Microsoft Advised To Learn To Love Linux 418
mikael writes "ZDnet is reporting that the management guru Clayton Christensen (author of "The Innovator's Dilemma") has advised Microsoft to learn to love Linux. In particular he advises Microsoft to purchase "Research in Motion", otherwise they will see their applications sucked off from the desktop and onto handheld devices such as the Blackberry."
1st Article (Score:3, Informative)
Martin LaMonica
CNET News.com
October 18, 2004, 09:40 BST
A US management guru has advised Microsoft to acquire Research in Motion and pay closer attention to open-source projects on mobile devices, or face oblivion. Management guru Clayton Christensen has a paradoxical answer for Microsoft to the challenge posed by open source: invest in Linux applications for handheld devices. Christensen, an associate professor at Harvard Business School, is the author of the 1997 "Innovator's Dilemma," a book that describes how good companies often fail because business managers don't embrace "disruptive" technologies. Open source is a clear disruption to Microsoft and the software industry in general, Christensen told attendees at the Future Forward technology conference here on Thursday.
"Where Linux takes root is in new applications, like Web servers and handheld devices. As those get better, applications will get sucked off the desktop onto the Internet, and that's what will undo Microsoft," he said. The software company can respond to this market disruption by setting up a separate business that will "kill Microsoft," Christensen said. If it doesn't react to the rise of Linux desktops on handheld computers, it will miss a coming wave of new applications and market opportunities, he said. Microsoft has already conceded that open-source software poses a significant challenge to its business. The company could not be immediately reached for comment on Christensen's remarks.
Christensen has observed that companies regularly stumble when they follow the well-established management practices of planning and listening to customers. To succeed, companies should not only cater to customers and continue improving their existing products, he argues. They should also set up separate business units to capitalise on new technologies, even though these may be poor-quality, low-margin products. Digital Equipment, for example, grew rapidly in the late 1980s by selling mini computers, which were a simpler, lower-cost option to mainframes, he said. But when other PCs began to take hold, the company didn't pursue that market for economic reasons: PCs offered substantially lower profit margins and didn't meet the technical needs of existing mini-computer customers.
In Microsoft's case, Linux applications on handheld devices are a threat to its lucrative business of selling desktop PC applications for its Windows operating system. "As computing becomes Internet-centric, rather than LAN (local-area network)-centric, their stuff runs on Linux, because it's all new," he said. He noted that people increasingly leave their laptop PCs at home when they travel and instead rely on handheld devices, such as Research In Motion's BlackBerry. Linux also provides a cheap, commoditylike alternative to Windows -- the basis of Microsoft's business. Although Linux didn't use to be as functional as Windows or Unix, adoption of the operating system grew rapidly because it met the needs of simple applications and is relatively cheap. A similar dynamic is now occurring in the database market with open-source products such as MySQL, Christensen said.
Christensen said that Microsoft should move progressively into Linux applications over the next six or seven years, because that sector will offer better opportunities for growth than operating systems or databases. He suggested that Microsoft acquire Research In Motion to accelerate the move, rather than continue to invest in making Windows run better on handheld devices. "As the BlackBerry becomes more capable, applications will get sucked onto it. Those are kind of places where growth is," he said. "If Microsoft catches it, they'll be all right."
Re:Two bits (Score:2, Informative)
- Microsoft Invades Cuba
- Microsoft Monkey Colony on Mars
If it has slipped past anyone MS Linux is a parody;-)
Dvorak vs Christensen (Score:4, Informative)
Many would use MS Office in Linux. (Score:5, Informative)
In a recent thread about OpenOffice, (http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/13/1339
OpenOffice's storage format is not
However, OpenOffice is a great tool to give to developers, IT staff, and anyone else that does not have to collaborate with clients, executives, and managers by passing around Word
The lack of full
2) Assonine developers that insist on perpetuating Microsoft's browser monopoly and closed standards that use Internet Explorer only technologies to deliver their content. (ActiveX tops my list here). Unfortunately, to do my business, I am unable to boycott all of these sites.
3) The MS Exchange connector tools for Linux email clients are not yet capable of dealing with some of the features of Exchange / BackOffice that are leveraged by my employer.
Re:Article has a flair for the dramatic (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Extremely interesting... (Score:1, Informative)
Of course, you can still get better results using TeX than you can with either MS Office or OpenOffice. But then you'll have to send it in Postscript or as a PDF. Some headhunters will accept that, but I don't advise it. Yur headhunter may not be able to search your PDF resume for keywords. And he isn't going to take the time to do it manually very often, is he?
Re:How to kill Linux MS Style. (Score:5, Informative)
Sure. The problem, however, is that once you've fixed it, you have to shout louder than Microsoft to let people know that you've fixed it. Shout louder than Microsoft? Good luck.
