“Bob Frankston is one of the smartest people I speak to. If you don’t recognize his name, Bob is best known as the programmer who wrote VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet, realizing the design of his partner, Dan Bricklin,” Robert X. Cringely writes for PBS.
“In a sense Microsoft is a lot like the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire’s growth and economy was driven by conquering and plundering neighboring regions. Within the Empire they created a sort of safe economic zone where commerce could work and technology could be developed. However, that came at a price, as they tended to destroy everything outside the empire as it grew,” Cringely writes.
“Same for Microsoft, whose leaders were greedy and made a number of good, shrewd business decisions. They were also ruthless. Over time they managed to destroy the surrounding software industry. Within Microsoft’s world was a sort of safe economic zone. If you were not a threat to Microsoft or if you did something Microsoft didn’t want to do (like make PCs) you were able to grow under the shadow of Redmond. When the emperor spoke, you listened,” Cringely writes.
“It is too early to predict the fall of the Microsoft Empire. Does Microsoft have the leaders and generals who can lead the company into the future? Who knows? In the software world there is nothing else to conquer or plunder. In other markets it will be hard, if not impossible, for Microsoft to dominate whole industries as it has in the past. Microsoft now needs to act like a responsible company, work well with others, and grow through cooperation and teamwork. This will be hard for Microsoft,” Cringely writes. “The Romans couldn’t do it. The Romans neglected one of their ‘partners’ and eventually that partner did them in.”
Cringely writes, “Today’s Microsoft is a great generator of cash. With some good product refreshes, this cash generation can continue for years to come. The BIG decision is what to do with the cash. Microsoft needs to develop new businesses. Microsoft could have a great future doing things that have nothing to do with computers. They could be making a great electric car, or great new medications, or any number of other things. Microsoft could create new industries that could have a huge benefit to the economy. Microsoft could change the world, again. Ten years from now Microsoft could be a huge holding company of which PC software is but one part. They don’t have to gut the software unit, which is viable enough to be a great moneymaker for another 25 years if Microsoft manages it well.”
Cringely writes, “Right now Microsoft is like a deer in the headlights. They are stuck on software and computer stuff. They can’t move. There are much more interesting growth opportunities out there.”
Full article, including much about Net Neutrality and the idea that “making almost any regulation specifically to hinder OR HELP the Internet can only make things worse,” here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft has never been a maker of great, inspired, elegant, innovative, original software. The best Microsoft products have been bought or copied/stolen. Ideas generated inside of the Redmond behemoth are… well, two words: Microsoft Bob. Maybe Microsoft should take their billions and do something else with it; something more useful, at which they might prove to be more adept?
For example — forget Cringely’s electric cars: electric, schlmetric — GM has so far invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” in hydrogen fuel cell research. Imagine what Microsoft could do in that field with their many billions? Gather the best scientists and engineers in the field, pay them extremely well, and let them get to work. Certainly, leading the world into a hydrogen economy and a truly sustainable future is a better use of their big sweaty piles of cash than slipping and then finally shipping another bloated, ugly, counterintuitive, inelegant Windows operating system along with an equally affected office suite and other software products?
Although, it would take a good bit of PR to reconcile “Microsoft+Hydrogen” (see: Hindenburg), such an endeavor might even be more profitable than floundering around in software trying desperately to cling to “backwards compatibility” to maintain their market position. One thng: just focus on the fuel cell technology, Microsoft, and let Apple handle the vehicle control software and the user interface, okay?
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
What Microsoft has chopped from Windows Vista, and when – June 27, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
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Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft collapsing under its own weight, Gates has driven Windows Vista into the ground – April 20, 2006
Windows Vista to be Microsoft’s last operating system? – April 21, 2006
What’s the difference between Mac OS X and Vista? Microsoft employees are excited about Mac OS X – March 22, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft going to get eaten alive over Windows Vista’s resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – March 09, 2006
@pr–that is fascinating! Thanks for the link!
Company link, for anyone else interested: http://hytechapps.com
then there is this….he was murdered
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3333992194168790800
Does seem pretty good, my SUV is killing me on the gas and wouldn’t mind a simple upgrade to get better gas mileage.
Only problem is in the video the guy mentions water vapor exiting the exhaust, water vapor is NOT a good thing.
I have to keep my tank filled with gas or the little condesation that results makes my engine run rough as well as builds up carbon deposits in the engine that cost money to clean out.
So apparantly not 100% pure hydrogen is entering the combustion chamber or a chemical reaction with the gases (oxygen + hydrogen + heat = water vapor) is happening which the by product (water) may not be exiting the system and cause deposits/rust etc.
So one may get better fuel economy, at the cost of a seriously shortened engine life.
Channel Z – All static, all day, forever. – B-52’s.
