Comments on: who speaks for microsoft?

By: Misty T. George

Misty T. George — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 16:05:25 +0000

Females into nexium with nexium socializing.

By: Spencer_dy

Spencer_dy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:09:29 +0000

Hola!
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By: ace

ace — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 02:16:17 +0000

“do i contradict myself? very well then i contradict myself. i am large, i contain multitudes.” walt whitman, “song of myself”

By: steve clayton

steve clayton — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 01:54:11 +0000

thanks BL — rest assured I missed both the sensitivity training and PR classes

By: B.L. Ochman

B.L. Ochman — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 23:41:32 +0000

Steve: This sounds like a customer service person telling an angry customer “sorry you feel that way” because they’ve had sensitivity training. :>)
Or a PR person who has read: engage bloggers in conversation. In other words, it doesn’t ring true.
Nonetheless, I’d be happy to give you details. Will make a list and send you some concerns later today.

By: Firefly

Firefly — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 19:34:17 +0000

I had this conversation (above) with someone yesterday... The problem is certainly a cultural one and an image that doesn't necessarily project anything positive, exciting, consumer-focused and so on. Things aren't too good when you have a bunch of people say, "I can't stand MS and i don't even know why!" - it's something that's happened over time, tinted with some arrogance and not enough understanding of what consumers want or need. However, as Steve Clayton said, what can he and others do to improve things... It's so easy to bitch and moan, which we all seem to be doing, but no-one offers a solution to the so-called problem...perhaps they (MS) want to see some "jury-agreement" on a way forward that's objective and not necessarily given by the biased insiders... Just a thought..

By: Mike Abundo

Mike Abundo — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 18:06:46 +0000

You're all wrong! Microsoft is a bunch of pretty anime girls!

By: Connectogon

Connectogon — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 12:42:52 +0000

I nominate Alfred Chandler…Barring that I’d like to see a musical penned by Mike Patton and Don Delilo…Uhm.…Yeah…

By: Eric Strauss

Eric Strauss — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 10:04:10 +0000

Who speaks?
Anyone who wants to take responsibility for his or her company.
I take responsibility for my work. I’ll bet Hugh does too.
But how about each of the 71,000 people at Microsoft?

By: John Seiffer - Business Coach

John Seiffer - Business Coach — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 05:53:18 +0000

There is no “The Microsoft Story.” A story is part of the person who writes it (and /or tells it). So everyone who interacts with Microsoft has their own Microsoft story, and the right to tell it as they please.
If some of the top employees at Microsoft tell a story (or pay someone to tell a story their way) and they call it THE OFFICIAL MICROSOFT STORY and forbid other employees from calling their stories that — so be it. It’s still just their story that they’re hoping you’ll believe.

By: steve clayton

steve clayton — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 05:33:49 +0000

B.L. — the products do speak for the company and it’s employees can help speak for those products and explain them (and their deficiencies). Love to know what you think sucks about Explorer, Word, PowerPoint and outlook. I care about making things better. Wanna help?

By: B.L. Ochman

B.L. Ochman — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:56:47 +0000

Microsoft’s products speak for it. And, increasingly, they suck. Explorer, Word, Power Point, and especially Outlook all suck.
And as you have often pointed out, it doesn’t matter what you say if your products suck. In fact, one of my favorites of your cartoons says exactly that.

By: Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 01:46:14 +0000

Barry,
Please do warn me when you’re going to make comments like these:
>he was an inadvertant part of a elaborate, carefully thought out media effort
I almost ruined my new Mac by spitting up the milk I was drinking.
If you only knew the truth…
Sigh.

By: John Bell

John Bell — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 22:48:21 +0000

Who should speak for Microsoft? How about employees and customers? Isn’t that pretty much what is happening? If we are missing anything, it is the sense that Microsoft is driven by a Big Ideal — something meaningful yet flexible enough to cover all of their disparate activities. Am I naively pining away for the company “vision” — maybe so. But just what do they stand for, what is important and shared inside the company. That is something that can be communicated from both the grasstops and grassroots to us outsiders who use their products.
And, ultimately, their actions are what we all need to talk about. What are the company behaviors that people discuss? Seems dominated by negative stories at times. There are better Microsoft experts on this thread than I (and some dedicated detractors, I am guessing). But I bet there are many many interesting and laudable actions taking place everyday inside the company. I want to hear those stories.
Anyone who starts the Gates Foundation cannot be all bad.

By: Barry Ritholtz

Barry Ritholtz — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 20:28:45 +0000

When you stop and think about a company that has suffered through as much bad press as Microsoft has over the years, it was an eventuality that they would have to learn to use blogs — if nothing else, as another form of PR.
MisterSoftee made the company’s products ubiquitous through a combination of ruthless tactics — and desktop and productivity suite monopoly, which they used to further their market position.
So to answer the question “Who speaks for Microsoft” requires thinking about a carefully orchestrated PR campaign, part of which even included so called transparent methods such as blogs.
Indeed, my issue with Scoble as Microsoft’s blogger has always been that regardless of his very best intentions, he could not help but be assimilated. Even when he was airing the company’s flaws, he was an inadvertant part of a elaborate, carefully thought out media effort. Eventually, he started defending the undefendable.
Who speaks for Microsoft? Well, they are no longer dominated by single personality (like Apple) and they have not quite become a bland faceless entity (like Yahoo). And they have yet to adopt a troika at the top (like Google).
It appears to be “evolving”