There is going to be a lot of amount of chatter today within the
blogosphere - and, hopefully, the mainstream media - about the "Live"
e-mails sent by Bill Gates and Microsoft CTO Ray Ozzie (provided to us by Dave Winer.
Thanks, Dave!). If you'll indulge me, I'd like to add my two
cents. If you want to know where Microsoft is heading strategically,
Ozzie's e-mail is as fascinating as it comes because it provides
big-time insight into where Microsoft and the high-tech industry has
been, where it is and, more importantly, where it's going. I was
particularly struck by the following paragraph within Ozzie's lengthy e-mail,
which shows Microsoft is going to enthusiastically embrace Web-based
services and its enabling technology (AJAX, DHTML, etc.) to drive its business and product portfolio
forward.
"It is now 2005, and the environment has changed yet again – this time around services. Computing
and communications technologies have dramatically and progressively
improved to enable the viability of a services-based model. The
ubiquity of broadband and wireless networking has changed the nature of
how people interact, and they’re increasingly drawn toward the
simplicity of services and service-enabled software that ‘just works’."
In
a nutshell, this is Microsoft 21st century manifesto. It's the core of
Microsoft's new strategic DNA that could lead to some amazing new
developments in how it delivers software as a service - not only
services such as Hotmail and MSN Messenger but "core" applications such
as Windows and Office. I can't help but feel this is Microsoft Redux in
that it was a decade ago that Microsoft had an "Internet Strategy Day"
in Redmond to announce its online plans - after dismissing the Web until
Netscape became a runaway success. To paraphrase Ozzie, it's now 2005
and Microsoft has shifted the direction of the Titantic to adjust
strategically to the new technology landscape.
Another interesting angle to "Live" is how Ozzie taking a leading role in shaping Microsoft's technology and strategic direction. His experience and expertise is perhaps the most valuable "asset" that Microsoft acquired when it purchased Groove Networks eight months ago. What's particularly interesting is his apparently close relationship with Gates. It's almost as if Gates has discovered a kindred spirit after a less-than-stellar track record attracting executives from outside the company. As a result, Gates spend time on "vision", Ozzie will help shape this direction and execute it, while Steve Ballmer will focus on selling it.
Another interesting angle to "Live" is how Ozzie taking a leading role in shaping Microsoft's technology and strategic direction. His experience and expertise is perhaps the most valuable "asset" that Microsoft acquired when it purchased Groove Networks eight months ago. What's particularly interesting is his apparently close relationship with Gates. It's almost as if Gates has discovered a kindred spirit after a less-than-stellar track record attracting executives from outside the company. As a result, Gates spend time on "vision", Ozzie will help shape this direction and execute it, while Steve Ballmer will focus on selling it.
For anyone interested in getting a running start at what
Web 2.0 may mean, good starting points are Ozzie's e-mail, Tim
O'Reilly's "What is Web 2.0" and Nicholas Carr's "The Amorality of Web 2.0".
Update: Carr has a nice post on the "Live" e-mails. One sentence that jumped out was: "Gates's desktop era is over. Ozzie's internet era has begun."
Update: Carr has a nice post on the "Live" e-mails. One sentence that jumped out was: "Gates's desktop era is over. Ozzie's internet era has begun."