> -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On > Behalf Of William T Goodall
... > "by Sean Silverthorne, Editor, HBS Working Knowledge > > Critics say Microsoft's incredible two-decade run at the top of > the computer > industry has less to do with innovation than it does with bully > tactics. But > new research from Harvard Business School professors Marco > Iansiti and Alan > MacCormack suggest a different reason: the company's ability to spot > technological trends and exploit key software technologies. Well, duh, as they say. Is this supposed to be news? Hasn't MS been known forever to package and distribute technology for the market better than other companies, regardless of who was the innovator? That's always been their area of expertise, not the innovation itself. > Their take: Microsoft wins through brilliant management of its > intellectual > property and an ability to spot and react to important trends before they > take hold." > > LOL! Instead of disparaging Microsoft for not being a technological innovator, its competitors should be seeking to imitate its expertise at recognizing what customers will and won't pay for. Isn't it clear by now that in the marketplace, how a product is packaged (which includes the UI, APIs, feature set, etc., in addition to physical packaging) is just as important as how innovative it is? An awful lot of tech companies are Gutenburgs, slowly going bankrupt while they try to perfect their technologies, while Gates plays the part of Aldus, who built the first great publishing company by figuring out how to compromise effectively among technology, content and market innovations. A lot more people remember Gutenburg, but most of them don't realize his investors seized his work and he died bankrupt. Why do we tend to worship technology and content innovators more than market innovators? Is that a western phenomenon, a left-brain, right-brain thing? Nick _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
