Microsoft is dead, Paul Graham says
Paul Graham is the founder of YCombinator, a venture company that invests into startups at a very early phase. Some of the startups they launched are Reddit, Kiko, Snipshot, YouOS, and Thinkature.
Graham also writes quite lengthy essays over at his site, which are a must-read literature for anyone interested in web startups and IT in general. In his latest post, titled Microsoft is dead, Graham claims that Microsoft - while still a giant that earns a lot of money - is no longer the big boss of the IT world, the head honcho, the company that sinks their competition simply by introducing a similar feature in one of their own products. Why? Because the web has taken over.
Graham stumbles over a couple of points. In one paragraph, he claims:
“All the computer people use Macs or Linux now. Windows is for grandmas, like Macs used to be in the 90s. So not only does the desktop no longer matter, no one who cares about computers uses Microsoft’s anyway.”
This is simply not true. Maybe it is within a certain clique; maybe it’s even a trend, but it’s not (yet) true, especially outside of the US. I agree with his main point; that Windows aren’t really that important any more; thus, someone could switch over to a Mac simply because he/she likes the looks better. But I wouldn’t give as much credit to Apple. Rich Internet applications are what made many desktop OS’s and desktop applications an option and not a necessity.
Graham hits a home run with another point: Gmail. It has, indeed, been instrumental in this paradigm shift. I know many people who switched over to Gmail completely, simply because it works better than any other e-mail client, desktop or web-based. What has Microsoft done to counter Gmail? They can point at Outlook all they want, but Gmail plus Google Calendar does it better for me.
Graham’s post echoes one older post here at FranticIndustries, entitled “Why I’m not going to review Vista“, which marks the point at which this site started focusing entirely on web-related technologies. And it’s not because FranticIndustries is a site exclusively about the web. It’s a site about latest tech trends. And, currently, the web is where it’s at.
Liked this post? Click here to subscribe to FranticIndustries’ RSS feed in your favorite RSS reader.
April 7th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
I agree with your point. Maybe Microsoft will die but nowadays it still lives. Computers are sold with a pre-installed version of Windows. And few ppl want to learn (or maybe they don’t have enough time) to use a new operating system.
But having more and more online application means serious hurts for Ms.
thanks you
April 7th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Microsoft is dying, but not dead yet. Only if it has not dead, it has chances to resurrect. Although many web evangelists do not like Microsoft, they may not underestimate the potential of Microsoft. A gaint would not die in one day.
April 7th, 2007 at 11:47 pm
A giant will not die in one day, that’s true, but giants sometimes have trouble moving through crowded spaces.
April 8th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Although I have personally spent my last dime on MS software, many, MANY businesses are so tied to them that there is no end in sight to their use. For instance, I work for a large international auto parts manufacturer that has built everything on Microsoft products. Hard enough to change in one location, even harder to do it on an international and multilingual scale.
I think MS may be injured, and the death blow may have even been struck already, but it will be a long time before they are dead…a very long time.
April 8th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
It’s not about whether Microsoft is “dead” or not. The question is: are they still relevant? To answer that, you have to ask: are operating systems a commodity? are office suites a commodity? I think they are. Software has been a commodity for some time now.
What is relevant at the moment is: bandwidth. There’s alot more of it for consumers than there ever has been. Bandwidth is really the only piece of the internet puzzle that is really changing the game.
April 9th, 2007 at 1:44 am
So many bloggers wrongly interpreted Paul Graham’s article that it’s not even funny anymore. He did use strong language - Microsoft is dead - to nail a point, but he explains very clearly in the article that he doesn’t mean dead in the sense of going bankrupt or disappearing from the market in the next couple of years or anything similar. It’s not even about whether Microsoft is relevant - of course they are relevant, they’re running a multi-billion dollar business.
Paul was talking about the zeitgeist surrounding Microsoft. It has transformed from a behemoth destroying everything in their path (remember the Netscape - IE days) and the company everyone talks about almost all the time, to a company that gets destroyed on many fields by open source projects (Firefox), Apple (iPod - Zune), companies started by two guys in a garage several years ago (Google Search). Vista is a multi-billion dollar effort which has taken 6 years to complete, and yet it has been described by many esteemed IT professionals and journalist as lackluster, bland, boring and largely irrelevant - at least for the end user. Microsoft is still strong on many fields, but it has lost its aura of invincibility.
