[LINK] surface

[Brendan Scott]

Glen Turner wrote:
> On Wed, Brendan Scott wrote:
>> The real question to ask is when has MS tried to create a new market and succeeded?
>> Bob? Blackbird? MSN (in its original form)?

[]

> Microsoft have been very good at being second in a
> category and going from there to dominate.
>   Harvard Graphics, PowerPoint
>   Lotus 1-2-3, Excel
>   Word Perfect, Word
>   Mouse Systems, Microsoft Mouse
>   Borland Turbo ..., Visual ...
>   Groupware, Exchange
>   RealPlayer, WMP
> 
> In fact, it's only in more recent memory that this hasn't
> been working for Microsoft.  Rather the category itself

Yes, I don't deny that they are excellent imitators.  That was part of my point. They seem to be most (only?) successful where someone else has defined the market for them. 

My reaction to the Surface is that I can't understand what its use would be, but I'd be willing to be convinced. 

[]

>  MSN looks like creating a walled garden on the Internet;
>   then Google, YouTube and MySpace arrive. MSN tries
>   to compete against all of these simultaneously and
>   it all ends up looking very uncool and underdone,
>   and thus being abandoned by fickle teenagers.

I think you overstate the success of MSN (mark 1).  MSN in its second incarnation (as local portals such as ninemsn) was/is popular, but I don't see how you could call it a walled garden. 


Brendan