Dare says I just rediscovered Hailstorm

34 thoughts on “Dare says I just rediscovered Hailstorm”

1. The other other thing that’s hurting Microsoft is that all of it’s software is crap and its business practices are evil. End of blog.

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2. The other other thing that’s hurting Microsoft is that all of it’s software is crap and its business practices are evil. End of blog.

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3. lets not forget to mention “sorry a low level business person accidently wrote a 220pg agreement to manufactures that makes them ignore Itunes and Ipods.”

   that Scoble forgets to blog about…

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4. lets not forget to mention “sorry a low level business person accidently wrote a 220pg agreement to manufactures that makes them ignore Itunes and Ipods.”

   that Scoble forgets to blog about…

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5. Let’s think for a second about the word “Hailstorm.” It says a lot about the MSFT mentality. Let’s attack from the sky, cover everything at once, and annoy a lot of people while we’re doing so.

   No one goes outside during a hailstorm. They stay huddled inside, waiting for it to pass. It’s not that the name itself drove the service, but it was clearly a mental state of mind — we’re going to “attack” this space.

   Does Google think that way? Do other companies? Does it work for them when they do? Google’s advertising doesn’t look like advertising. They’ve never bought a SINGLE television ad yet that I know of. They don’t have 30 second ads with people talking about making comic books and defeating soccer teams with their software. They don’t try to trick people into using their product.

   It goes back to the state of mind of the service’s creator. If you’re going to call something “Hailstorm,” why not just call it “Yet another way in which we’re trying to steal your money before you wise up.”

   Perhaps you were making these points without making them, Scoble, but I felt they should expanded upon. 🙂

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6. Let’s think for a second about the word “Hailstorm.” It says a lot about the MSFT mentality. Let’s attack from the sky, cover everything at once, and annoy a lot of people while we’re doing so.

   No one goes outside during a hailstorm. They stay huddled inside, waiting for it to pass. It’s not that the name itself drove the service, but it was clearly a mental state of mind — we’re going to “attack” this space.

   Does Google think that way? Do other companies? Does it work for them when they do? Google’s advertising doesn’t look like advertising. They’ve never bought a SINGLE television ad yet that I know of. They don’t have 30 second ads with people talking about making comic books and defeating soccer teams with their software. They don’t try to trick people into using their product.

   It goes back to the state of mind of the service’s creator. If you’re going to call something “Hailstorm,” why not just call it “Yet another way in which we’re trying to steal your money before you wise up.”

   Perhaps you were making these points without making them, Scoble, but I felt they should expanded upon. 🙂

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7. Google is a company that is very good at what it does. Don’t for a second, fool yourself into believing that they don’t have the same killer instinct that Microsoft used to have.

   Just because Google doesn’t need advertising right now or publicly use internal project names for marketing purposes, it would be naive to believe that Google doesn’t want to dominate markets and technologies just like Microsoft has done.

   Companies are in business to make money and increase shareholder value in the process. Microsoft leveraged the integration and bundling of their software to make a ton of money while making it difficult to impossible for their competitors compete. Yes, Microsoft is a convicted monopolist, but are they actually stealing your money?

   Exxon made about $9.9 Billion in last quarter [that is 12 weeks for those who aren’t familiar with the financial term] on over $100 Billion in revenues. Analysts attribute Exxon’s record profit due to Hurricane Katrina and Rita. I would suggest that if there were any stealing of money going on, that Exxon has been doing a really good job of it.

   How about Wal-Mart and the way that they help their associates apply for government assistance because they won’t provide them affordable medical insurance or pay them a decent wage? Some would consider that Wal-Mart is stealing from US taxpayers in order to subsidize one of the most technologically advanced logistics systems on the planet while letting you buy a 12 pack of Diet Coke for $3.99.

   Finally, how about Halliburton? No-bid contracts in Iraq, no-bid contracts to rebuild New Orleans. Lots of money being “stolen” there.

   The money “stolen” from consumers by Microsoft has allowed Bill Gates to found the largest charitible foundation in the world. I guess that $1 billion that his foundation donated to the United Negro College Fund, or the $750 million donated to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or the $126.5 million to fund the Internation AIDS Vaccine project is blood money. I doubt that Exxon is that egalitarian with their profits.

