The irony of writing about Microsoft

It occurred to me while writing Microsoft’s design renaissance I’m what financial journalists would call contrarian when it comes to what is still the world’s largest software company.

When Microsoft  bestrided the narrow world like a Colossus, my public comments were often critical while other journalists lavished praise.

Now the mood has turned, Microsoft is often dismissed in the mainstream technical media while I’m starting to find more and more positives.

2 thoughts on “The irony of writing about Microsoft”

  1. jmacg

    The worm turns. And having turned, turns again.

    I used to use and write a lot about Apple, then became a relative Microsoft fan, especially when I went out on my own and simply couldn’t afford Apple gear. But I found that the same Office and Adobe apps worked as well and sometimes better, in Windows. Much more cost effective – as they are to this day.

    So I’m relatively impervious to the Apple reality distortion field. But I did buy an iPad 1 and loved it, in spite of being treated as an idiot by iOS.

    I didn’t buy into the iPhone, but instead embraced Android. And continued with Android by getting a Nexus 7, which is much better than my old iPad.

    I really like the look of the new Windows phones, but no way would I buy one. I forked out a thousand dollars a few years ago for the snazzy Nokia E71, only to find that its Symbian OS was an orphan that app developers didn’t want to know about. The same could happen with Windows phone and I’m not going to be caught twice.

    Windows 8 has a much better chance of succeeding – even if only relatively – because of the huge base of Windows users. I see Win 8 in my future, along with Android. I’m not so sure that Apple will get another look-in.

  2. billbennettnz Post author

    Hi John,

    You have a point about the Windows Phone, which is a pity because it’s a nicer, more polished product than Android or iPhone. Being really good has never been enough in this game.

    The iPad is still the best tablet and with 80% market share there’s a momentum that can’t be ignored. I doubt Android tablets will seriously challenge Apple in the immediate future.

    Windows 8 certainly could. For that to happen there needs to be an alignment between manufacturing quality and street prices. We’ll have a better idea later this month.

    Aside from immediate preferences, long live competition. Having tech companies play leapfrog is always good.

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