Bill Gates

Steve Ballmer realized pretty early, I think because of the Google Android thing, mobile was going to shake out differently. Future hardware platforms were not guaranteed to have the same profits in the value chain the way that the PC did. And so he was pretty aggressive about, actually, we need to be in the hardware business.

Steve Ballmer realized pretty early, I think because of the Google Android thing, mobile was going to shake out differently. Future hardware platforms were not guaranteed to have the same profits in the value chain the way that the PC did. And so he was pretty aggressive about, actually, we need to be in the hardware business.

And I know that seems really unattractive to us as a company because we've been in the software business. There's this great general rule that it's really hard for any business to enter a lower margin business than the one they are currently in.

And I know that seems really unattractive to us as a company because we've been in the software business. There's this great general rule that it's really hard for any business to enter a lower margin business than the one they are currently in.

Right. Amazon can go anywhere. But for Microsoft, you know, you're selling software licenses. It's hard to even get into cloud because cloud is a lower margin business. You know, you have to operate those data centers than just selling licenses.

Right. Amazon can go anywhere. But for Microsoft, you know, you're selling software licenses. It's hard to even get into cloud because cloud is a lower margin business. You know, you have to operate those data centers than just selling licenses.

So if you're Microsoft and you've been making software all these years and you've been enjoying those margins and suddenly you're realizing, uh-oh, we have to be in the hardware business. or at least if we're not in the hardware business or the search business, we're not going to enjoy any of the profits in the mobile era. That's a difficult conundrum.

So if you're Microsoft and you've been making software all these years and you've been enjoying those margins and suddenly you're realizing, uh-oh, we have to be in the hardware business. or at least if we're not in the hardware business or the search business, we're not going to enjoy any of the profits in the mobile era. That's a difficult conundrum.

But to Steve's credit, he acted. They released Surface. They tried to buy Nokia.

But to Steve's credit, he acted. They released Surface. They tried to buy Nokia.

Mind-bending that three years in advance, a date is set and then 6,000 people ship on that date no matter what.

Mind-bending that three years in advance, a date is set and then 6,000 people ship on that date no matter what.

Everyone's like, hey, it's like XP, but modern. Or it's like Vista without all that random stuff and all the regressions that Vista had. Yeah.

Everyone's like, hey, it's like XP, but modern. Or it's like Vista without all that random stuff and all the regressions that Vista had. Yeah.

Nice, easy start button in the lower corner. Normal, predictable menu. Fast search. Fast file system. I honestly can't tell you a feature that launched in Windows 7.

Nice, easy start button in the lower corner. Normal, predictable menu. Fast search. Fast file system. I honestly can't tell you a feature that launched in Windows 7.

Yep, it ran everything the way you expected it to. And so the product that Sanofsky shipped there was just as much the new organization as it was the actual product that customers experienced. It was a much more slimmed down team. It was dev test PM. It was ability to hit a ship date. It was a proper planning and vision process.

Yep, it ran everything the way you expected it to. And so the product that Sanofsky shipped there was just as much the new organization as it was the actual product that customers experienced. It was a much more slimmed down team. It was dev test PM. It was ability to hit a ship date. It was a proper planning and vision process.

A lot of what the team was doing with Windows 7 was, yeah, yeah, yeah, we feel like we can do 7 with our arms tied behind our back, but let's start thinking about the future, about what we're really going to do now that we have all the infrastructure in place to really ship an interesting product.

A lot of what the team was doing with Windows 7 was, yeah, yeah, yeah, we feel like we can do 7 with our arms tied behind our back, but let's start thinking about the future, about what we're really going to do now that we have all the infrastructure in place to really ship an interesting product.