   If Microsoft keeps going as it has been, their lack of execution in the marketplace – not the naming scheme of internal projects will be their undoing.

   The current re-org at Microsoft has given MSN a lot more influence within Microsoft. The increased penetration of broadband residential services will allow companies such as Microsoft and Google to provide web based applications such as Office or StarOffice, thus reducing the importance of the underlying operating system.

   Microsoft is playing catch up in some respects and it will be very interesting to see if they can succeed against Google. I bet that Microsoft shareholders would like to see Google-like execution from Robert and the rest of his co-workers.

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8. Google is a company that is very good at what it does. Don’t for a second, fool yourself into believing that they don’t have the same killer instinct that Microsoft used to have.

   Just because Google doesn’t need advertising right now or publicly use internal project names for marketing purposes, it would be naive to believe that Google doesn’t want to dominate markets and technologies just like Microsoft has done.

   Companies are in business to make money and increase shareholder value in the process. Microsoft leveraged the integration and bundling of their software to make a ton of money while making it difficult to impossible for their competitors compete. Yes, Microsoft is a convicted monopolist, but are they actually stealing your money?

   Exxon made about $9.9 Billion in last quarter [that is 12 weeks for those who aren’t familiar with the financial term] on over $100 Billion in revenues. Analysts attribute Exxon’s record profit due to Hurricane Katrina and Rita. I would suggest that if there were any stealing of money going on, that Exxon has been doing a really good job of it.

   How about Wal-Mart and the way that they help their associates apply for government assistance because they won’t provide them affordable medical insurance or pay them a decent wage? Some would consider that Wal-Mart is stealing from US taxpayers in order to subsidize one of the most technologically advanced logistics systems on the planet while letting you buy a 12 pack of Diet Coke for $3.99.

   Finally, how about Halliburton? No-bid contracts in Iraq, no-bid contracts to rebuild New Orleans. Lots of money being “stolen” there.

   The money “stolen” from consumers by Microsoft has allowed Bill Gates to found the largest charitible foundation in the world. I guess that $1 billion that his foundation donated to the United Negro College Fund, or the $750 million donated to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, or the $126.5 million to fund the Internation AIDS Vaccine project is blood money. I doubt that Exxon is that egalitarian with their profits.

   If Microsoft keeps going as it has been, their lack of execution in the marketplace – not the naming scheme of internal projects will be their undoing.

   The current re-org at Microsoft has given MSN a lot more influence within Microsoft. The increased penetration of broadband residential services will allow companies such as Microsoft and Google to provide web based applications such as Office or StarOffice, thus reducing the importance of the underlying operating system.

   Microsoft is playing catch up in some respects and it will be very interesting to see if they can succeed against Google. I bet that Microsoft shareholders would like to see Google-like execution from Robert and the rest of his co-workers.

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9. Pingback: » Hailstorm remembered … with a side-glance at Google Microsoft Weblog

10. Very good comments Mark. I’ve been saying mostly the same things too. Mostly….

    You see, I always thought a quarter of a year was THIRTEEN weeks. But you might be right… if you are, then I demand to know who stole those other 4 weeks in each year I’ve been alive! Oh that’s right, the IRS. 😛

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11. Very good comments Mark. I’ve been saying mostly the same things too. Mostly….

    You see, I always thought a quarter of a year was THIRTEEN weeks. But you might be right… if you are, then I demand to know who stole those other 4 weeks in each year I’ve been alive! Oh that’s right, the IRS. 😛

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12. Microsoft’s biggest problem isn’t getting product out the door — customers don’t use a quarter of the features in products already in the market. They fail to grasp that, at this point in the evolution of tech, it’s more about providing *solutions*, not software.

    IBM Global Services is the ultimate sales arm of IBM software, MS needs something similar. I’m a happy MS customer, but I’d be a hell of a lot happier if someone from MS could tell me how to integrate IIS, Sharepoint, Office and Web Services into solutions that would fix business problems in my company.

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13. Microsoft’s biggest problem isn’t getting product out the door — customers don’t use a quarter of the features in products already in the market. They fail to grasp that, at this point in the evolution of tech, it’s more about providing *solutions*, not software.

