WhatMeWorry

Microsoft: In Need of Focus

"Instance the CD; monetize the IP? What hogwash!" It's market speak.

Ballmer is a marketing guy, put in charge of a high tech company with a monopoly. That is a deadly combination.

I worked for a company like that, high tech with marketing guys in charge. It had a monopoly on copying and these marketing exec's thought they were very smart because the money just rolled. But they never understood the technology. With all the cash, they bought up lots of high tech start ups, funded world class research labs which enabled them to get into all sorts of side products that never made money. Even though the labs acquired companies gave them a 20 year head start they mismanaged the digital transition because of their ignorance of the technology and lost their monopoly. So from a high flier in the 60's and 70's they almost went under, stock now has gone nowhere in the last 10 years or more.

For another example, think of how the marketing CEO almost ran Apple out of existence.

The monopoly postpones the inevitable but Ballmer is following the script and will do the same to Microsoft.