If Microsoft wound up in the medical field, as implied in this article, could you imagine what insurance would cost? Would I need an anti-virus shot along with Microsoft’s medicine? Would the medicine be available in time for me to get the much-needed shot? Would I crash or passout every five minutes after getting the shot? Would my anti-virus medication expire soon after the shot is given? Would the medication be compatible with my blood type? I’ve never had to worry about this with Johnson&Johson;.
Microsoft in the medical field. What a disasterous idea! Even as a joke that’s a bad thing of which to talk. I’d rather have them create more bad product.
There is lots of scientific research going on in making spliting of water a energy reduced process so that in the end it generates more energy than the work required to produce it.
http://www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/proj_production_delivery.html
This inventor guy was most likely murdered by one of his crackpot followers to make him famous (or to steal his invention) than a big “power” or a bunch of ragheads in the middle east or much anyone else. Zero energy fruitcakes are more nutty and willing to kill somebody than some rich gas station tycoon.
Oil is used for many things once it’s cracked, to make medicine, chemicals, lubricants, clothes, plastics and a wealth of other things. It’s a diversified product with many uses.
Any change to the infastructure would come slowly and take many years as the new engines were introduced into new cars. More than enough time for those in a tight situation to make smart decsions (like raising prices) and get enough money to retire happily.
Nobody would be desperate enough to kill over it. The “rich” are already rich, they are not some young desperate boy with a violent temper. The rich have enough to sustain themselves through any economic condition regardless, they live to reduce risk and live as happily as possible.
The fruitcakes of the world: the ideologists, the radical religious, the mentally unstable are attracted by “alternate energy” and “aliens” and such wacko stuff and a prime candidate for a murder suspect than rich and comfortable (aka stable) people.
You want to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, then hydrogen fuel cells are the answer.
You want hydrogen then nuclear power producing electricity for the electrolysis of water is the answer.
We can dispose of nuclear waste with today’s technology.
We can place it in a subduction zone at the bottom of the ocean and let plate tectonics suck it deep into the mantel where it would not resurface for millions of years.
Or, we could fire it into low solar orbit where it could fuel nature’s thermonuclear reactor and keep the sun shining.
We have the technology. Microsoft’s billions in ill gotten gains could help the cause.
The article MDN cites about the Hindenburg has false information: “Airship Hindenburg burst into flame at an altitude of about 200 feet and was burned to destruction by hydrogen fire…” (Emphasis mine)
Hydrogen, the lightest of all elements, goes straight up in the atmosphere. Hence hydrogen fueled fires do the same. And their flames are invisible or nearly so. From the pictures, you can see the flames are both very visible and enveloping. The fire shown is simply not a hydrogen fueled fire. It is, however, a fire of the ship’s exterior material, which is very similar to some solid rocket fuels.
Hydro power is not environmentally friendly. It is devastating to fish and ecosystems. Likewise wind farms can be harmful to birds. However small scale hydro and wind systems can be environmentally friendly. And solar technology keeps advancing each year.
As for electric cars, aside from the ecological impact of electric generation, there is the ecological impact of the batteries used therein. These only last a half decade or so and must be replaced. Electric vehicles may sound eco-friendly, but they are not. Fuel cell technology would be an improvement over battery powered electric vehicles or combustion engines.
Someone mentioned burning hydrogen fuel in today’s gas engines. Yes this can be done, but it is a waste of the energy potential of the fuel. Energy would be lost in the combustion process, compared to using, for example, a fuel cell to extract the energy. And a fuel cell vehicle with electric motors instead of a heavy combustion engine would be far lighter, thus able to travel farther on the same amount of energy. Additionally, there is the astonishing fact that about 85% of the energy output of a combustion automobile engine is wasted.
The biggest drawback to a hydrogen fuel economy is hydrogen fuel is not a liquid fuel like gasoline and diesel. It would require an entirely different infrastructure to get hydrogen fuel to the consumer. Also, burning hydrogen fuel directly in an auto engine would require installation of pressurized hydrogen tanks.
It would not surprise me to see China take the lead in an effort to transition to a hydrogen based energy economy. Although it might present M$ with another monopoly opportunity, i doubt that even M$ has the financial resources to make it happen. At the very least, they would have to bet the farm on it, and they won’t do that.
An interesting page, with links to many alternative energy pages, is Michael’s Conservation, Alternative Energy and Green Construction Jump Page. Enjoy!
Rainy Day
The assumption your making is that people would have to lug around compressed hydrogen tanks, get them refueled at hydro-stations and what not.
If you watched the video, the goal is a small device that would split the water at near zero energy cost, inject it into a engine which would combine it, the energy used and the water recycled to be used again.
The goal of course is to get this process as efficient as possible so it’s people can simply fill their cars up with their garden hose.