    IBM Global Services is the ultimate sales arm of IBM software, MS needs something similar. I’m a happy MS customer, but I’d be a hell of a lot happier if someone from MS could tell me how to integrate IIS, Sharepoint, Office and Web Services into solutions that would fix business problems in my company.

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14. one thing I don’t get about Microsoft is that they have a huge portfolio of patents in R&D…they use a lot of this intellectual property in their direct products but not enough…for instance, Scoble u talked about this company that has applied facial recog. algorithms to picture stores… that’s an amazing tech. for me…now u could allow these guys to provide software for Windows to do the same…but why didn’t Microsoft (or have they?) integrate similar features in Windows earlier…even in its basic iterations…why won’t i get this functionality by default in Windows Vista?

    I might be complety wrong on this example…but the point I’m trying to make is that features like these would make your product look revolutionary rather than evolutionary…if I were Bill Gates ( 🙂 ), I would make huge investments in projects like sandbox…

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15. one thing I don’t get about Microsoft is that they have a huge portfolio of patents in R&D…they use a lot of this intellectual property in their direct products but not enough…for instance, Scoble u talked about this company that has applied facial recog. algorithms to picture stores… that’s an amazing tech. for me…now u could allow these guys to provide software for Windows to do the same…but why didn’t Microsoft (or have they?) integrate similar features in Windows earlier…even in its basic iterations…why won’t i get this functionality by default in Windows Vista?

    I might be complety wrong on this example…but the point I’m trying to make is that features like these would make your product look revolutionary rather than evolutionary…if I were Bill Gates ( 🙂 ), I would make huge investments in projects like sandbox…

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16. one thing I don’t get about Microsoft is that they have a huge portfolio of patents in R&D…they use a lot of this intellectual property in their direct products but not enough…for instance, Scoble u talked about this company that has applied facial recog. algorithms to picture stores… that’s an amazing tech. for me…now u could allow these guys to provide software for Windows to do the same…but why didn’t Microsoft (or have they?) integrate similar features in Windows earlier…even in its basic iterations…why won’t i get this functionality by default in Windows Vista?

    I might be complety wrong on this example…but the point I’m trying to make is that features like these would make your product look revolutionary rather than evolutionary…if I were Bill Gates ( 🙂 ), I would make huge investments in projects like sandbox…

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17. A quarter is indeed thirteen weeks! Thanks!

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18. A quarter is indeed thirteen weeks! Thanks!

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19. A quarter is indeed thirteen weeks! Thanks!

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20. Mark –

    Fair points, all – didn’t expect the political rant…

    On “stealing” – Not saying MSFT has stolen, but some customers certainly FEEL like MSFT has stolen their money at times IF promised value does not equal delivered value…

    On GOOG’s “killer instinct” – no question, GOOG wants to win. But the WAY they do it, so far, has been far different from MSFT – at least in terms of public perception, which has a lot to do with whether or not companies get prosecuted or get exposed to regulatory scrutiny. I think at this point in their respective corporate life cycles, GOOG has built up FAR more public goodwill than MSFT did at this point in their corporate life cycle.

    If MSN has so much more clout within MSFT, how come the revenue for that unit is practically standing still? Are they being given the resources to succeed? Is this all part of the vaunted “rollouts” and “betas” that Scoble keeps teasing us with?

    Back to my original point – no, naming the product Hailstorm in and of itself did not doom it. But it was a symptom, a mentality. Google doesn’t engage in such type of public activity – however they feel about it internally. They’re just much more politically savvy about it.

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21. Mark –

    Fair points, all – didn’t expect the political rant…

    On “stealing” – Not saying MSFT has stolen, but some customers certainly FEEL like MSFT has stolen their money at times IF promised value does not equal delivered value…

    On GOOG’s “killer instinct” – no question, GOOG wants to win. But the WAY they do it, so far, has been far different from MSFT – at least in terms of public perception, which has a lot to do with whether or not companies get prosecuted or get exposed to regulatory scrutiny. I think at this point in their respective corporate life cycles, GOOG has built up FAR more public goodwill than MSFT did at this point in their corporate life cycle.

