“Microsoft might have some great software and server-side logistics, but its hardware experiments are a series of breathtaking failures, like the playboy sons of a super rich guy who doesn’t know how to raise children properly.”

I liked this editorial from Daniel Eran Dilger. Punchy, a little silly but harshly honest. Let’s not forget a couple of additional details I’d like to point out:

– Go big [and then] go home: It seems as if Microsoft is always willing to give a project a billion dollars (Zune, Kin, RT).
– The bizarre naming story of Metro/ WOA/ WinRT/ SurfaceRT. They should have sent a poet marketer…
– Palm Pad / HP acquisition: The number one PC vendor blew its pivot to mobile in a billion dollar acquisition to no where.
– WinRT was supposed to have plenty of apps as developers flocked to redesign apps for the Metro UI, which has yet to happen for Windows 8, let alone RT.
– HP, ASUS, MS all launched iPad competitors that required accessories to be complete “tablet PC” packages as they envisioned, and the cost of a complete experience was always way above iPad, even at $499 (now $329). All were unwilling to sink a few billion dollars into hardware losses to win second place by including the accessories (usually a keyboard) and competing on price and value first.
– Don’t forget all the manufacturing partners that walked away from MS after the Surface announcement; it pissed them off and few produced RT devices.
– The irony that Microsoft could find a profitable niche in content creators; as Apple shifts focus from the creative markets of yesterday, those professionals are increasingly turning to alternatives like HP workstations for work, and the Surface Pro is a well regarded visual artists’ tool. Actually, scratch that, this doesn’t help the case for WinRT anyway.
– A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon we’re talking real money. Microsoft may no longer have the influence, but they do still have the cash (for now) to buy their way into market share significance.