May 19th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
[…] Microsoft is dead, Paul Graham says Microsoft is no longer the head honcho it has been .It merely introduces the same features that competition has ,hoping to beat them.According to Paul Graham Microsoft is dead ,while it is still making money. Windows are only for grandmas as Macs were in the 90’s.Is this really true ? As an operating system it still accounts for the maximum use in the world.It is ,however true that Microsoft has not been able to achieve a paradigm shift in e-mail as G-mail has been able to . Links: franticindustries.com […]
July 13th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
You guys don’t have a clue. Microsoft is huge in the backend of corporate IT. Most of the healthcare data centers I’ve been in have racks of Dell and HP gear running Windows Server OS, Sql Server and .Net apps. In fact is rare to spot a Linux box in one of those places.
There is a lot more to computing than web hosting.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:35 am
Just stumbled on this. Fastmail’s web interface is better than Gmail’s in my opinion — I use both.
Agree about Microsoft
http://wombatdiet.net/2007/10/24/for-microsoft-the-ow-starts-now/
I filled in a questionnaire for them recently in which they asked what ONE THING they could do that would improve my opinion of Microsoft. My answer: become an ethical company.
July 13th, 2009 at 8:27 am
untrained messrs krsz bdma deliver panoli foreseen hkstss
July 14th, 2009 at 10:55 pm
storytellers soldiers blockquote repel quest lettuce glasgow
July 16th, 2009 at 11:32 am
perths distinctly graph rationale prescribes vikhroli coyle safely
November 6th, 2009 at 6:10 am
Microsoft Money 2007 Home and Business …
Paul Graham is the founder of YCombinator, a venture company that invests into startups at a very e […]…
November 22nd, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Ive been reading your articles for a while now, this has to be by far the best. Keep up the good work. XBOX Live
November 26th, 2009 at 12:38 pm
zhu zhu pets are going to be the hardest Christmas gifts to find but I found mine at http://www.efoundit.com/
December 5th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Yes Zhu Zhu Pets are great, my kids love them. They actually have been around since October. http://www.efoundit.com/
December 6th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
Once again the sharp lcd hdtv is one of the hottest gifts this Christmas, they’re selling out fast. I found mine at http://astore.amazon.com/50-inch-lg-hdtv-for-sale-20
December 24th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Your topic franticindustries - web 2.0, social networking, IT technology trends. » Blog Archive » Microsoft is dead, Paul Graham says was interesting when I found it on Thursday searching for sharp lcd
December 24th, 2009 at 5:59 am
I was glad to get this TV on the special Amazon discount, [saved $700]. The picture quality is AMAZING. I was originaly going to buy a Sony, until I saw the differance at Best Buy. This TV has lots of extra features that I won’t use, [just wanted a great picture and found it here]. It’s hooked up to a surround sound system, so the set speakers aren’t an issue, my dad has one of these sets and the sound is not good out of the TV, [speakers point down]. Shipping was a day ahead of what I was told, brought it in the house, hooked it up, powered on and WOW, super amazing HD picture quality, and it’s even very good on regular TV. If your thinking of buying this TV, don’t hesitate.
December 25th, 2009 at 9:58 am
thanks allot for sharing this detailed post!
Here, I found a youtube video about xbox live hacks, that I would like to share- xbox Live hacks!…
But seriously, amazing post and thanks so much !
I look forward to your next article !
December 28th, 2009 at 12:33 am
Does this site have a mailling list?
December 30th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Found this post very useful, thanks
December 31st, 2009 at 12:10 am
Microsoft Money 2007 Home & Business …
Paul Graham is the founder of YCombinator, a venture company that invests into startups at a very e […]…
December 31st, 2009 at 9:25 am
RSS is working, not sure what was the problem, thanks anyways!
December 31st, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Hi. If anyone needs a bit of money go to http://www.cashlot.co.uk/?5582.
January 1st, 2010 at 1:33 am
Thank you so very much for making this available.
January 10th, 2010 at 9:35 am
I would suggest practising message merchandising, let me explain. You can get a video professionally made for just about $47.00 97.00 (30-60 seconds) screening your superior desk drawer slide. You can even try how delicious it is to destruct your contenders and blast it around over 100 internet video sites for as little as $5.00 per site to be done manualy!You can get keyword search done for you professionally, keying the keyword phrases that will get you a right amount of search volum, yes with smaller competing pages. Thank you for this article! I’ve just discovered a truly good news site about money Stress it!
