techblog.dallasnews.com— Microsoft spent $7.4 billion last year on research and development. Apple spent $844 million. Yet Apple seems to deliver far more innovative products to market.
Apr 27, 2008View in Crawl 4
Innovation isn't whats making Microsoft their money at the moment. Unfortunately, the company has found success in appealing to a market that does not necessarily further non-commercial users.
If you think that "Surface" is the next big thing, then you really got sucked in by those marketing geniuses hired by MS. "The Surface doesn't even use a touch screen, but rather a projector and a set of infrared cameras that sense the positioning of objects and direct manipulation occurring on top of its bathtub base.This is technology hobbyists have been building on their own for years, not the result of some top secret project.Microsoft Surface should have been called Vista Veneer. "and : "At last month's Maker Faire, homebrew robot makers were showing off a rear projection lucite table that similarly responded to finger touches from multiple users. I stuck my hands on it. Did they spend six years inside of a Microsoft bunker to whip together that free demonstration? No, they built it in their garage from spare parts."<a class="user" href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/BE8D0C58-313E-453E-9E8B-D443BE6E1DDE.html">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/BE ...</a>
the OS on the iphone is almost identical to the palm os, i mean its got a category or folder, you touch it and it opens. besides other then graphics upgrades, support for new applications, and maybe a new programing language there isn't much room for innovation in an OS, its soul purpose is to help you navigate and run your hardware.
M$ hasn't changed anything about Outlook because they can't figure out how to innovate and grow the product. They will wait for Apple to do it, then just copy their ideas. The Zune is a clear example of how Microsoft is always a follower of innovation by others. M$ had the same (if not more) opportunity to develop an easy to use, portable media player. It's not about money. It's about pure innovation and thought. Microsoft has too many products to spend time and money supporting instead of being able to focus on producing new innovative products. Microsoft also has open source everything to worry about these days. Hell, I will never have to give M$ another dime thanks to NeoOffice/OpenOffice. Game, Set, and Match.
Reality is, if you are browsing a website, it could be sitting on an IIS server. Playing games, you could end up buying an Xbox or a 360 (not you, but everyone). Driving a car, same applies. Listening to music, same thing. Searching the internet, well using google they are likely using a slew of *nix servers, but ultimately the site you choose to navigate to could be running Microsoft.I'm trying to be a devil's advocate here. I am 100% PS3/Linux fan, however, I give credit where credit is due. Microsoft wouldn't be the leading software manufacturer in the world if they didn't do what they did. The average user is a Microsoft user. The average developer, uses Studio. A lot of government institutions use Windows XP and Windows Server for their systems (as they can point a finger to someone of something goes bad).
mooinakanApr 29, 2008
Innovation isn't whats making Microsoft their money at the moment. Unfortunately, the company has found success in appealing to a market that does not necessarily further non-commercial users.
mrbitchApr 29, 2008
If you think that "Surface" is the next big thing, then you really got sucked in by those marketing geniuses hired by MS. "The Surface doesn't even use a touch screen, but rather a projector and a set of infrared cameras that sense the positioning of objects and direct manipulation occurring on top of its bathtub base.This is technology hobbyists have been building on their own for years, not the result of some top secret project.Microsoft Surface should have been called Vista Veneer. "and : "At last month's Maker Faire, homebrew robot makers were showing off a rear projection lucite table that similarly responded to finger touches from multiple users. I stuck my hands on it. Did they spend six years inside of a Microsoft bunker to whip together that free demonstration? No, they built it in their garage from spare parts."<a class="user" href="http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/BE8D0C58-313E-453E-9E8B-D443BE6E1DDE.html">http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/RDM.Tech.Q2.07/BE ...</a>
xistew13ixApr 29, 2008
the OS on the iphone is almost identical to the palm os, i mean its got a category or folder, you touch it and it opens. besides other then graphics upgrades, support for new applications, and maybe a new programing language there isn't much room for innovation in an OS, its soul purpose is to help you navigate and run your hardware.
roberto_deneeroApr 30, 2008
M$ hasn't changed anything about Outlook because they can't figure out how to innovate and grow the product. They will wait for Apple to do it, then just copy their ideas. The Zune is a clear example of how Microsoft is always a follower of innovation by others. M$ had the same (if not more) opportunity to develop an easy to use, portable media player. It's not about money. It's about pure innovation and thought. Microsoft has too many products to spend time and money supporting instead of being able to focus on producing new innovative products. Microsoft also has open source everything to worry about these days. Hell, I will never have to give M$ another dime thanks to NeoOffice/OpenOffice. Game, Set, and Match.
eboulianApr 30, 2008
Reality is, if you are browsing a website, it could be sitting on an IIS server. Playing games, you could end up buying an Xbox or a 360 (not you, but everyone). Driving a car, same applies. Listening to music, same thing. Searching the internet, well using google they are likely using a slew of *nix servers, but ultimately the site you choose to navigate to could be running Microsoft.I'm trying to be a devil's advocate here. I am 100% PS3/Linux fan, however, I give credit where credit is due. Microsoft wouldn't be the leading software manufacturer in the world if they didn't do what they did. The average user is a Microsoft user. The average developer, uses Studio. A lot of government institutions use Windows XP and Windows Server for their systems (as they can point a finger to someone of something goes bad).
roguegeniusMay 6, 2008
It's easy to clarify. If not for Apple, none of this stuff would exist. Apple innovates, Microsoft steals. That's it.
lemonMay 7, 2008
$6.6 billion was spent on fixing Steve Balmer's ankle.
krzeeAug 6, 2008
R&D != support