Forget this huge infrastructure and volitile tanks of compressed hydrogen.
The link I provided has various research into lowing the energy cost in the water splitting.
Biological – not practical even if it did work. What if the bacteria got loose?
Well, electric cars work great and can use “green” electricity or “dirty” electricity equally well. Wind, solar, nuclear and hydroelectric power work great for obtaining electricity. My electricity is 25% wind power, since I signed up to pay the extra 10% for it.
Diesel cars get about twice the fuel efficiency of gasoline-powered cars, and if you run them on biodiesel they pollute much less than gasoline-burning cars. In europe they pretty much run diesel in most modern cars since it is so much more economical.
Hydrogen fuel cells is a great idea, but it’s 10 or 15 years off, and they’ve been telling us that for 10 or 15 years. Electric cars are proven to work well today. Diesel cars are proven to be far more economical than gasoline-powered cars. Our greedy oil industry is the only thing keeping us lagging behind in technology and keeping us dependent on the middle east.
“…I am sick of forking over money to big oil to squander on big salaries, stock options, and pensions for their executives instead of investing in new technologies like hydrogen and fuel cells…”
So you’d rather hand your money over to ‘big electricity’ so they can squander it? By ‘big oil’ I suppose you mean companies that seek out, procure, transport from around the world, refine (into a ridiculously large number of required blends), and distribute to the pump for a remarkably reasonable price (most of the cost of a gallon of gas is taxes) the substance that allows you to rush home in time to log on and bitch about them? That ‘big oil’?
Try not to have such a cartoonish view of the world.
I just read some more on this – there are ultra-low sulfur diesel fuels becoming widely available in the USA, and the 2.0L diesel that VW has offered in europe for some time will finally be available in the USA in late 2007. It’s going to have more than 200ft/lbs torque with about 140hp (0-60 about 9 seconds for the Jetta), and get about 37mpg in the city, 48mpg on the freeway. It will also feature reduced emissions to meet tighter US regulations.
Hybrid cars get crappy highway mileage (they burn gas like any other car on the highway) and have batteries that must be thrown away every several years. Hydrogen fuel cell cars are (as always) many years away. Higher performance diesel cars with ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel are less than 2 years away in our country, available now in europe.
QUIT GIVING THEM IDEAS!!!!! THEY ARE THE BAD GUY!!!
the 2.0L diesel that VW has offered in europe for some time will finally be available in the USA in late 2007
VW’s are great cars… when they run.
I’m in the Siberian upper Midwest US, where we can have winter days that WARM UP to -20 F. Until an automotive diesel proves itself worthy of the climate, I’ll stick with my 32mpg gas guzzler.
“I’m in the Siberian upper Midwest US, where we can have winter days that WARM UP to -20 F.”
Wow! You must, er, love it there!
“Should Microsoft reinvent itself . . .?”
Yes, but this time go Macrohard. Duh.
“Wow! You must, er, love it there!”
I think the response is supposed to be, “Ahhhhh, you betcha.”
Those crazy Lutefisk lovers.
Can we just forget about Microsoft? I thought this site is about Apple. Is this a site for venting MS Windows hate messages? No OS is perfect
Sorry, diesel fuel is a by-product of gasoline refinement.
macromancer
Im no fan of Powerpoint, but the simple fact is, that a program isn’t going to cause a problem like this. The people who organize the data and design the presentation have a responsibility to prioritize the data in a manner that articulates their point effectively. The big error here is in not having adequate resources who understand the tehcnology to work with the people on the ground who understand the material, to prepare effective communications.
In other words, if they had a good design or communications person help them with this, it wouldnt be a problem. To blame it on the software missed the real problem.
Bad software can cause a communication problem, I’ll give you a example of my point.
There is a stop light near me controling a 4 way intersection. It has a pattern to allow the two opposite paralel lanes to turn left respectively first, before the main traffic goes in opposite directions.
The lights from left to right are as follows: Red, left turn green, yellow and green.
You know what happens just about 3 times out of ten when that red light turns off and the green left arrow turns on? Sure the left lane cars go, but so does a few cars in the straight lanes, right into the cars trying to turn left from the opposite lanes. crash.
Way does this happen? Same thing like Powerpoint, it does the job but fails to communicate effectively.
The lights work, but the order and sequence is wrong.
The correct way would be to have the lights like this: Left green arrow, red, yellow, green. The green arrow light would be on the far left to represent the left hand lane.
The correct sequence would have been: when the green arrow is lit, the red light would remain lit. The meaning is clear, everyone stop except the ones turning left.
Bad software can cause substancial lost of life because critical information is not passed in the correct manner to achieve the desired results.
With everyone stuck using inferior Microsoft software, a monoculture brought on by monopolisic practices. Innovation and correct information transfer can’t occur which in turn led to substancial loss of life.
