parislemon:

Steven Sinofsky on the internet figuring out he was using an iPhone:

Moving beyond the gotcha blogs, there’s an actual reason for using technology products and services other than the ones you make (or happen to be made by the company where you work/ed). I think everyone knows that, even a thousand tweets later. The approach in many industries to downplay or even become hostile to the competition are well-documented and studied, and generally conclude that experiencing the competition is a good thing.

Learning from the competition is not just required of all product development folks, but can also be somewhat of a skill worth honing. Let’s look at the ins and outs of using a competitive product.

…

Obviously you should use a competitive product. You should know what you’re up against when a consumer (or business) ultimately faces a buying decision. They will weigh a wide array of factors and you should be aware of those not only for the purposes of sales and marketing but when you are designing your products.

Sinofsky’s former boss, Steve Ballmer, to Fortune in 2006:

Do you have an iPod?

No, I do not. Nor do my children. My children—in many dimensions they’re as poorly behaved as many other children, but at least on this dimension I’ve got my kids brainwashed: You don’t use Google, and you don’t use an iPod.

“I think everyone knows that…”

“Obviously…”

Gotcha, indeed.

And you know what? That attitude toward Apple products may explain in part why Microsoft is so passé right now… They should have learn from the others while it was relevant to do so. 

parislemon:

Thus continuing the trend of people loving the “dogfood” when they’re inside a company, and throwing it up when they’re out.

Most of the ones I notice (both with people I know and those in public) are former Microsoft employees. People leave and immediately switch to Macs, iPhones, iPads, Google Docs, Chrome, Android devices, etc.

What I never see is people leaving Apple and switching to other products — PCs, Android devices, Windows Phone, etc. I’m sure there are some out there, but for the most part ex-Apple employees seem to remain “loyal” to the brand. Read into that what you will.

Eating your own dog food is… Toxic.

I call this corporate behavior a lack of respect to prospect buyers. Plain and simple. Microsoft’s Kin should never have made it to the market.

About time. Let’s see how they will be able to do that without upsetting their “partners”. 

Nokia’s latest smartphones seems to be waiting after Microsoft to finish a few implementation details of Windows Phone 8 OS. Just a a little problem… 

The article conclusion is the key:

As computing becomes ever more mobile and more device-centric, stability and efficiency is key. One of the key reasons for the speed, stability, and power efficiency of the iPhone and iPad is that iOS is specifically tailored to the hardware. Windows 8 might be the fastest and most stable OS that Microsoft has ever developed, but it would be even better if it only worked on the Surface.

Simple as that. The dual OS strategy of Apple keep paying off…

Microsoft Bob. Windows Me. Windows Vista.
Zune. Introduced in 2006. Killed in 2011.
Kin Phones. Introduced in 2010. Killed in 2011.
Microsoft Surface. DOA.

Question: what is Microsoft problem?