Microsoft Keeps Plugging Away


Microsoft release the next Zune to very little fanfare compared with what Jobs generated with even the most recent iPod refresh.

For all the crap Microsoft took over the Zune ("oh look! it comes in brown!"), you have to admire the perseverance. The fact is that this is how Microsoft wins lots of battles: "release, watch, redesign, lather, repeat." Office, Outlook/Exchange, and the XBox are all examples of Microsoft powerhouses that were less than exciting in version one. Heck, can you remember Windows 1.0? What a dog.

Microsoft has the affluence and smarts to have a long range attitude about new products and in the end, it's one of the company's biggest assets.

Scoble makes a nice distinction between products where you have to win and defensive products. I'd add that many of Microsoft's defensive products do become winners simply because the product people refuse to just mark time.


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Last modified: Thu Oct 10 12:47:19 2019.