Nothing can force Microsoft to change and the monopolistic nature of this company has stifled any attempts by anyone to make the necessary improvements.
In FACT, with the 800 plane pile up. A rock solid UNIX system that was working for years reliably was replaced by cheap Dells and inferior Windows Server which a workaround of having to reboot the system every 30 days was implemented.
All it took was for someone to miss one of those reboots.
“Sorry, diesel fuel is a by-product of gasoline refinement.”
Ahhh, but vegetable oil isn’t. Pure “biodiesel” is simply vegetable oil with an additive so it doesn’t solidify at low temperatures. It releases 78% less CO2 than diesel fuel does when it burns, and it’s easier on the engine than diesel is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiesel
Diesels are great. I have a 1979 diesel VW Rabbit. This is one of the old technology diesel engines; puts out the black soot if i accelerate too quickly, makes a clanky sound, and requires 15-30 seconds for the glow plugs to warm the engine before ignition. Pure (i.e. B100) biodiesel significantly reduces the soot problem with this car. The newer diesels are much cleaner, start up instantly, are much quieter, and are greatly improved over my engine. The diesel engine is so much simpler than a gasoline engine (no spark plugs) and lasts much longer.
What many people do not know about diesels is they can run on straight vegetable oil (SVO) once the engine is warm. Some people have converted their cars to dual tanks: one for SVO and one for biodiesel. The engine is started using biodiesel, and after a couple of minutes, is switched over to SVO. The problem with this system is that you need to remember to switch back to biodiesel before turning the engine off, so that biodiesel is in the fuel line for the next start-up.
Although biodiesel is far better for the environment than petroleum diesel, SVO is better still.
Diesel engines do not get twice the mileage of a gasoline engine, however. My 1979 Rabbit gets 45 mpg in town and 51 mpg on the highway. A 1979 gasoline Rabbit will get about 27/33 mpg.
Nick, actually, biodiesel isn’t just SVO with an additive. It involves a chemical reaction which takes about 3 days to complete. But it’s fairly simple to make and many people make their own from used cooking oil from fast food “restaurants.” But it is somewhat dangerous to do because of the chemicals involved.
Biodiesel does clean out the engine (and fuel tank). When starting to use biodiesel for the first time, you need to change the fuel filter after a few tanks because of all the kruft in the tank left over from petroleum diesel.
Regarding carbon emissions, the important thing to remember with either biodiesel or SVO is that there is no net increase in atmospheric carbon (as the plants which produce the oil are drawing carbon from the atmosphere). Not the case with petroleum diesel where 100% of the carbon emissions are coming from carbon which had been locked away in the Earth’s crust for millions of years.
“Should Microsoft reinvent itself and develop new businesses outside of software?”
Yeah, I’ve got some rats in my basement that need clearing out, and the there’s a septic tank nearby that could really do with emptying.
After that they could cut the grass on my lawn, and then do the dishes.
But I bet what would happen is that they would say they’ve cleared the rats but instead they’d be an explosion in the breeding population.
They’d then offer me their super-duper XP Pro rat contract, and I’d have to buy it because they’d have bought out every other rat-controller in the area’s business.
The septic tank would leak, poisoning thousands, and they’d try to sell them Vista Health Insurance.
You get the idea. It doesn’t matter what business Microsoft get’s into, they have to completely take it over, to the detriment of their customers. I say close it down and give the money back to the shareholders.
Electric Schmlectric says: “Electric vehicles are typical liberal Ed Begley, Jr. bullshit. Feel good, knee jerk stupidity. As they plug in their cars, the morons conveniently ignore that the electric power with which they are “saving the environment” was produced at the electric plant that burns tons of dirty coal and emits the remains into the atmosphere.
As MDN states so concisely: “electric, schlmetric.”
Electric Schmlectric, I have nothing against hydrogen fuel research, but why are you becoming so nasty over another clean energy alternative that is here today? Some car manufacturers are on the verge of producing plug in hybrid vehicles (like the Prius) that can travel 30 miles round trip without using a drop of gasoline. You claim that to charge the batteries requires the dirty electric plant that burns coal. But get this: If you own a home, throw a solar panel on the roof and recharge the plug in battery using the good old sun. Not only do you get to charge your plug in vehicle using the free energy of the sun, you cut out the coal electric company as well. I admit the cost to make your hybrid vehicle a plug in is not cheap right now, but if millions of people embraced this solution, the price would come down in a hurry. Ford Motor Company understands this, they are targeting 2007 to produce their own version of the hybrid plug in.
Please tell me what’s so knee jerk stupid about having multiple options to become energy independent.
Microsoft should resign and give all the money back to their stockholders or something like that.
Listen to the Dell…dude.