01/21/15 21:46
I was excited to see there was a recording of today's
Windows 10 update, and I took some time to check it out. Hmmm... not sure how to say this in a non-negative way, but I was fairly disappointed. Not that my opinion matters of course (I should point out that I’m coming from the point of view of a Microsoft share holder). I came away with a sense that Microsoft hasn't changed at all, and Windows 10 will be another Windows 8, at best.
Warning: Rant ahead.
First of all, I didn't make it through the whole video. I actually couldn't make it past 2 minutes of Terry Myerson's kickoff. I was literally a continuous rattling off of corporate-non-speak. Seriously people, it's 2015 already! Send the corporatism back to the 90's before you have to pay more late fees!
I skipped through the demos. The first highlight was supposed to be Cortana. From a technological standpoint it appears they have put in a lot of work, but come on, voice recognition was barely cool when Siri was introduced 4 years ago. The reality is that Siri on the iPhone (and Google Now on Android) are pretty close to perfect for doing the basic things they are supposed to. The problem is no one gives a darn anymore! Hey, want to see this cool trick where I ask my phone who will win the Superbowl? Uh, you might want to ask it to check what year this is.
Ok, you can edit Office documents on your phone and PC. Yay! You can pick up where you left off? Yes, some of us are familiar with that concept.
The other big ticket items were the
HoloLens and
Surface Hub. Both accompanied by highly polished “vision" videos. The HoloLens is definitely a leap into the future. The kind of thing you would expect to see out of an MIT lab. Of course, it's complete vaporware at this point. Seriously, no one is fooled. 2015, remember?
The Surface Hub is actually a solid, good idea with a proven market. Businesses and schools already invest in smartboards and interactive bigscreen TVs. A breakthrough product would make a dent here. The problem is why would I buy the Surface Hub if I were a business? What's the hook? Insanely low price point? Not likely, since price was never mentioned. Killer scenario? I didn't see anything you couldn't already do today if you wanted to (and had the cash for). John King's been drawing circles on maps for how many years now?
When Microsoft pre-announces something that will ship in the “Windows 10 timeframe", it's like GM announcing the electric car of the future. We all get to visualize life as the Jetsons for a day, then promptly forget about it.
The only real takeaway for customers is that Windows 10 will be offered for free for the first year. Now, does that make you want to jump out of your chair and sign up for it any more than you did yesterday?
I realize I am shrilling like a crazy person here. It’s terribly unfair to be so critical based on one small update (out of 10 allegedly). But here's why: Today's presentation is exactly the kind we would have expected to see from
Microsoft of 10 years ago. Just rattle off the feature list, and throw in the 2 most demo-ready MSR projects available. People are going to buy the upgrade anyway. Well, they'll be able to download it for free at least.
This is a terrible, terrible sign that absolutely nothing has changed, in the culture, and in the process. Look, Microsoft still has enough of a cachet to get people to tune in to a 2 hour ad, and they squandered it. Only the Old Microsoft could ever believe that's an ok thing to do.
Related: Business.