January 15th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Great blog!i really enjoyed reading your posts.i’ve also bookmarked your feed to stay in touch with your news.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Some of my greatest progress in life has come by listening to my elders. Wisdom often comes with age. Well in this case, fatloss wisdom comes with really, really? REALLY old age. I’m talking Fred Flintstone-age. But once I saw how it works, it made perfect sense to try it myself? ? and what do you know? Flatter stomach; less bodyfat; and better muscle tone. Even sleep improves. All from this 1 tip. 1 weird tip
January 20th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Some of my greatest progress in life has come by listening to my elders. Wisdom often comes with age. Well in this case, fatloss wisdom comes with really, really? REALLY old age. I’m talking Fred Flintstone-age. But once I saw how it works, it made perfect sense to try it myself? ? and what do you know? Flatter stomach; less bodyfat; and better muscle tone. Even sleep improves. All from this 1 tip.
January 20th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Some of my greatest progress in life has come by listening to my elders. Wisdom often comes with age. Well in this case, fatloss wisdom comes with really, really? REALLY old age. I’m talking Fred Flintstone-age. But once I saw how it works, it made perfect sense to try it myself? ? and what do you know? Flatter stomach; less bodyfat; and better muscle tone. Even sleep improves. All from this 1 tip.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
Some of my greatest progress in life has come by listening to my elders. Wisdom often comes with age. Well in this case, fatloss wisdom comes with really, really? REALLY old age. I’m talking Fred Flintstone-age. But once I saw how it works, it made perfect sense to try it myself? ? and what do you know? Flatter stomach; less bodyfat; and better muscle tone. Even sleep improves. All from this 1 tip.
January 20th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Some of my greatest progress in life has come by listening to my elders. Wisdom often comes with age. Well in this case, fatloss wisdom comes with really, really? REALLY old age. I’m talking Fred Flintstone-age. But once I saw how it works, it made perfect sense to try it myself? ? and what do you know? Flatter stomach; less bodyfat; and better muscle tone. Even sleep improves. All from this 1 tip.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:36 pm
You put together a superb point with what you explained. A great number of people have to read your post so they can get a better viewpoint about this topic. It was wonderful of you to present fine details and encouraging justifications. After reading this, I know my mind is extremely clear about the matter. Carry on the fantastic work!
February 12th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
Zune and iPod: Most people compare the Zune to the Touch, but after seeing how slim and surprisingly small and light it is, I consider it to be a rather unique hybrid that combines qualities of both the Touch and the Nano. It’s very colorful and lovely OLED screen is slightly smaller than the touch screen, but the player itself feels quite a bit smaller and lighter. It weighs about 2/3 as much, and is noticeably smaller in width and height, while being just a hair thicker.Have you tried the ipad? you can get one free at FreshGiftCard.com
February 12th, 2010 at 7:59 pm
This is getting a bit more subjective, but I much prefer the Zune Marketplace. The interface is colorful, has more flair, and some cool features like ‘Mixview’ that let you quickly see related albums, songs, or other users related to what you’re listening to. Clicking on one of those will center on that item, and another set of “neighbors” will come into view, allowing you to navigate around exploring by similar artists, songs, or users. Speaking of users, the Zune “Social” is also great fun, letting you find others with shared tastes and becoming friends with them. You then can listen to a playlist created based on an amalgamation of what all your friends are listening to, which is also enjoyable. Those concerned with privacy will be relieved to know you can prevent the public from seeing your personal listening habits if you so choose. Have you tried the ipad? you can get one free at FreshGiftCard.com
February 26th, 2010 at 11:16 am
I have recently been searching all about for all of this information. Thankfully I just came across it in Google.
EMERALD
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:56 pm
Your site is loading average for me. Might just be my isp but i am not sure… anyways great read. It helps me a lot, thanks heaps. Will be sure to bookmark your blog for future reference
March 2nd, 2010 at 6:09 pm
Your site is loading quite slow for me. Might just be my isp but i dunno… anyways awesome post dude. Very helpful, thanks so much. Will definitely bookmark your blog for future reference