"Killer instincts" at Microsoft, Apple
Very few people would doubt that Microsoft has a "killer instinct" as a corporate entity. This isn't unusual, in fact, most successful corporations have it. Wall Street executives won't last a single day without it. You walk out of business school with an MBA with "killer instinct" imprinted on your psyche. If you don't have it, you wind up taking a job that requires you to wear a paper hat. Some contrasting blog entries at ZDNet took a look at Microsoft's killer instinct this week, with blogger Jason Perlow's thoughtful piece on "Why Microsoft's Killer Instinct Must Return." Perlow's entry was quickly answered by David Morgenstern on his Apple Core blog.
First of all, I don't think that Microsoft has lost its killer instinct. Not even for a moment. Second, Microsoft has always pointed its battle axe at Apple, but judging from the responses out there, it seems a lot of people have the mistaken idea that Microsoft is the aggressor and Apple is the underdog. In fact, Apple has a killer instinct of their own. The nice guy/cool image is only a product of their very capable marketing department. I don't fault Apple for having a killer instinct, they would never have gotten as far as they did without it. But let's not make the mistake of saying they don't have one.
Jason talks about Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit, suggesting that for Redmond to operate such a unit may not be a good idea, even suggesting that Microsoft "pull the plug" on the unit. At first glance, from a purely business and competitive standpoint, this may seem to make sense. Why support the competition's product? But it's strategic on Microsoft's part. It's never a bad idea to have a finger or two in the competition's pie. Besides, the unit makes money.
Morgenstern gives Apple's tiny market share a little too much credit, though, suggesting that if Microsoft were to put the kibosh on the Mac Business Unit, the end result would be that end users would discover "that they really don't need to be running Windows or any Microsoft platform product." Not bloody likely, David. The majority of Windows users couldn't care less about the Mac, and have no intention of switching. Why? The main reason is price. Mac just costs too much, it's that simple, and Windows is "good enough" for most of us. Morgenstern's article did point out that Mac's market share has grown to 9.93 percent (with Windows at 88.26 percent), but with budget cuts, recession, and more consumers looking to save a buck wherever they can, I'd wager that these figures are going to move slightly back in Microsoft's favor by the end of the year. If Apple wants to gain market share, it knows what it would have to do--and that is to allow third parties to manufacture cheap Mac clones. That's not likely to ever happen.
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Apple and Microsoft are NOT competitors
Apple makes computers. Microsoft makes software, that, incidentally, runs on the computers Apple sells.They cannot compete.
It is testament of Apple's "killer instinct" that they managed to trick Microsoft into accepting a competition with them that does not exist in reality. This is one of Microsoft's leaders biggest errors.
Killer Instinct
I must agree that both these organizations (Apple and Microsoft) do indeed have the killer instinct. The talk always seams to shift to "who is winning." Give me a good product and I will buy it. Period. I tried to argue the Mac vs. PC price point once also. Yeah, I paid much more up front my Mac. Then I paid more for the software. Then I discovered something. I did not have to pay anymore. My Mac and software just worked. Then they kept on working,for a long time! I did not have to put in extra time and money fighting viruses, issues and incompatabilities and a category I like to call, "stuff I just can't figure out." I still build PCs. I still use them. I generally like XP. Hell, I even like Vista and don't see what all the fuss is about. But I would call neither XP nor Vista intuitive. Even guys and gals who use XP and Vista daily have to shake their heads sometimes. So back to the saving a buck thing. Apple allowed third parties to clone Macs in the early 90s. They actually lost market share and consumers did not save many bucks. They were inferior products that we spent a lot of time and money on so they worked right. You know, like Pc's now. The way I see it you can pay up front with the Mac, or pay on the back end with Microsoft. That dollar gap is much narrower than most care to admit. Many people do not know there is a viable option to the Microsoft world in which they live, and generally speaking we do not like change. I have co-workers ask me if they can run MS Office on the Mac, were they to purchase one. They are slowly starting to see alternatives. That is where the killer instinct really comes in to play. When people start to ask for, or find out that there is indeed something else out there that is at least as good as the old stalwart, then we really start to see who can pass muster.Killer instinct
The problem of Microsoft is that it turns all competitors into bravoes. Microsoft does not understand the web and never adopted an online culture. It does not understand open source and just saw it as a problem for its platform strategy. Apple embraced open source and is still the most proprietary vendor. In other words, the orthodoxy of the Microsoft made it lose mindshare.The claim that business has to be ruthless mirrors leftist lunatics. If you rip others off you provoke a dagger thrust. Microsoft has a bully strategy of sales escalation.
In lobbying working for Microsoft is like working for tobacco. It undermines your career perspectives.