    If MSN has so much more clout within MSFT, how come the revenue for that unit is practically standing still? Are they being given the resources to succeed? Is this all part of the vaunted “rollouts” and “betas” that Scoble keeps teasing us with?

    Back to my original point – no, naming the product Hailstorm in and of itself did not doom it. But it was a symptom, a mentality. Google doesn’t engage in such type of public activity – however they feel about it internally. They’re just much more politically savvy about it.

    LikeLike

22. Mark –

    Fair points, all – didn’t expect the political rant…

    On “stealing” – Not saying MSFT has stolen, but some customers certainly FEEL like MSFT has stolen their money at times IF promised value does not equal delivered value…

    On GOOG’s “killer instinct” – no question, GOOG wants to win. But the WAY they do it, so far, has been far different from MSFT – at least in terms of public perception, which has a lot to do with whether or not companies get prosecuted or get exposed to regulatory scrutiny. I think at this point in their respective corporate life cycles, GOOG has built up FAR more public goodwill than MSFT did at this point in their corporate life cycle.

    If MSN has so much more clout within MSFT, how come the revenue for that unit is practically standing still? Are they being given the resources to succeed? Is this all part of the vaunted “rollouts” and “betas” that Scoble keeps teasing us with?

    Back to my original point – no, naming the product Hailstorm in and of itself did not doom it. But it was a symptom, a mentality. Google doesn’t engage in such type of public activity – however they feel about it internally. They’re just much more politically savvy about it.

    LikeLike

23. Adam: come back on Tuesday. And, yes, you are thinking many of the same things I’m thinking.

    Orbit: I didn’t comment on that particular story because I’d have to say something really nasty about Microsoft and we already had one business “expert” tell Microsoft that they should fire me this week for doing exactly that.

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24. Adam: come back on Tuesday. And, yes, you are thinking many of the same things I’m thinking.

    Orbit: I didn’t comment on that particular story because I’d have to say something really nasty about Microsoft and we already had one business “expert” tell Microsoft that they should fire me this week for doing exactly that.

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25. Adam: come back on Tuesday. And, yes, you are thinking many of the same things I’m thinking.

    Orbit: I didn’t comment on that particular story because I’d have to say something really nasty about Microsoft and we already had one business “expert” tell Microsoft that they should fire me this week for doing exactly that.

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26. It’s the same Hailstorm story though, just better marketed. But I trust Google almost less than Microsoft. And if anything it’s a slight against Microsoft and their Redmond-campus focused marketing. Cue up the Passport ID kick too. But it’s still the same piece of steak, just Google ground up. But blah, Web Services haven’t ever proven of worth. EDI lives on.

    PS – And are they stealing your money? Yes, Mark, you must not be familar with the Software Assurance program. Check into that, please, before you comment further. And your Robin Hoodish argument is quite laughable.

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27. It’s the same Hailstorm story though, just better marketed. But I trust Google almost less than Microsoft. And if anything it’s a slight against Microsoft and their Redmond-campus focused marketing. Cue up the Passport ID kick too. But it’s still the same piece of steak, just Google ground up. But blah, Web Services haven’t ever proven of worth. EDI lives on.

    PS – And are they stealing your money? Yes, Mark, you must not be familar with the Software Assurance program. Check into that, please, before you comment further. And your Robin Hoodish argument is quite laughable.

    LikeLike

28. It’s the same Hailstorm story though, just better marketed. But I trust Google almost less than Microsoft. And if anything it’s a slight against Microsoft and their Redmond-campus focused marketing. Cue up the Passport ID kick too. But it’s still the same piece of steak, just Google ground up. But blah, Web Services haven’t ever proven of worth. EDI lives on.

    PS – And are they stealing your money? Yes, Mark, you must not be familar with the Software Assurance program. Check into that, please, before you comment further. And your Robin Hoodish argument is quite laughable.

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29. God, you’re an idiot, Scoble.

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30. God, you’re an idiot, Scoble.

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31. God, you’re an idiot, Scoble.

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32. Anti: how do you really feel? 🙂

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33. Anti: how do you really feel? 🙂

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34. Anti: how do you really feel? 🙂

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