And, sadly, doing this would not violate the GPL at all as long as the broken Linux was given away. As far as I'm aware the GPL doesn't specify any minimum quality requirement for permitted distribution. The type of attack described is, actually, a very real possibility and something which should be guarded against.
What if.... (Score:3, Informative)
OK, they've lost money on it. But if they suddenly switch half the Linux community to Microsoft Linux (never thought I'd say those two words together!) they then control that market too.
Re:Article has a flair for the dramatic (Score:3, Informative)
MS has been successful in leveraging their desktop monopoly into a monopoly on office software but they failed miserably in leveraging it into a monopoly on server, internet, consumer devices, game consoles, perhipherals etc. They keep trying (bless their hearts) but it's just not working. Now their desktop and office monopoly is in jeapordy.
Re: Not Adapting? (Score:3, Informative)
Err...Apache remains the number one web server; most of the time when you are looking at a web page, it is served via Apache. Now, if you are limiting to the desktop market, then no, open source is unproven as a mainstream source of desktop software. Open source will continue to be mainstream in servers and workstations. Note how Microsoft is having to add open source auditability to their software to work with governments. They will also need to offer the ability to offer custom versions (another feature already part of open source) if they want to be a serious player in the embedded market.
The chief advantage that proprietary software offers over open source is that it includes a mechanism for people to group together to trade money for software. However, as we shift from general purpose appliances built by third parties (i.e. PCs) to special purpose appliances built by the same people who are specializing the software (e.g. router, Tivo, PDA, web server, etc.), the advantages of this fade.
It makes more sense for Tivo to share the same OS as Linksys or IBM. By submitting their changes back, they get free support from other companies. Further, they don't need bells and whistles (they will develop their own), just the basics. Amazon currently has a Tivo for $80 after rebate; they can't afford to pay a $50 Microsoft tax out of that. Linux saves them the $50 and is better suited to their needs (because they can trim out the parts they don't use, saving resources and increasing security).
Re:REALITY CHECK (Score:3, Informative)
Re:REALITY CHECK (Score:2, Informative)
-Microsoft had 36.8-8.6=28.6 Billion Operating Expenses last year.
Which means, if their revenue start falling, they will have to start cutting corners. Heck, they already have, what with the 1B that Ballmer said they plan on saving from cutting some employee perks. And if you liked MS products for their "quality" now, you'll positively LOVE them once they really start cutting corners. And so will the financial market, once they wake up.
But yeah, the part of your point saying they won't sink overnight is true. But they could sink in the background pretty quickly (several years, if things turn bad).
And I wonder what will happen with all the stock options they gave if their stock begins to flatten out. That is one way to burn through a big pile of cash.
Re:REALITY CHECK (Score:2, Informative)
They can choose Apple or Microsoft or any number of companies, and what they are interested in is those who will give them the best return on their investments, often for a short period of time.
I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but that's the way it is.
My point is that if you are a pension company and you end up with a huge amount of Microsoft, and the return is poor, either you will sell (lowering the stock value) or put pressure to empty the coffers.
Re:Dvorak Out Of Touch (Score:3, Informative)
It's worth putting up with the occasional rant as he can be prophetic.
Back in the day there was a time when every single pc on this earth was beige, the internet was being written in cern, and there was no modding to speak of.
He predicted that colored and decorated computers would become popular. Obvious now, but I didn't see how it could happen back then.
There was another time when there was no legal music downloads. He predicted that there would be and it would become popular with a price point below $1.40 a song. I didn't see how that could happen with the RIAA Nazis around. Apple itunes came along, and against all odds has become a success.
Dvorak is far more interesting and insightful than other printed rag pundits.
So I wouldn't go so far as to call him him a gasbag because you may disagree with him.
Re:Many would use MS Office in Linux. (Score:3, Informative)
1. Whenever a vendor sends me an MS-format file, I always send it back and ask for a portable format. Sure, I could open it with OOo, but these guys are trying to get me to give them money. They can work for it. And I do enjoy the confused reactions from salespeople who don't know that non-MS systems even exist.
2. All desktops at my organization have OOo installed, even if MS Office is too. I can send out documents and know that everybody can work with them. Most people don't even notice that they are not in MS formats.
3. As far as IE-only websites go, I can't believe you even put up that straw man. First of all, you don't boycott IE-only sites. What good would that do? When you bump up against an IE-only site, call somebody and complain. Tell a sales guy that you can't place an order because the his company's website is broken. It gets results.
And by the way, if you're a geek and you want to help the free software cause, think about working your way into management. Sure it's a drag at times, but you can really make things happen. For example, nobody in my organization uses IE any more - it's policy;)