The Microsoft I Hope to Lead In 2019

Its not uncommon for the uninformed to accuse Microsoft of being free of innovative thought.  After all, we don’t have products that buzz like Google’s or have a rabid consumer following like Apple.  All I can say is that don’t mistake Microsoft as a company that wants to be an outsider.  In the 80’s Microsoft started changing the rules.  In the 90’s their rules became the new rules.  The internet came and now other companies are trying to create a new set of rules.  Each step of the way, there have been people who pushed change and there have been those who resisted it.  Microsoft has experience with both.  This decade has been one of major trials and tribulations where much of Microsoft’s story has been told by competitors.  Enough wasn’t done to define what Microsoft stood for as a company, and all too often the company sat in a dark corner going about its business while others chipped away their mind share. 

However, with all the battles waged against open-source, Google, Cisco, IBM, and Apple, a few constants remind me that Microsoft is a company that gets it.  Microsoft gets that developers dictate the success of a platform.  If no one writes code for Windows, then Windows ceases to exist.  Microsoft gets that people are the differentiating factor in success and failure for any organization, not the technology.  Microsoft gets that there will always be rebels in marketplace that think different and see the world from another angle; Microsoft doesn’t want to be that rebel.  Microsoft, above all else, gets that customers value choice and flexibility in how they work, play and live.  For any who feel that Microsoft lacks vision, for any who feel that Microsoft doesn’t get it, all I can say is how do you see the world ten years from now?  How do you think Microsoft sees the world ten years from now?  Let me show you.

The Microsoft that People Would Like to See

Venture Beat – “This is the Microsoft I want to see”

“And it’s frustrating, because with billions of dollars spent each year in research and development , it’s not like the company doesn’t have the means to innovate and make great products. So what does it lack? The vision? Well, if the video below is any indication, no .”

iStartedSomething.com – “Microsoft Office Labs Vision 2019”

“When Microsoft decides to imagine the future, it never fails to impress. Not only do you have some of the smartest people envisioning what’s possible, but they also invest so much into communicating these ideas through sights and sounds which the production value can be compared to most blockbuster sci-fi films.”

Mark Deakin – “Microsoft Vision 2019”

“Once every so often, Microsoft has a think about what the company will be doing in the future rather than having to focus on the revenue targets and metrics for the next 12 months. It’s during these times in particular that I remember why I work at Microsoft.”