo! doesn’t make sense to me given the extreme overlap in offerings that neither Microsoft nor Yahoo! have been terribly effective at. How many success stories have there been lately at Yahoo!? I like their portal. I use their search on occasion (only when Live Search and Google give me disappointing results). And their acquisition of flickr was really good for them, along with not screwing flickr up (and flickr users, you gotta know Microsoft would be pretty hands-off of flickr, other than probably putting a Live ID sign-in bar or such on there).

Additionally he raises a point that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else. That being that in the divisions where the two companies overlap the Microsoft divisions shouldn’t be feeling to safe and secure because as he says those folks are under just as much scrutiny as the Yahoo offerings

And the MSN, search, and ads folk at Microsoft certainly shouldn’t be too proud right now, because you guys are under as much scrutiny as Yahoo!. Why are we proposing blowing $22,000,000,000USD in cash and going into debt? Because Yahoo! has something done right – relative to us, according to our leadership – that you haven’t been able to do. Is there a Microsoft online-services leadership shake-up coming? One can hope. The fact that we’ve initiated this acquisition, for whatever reason, means that the people in charge haven’t been able to deliver and are not on a path to deliver. Accountability?

Personally I think Microsoft should walk – if not run – away from the deal now that they have the chance – take that money that was on the table and really fix the in-house problems they have. If that means a massive shake up (firings etc) in those areas that they hoped the Yahoo deal would fix then get to it. Adding to one’s headache by buying a company that is flailing about looking for an identity in a sea of peanut butter isn’t going to fix your problems.

As it stands this deal is nothing more than Ballmer’s swan song for his entry into the computer history books but it is a swan song that could turn into an albatross cry around the neck of a company that is having its own identity problems.

Microsoft needs to be chewed up and spit out…

Category: Odds & Ends
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Posted 2174 days ago

Whether it be Mini-Microsoft having a summer evening rant-fest about shareholder apathy and the willingness to lay down billion after billion as the cost of XBox problems or making up for the delays of Vista; or whether it is people like Steve Clayton who believe that Microsoft will be saved from the inside because of the Blue Monster, it is abundantly clear that something very serious needs to be done with the upper echelons of a monolith corporation.

The rest of this post can be found over at the WinExtra Blog

Talk about rippin Microsoft a new one….

Category: Odds & Ends
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Posted 2277 days ago

Microsoft - a company in need of a change I have long held; like a lot of other much smarter folks than me, that Microsoft needs to make some radical and deep changes to the company as a whole. I have written about this in the past (here, here and here) and read much of what is written about the company. I have a lot of respect for Bill Gates and none for Baldy Ballmer. As far as I am concerned Mr. Ballmer has done more to damage the company and it’s relationships with customers and developer alike that anyone else in Microsoft.

So it is kind of nice when I come across a blog (via Mini-Microsoft) that among other well written points agrees with my thoughts. Like Mini-Microsoft the blog called MSFTextrememakover appears to be written by a company employee of indeterminable level; but what I have read so far is straight to the point and interesting to read. He (or she – take your pick) says this about Baldy Ballmer

Seven years have passed since Ballmer took over as CEO, and that’s more than enough time to make a fair assessment of his performance in the role and suitability to continue. While he’s off the charts for passion and desire, and has done a good job growing the top line (and, much less successfully, the bottom one), overall it’s been a mixed bag at best, and abysmal at worst. In particular, I think Ballmer lost the confidence of the street – and maybe employees too – long ago.

He goes on to tear through just about every level of Microsoft and its business offering up suggestions along the way. It makes for a very interesting read and if you are interested in the company at all well worth the time spent doing so.