It's no longer a surprise to talk with a customer service representative from India as many U.S. companies have outsourced their customer service divisions to India. It is, however, a bit of a shock to find out info about Microsoft from an Indian online newspaper The Hindu.
Microsoft held their annual Financial Analyst Meet last week at its headquarters in Redmond while Bill Gates was vacationing in Africa. It seems the meeting progressed normally until Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect and replacement for Bill Gates dropped a small Microsoft bomb. Ozzie announced that even though Microsoft's focus had been on PCs the previous 30 years, the focus is going to change. The new era will "start from a different vantage point . . . with Internet service."
Hmmmm. There are about 850 million PCs and over 2 billion cell phones in the world. Many of those cell phones have more "computing" ability than the PCs. The Hindu states: "The vision is getting clearer: 'Why buy a PC and put a lot of software on it? Why not use a device like your mobile phone — and the Web as your storehouse... of course paying us for every utility you download!'" The recent switch of electronic lockboxes is a clear example of this shift. The new "smart" cell phones can download the MLS, access the internet, unlock the boxes at showings, retrieve e-mail, store a database, access file info stored on-line, etc. Who needs a computer anymore?
The article warns "it may not yet be time to throw away that PC — but Microsoft's message is clear: When it is time to replace it, think small. Very small."
Read the entire article here.
(c) Bonnie Erickson 2006
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