NYT. Will software arrive to restart the growth cycle in PCs? This mission statement from Microsoft is a mistake (it is also a big reason why the computer industry is taking a hit):
Several years ago Microsoft changed the company mission statement to drop the term personal computer, instead asserting that the company's mission was: “Empowering people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.”
Following this mission statement, Microsoft has become an also-ran in video games, wireless phones, and PDAs — all at the expense of innovation on the PC where each new innovation creates waves of PC sales.
In my view, the personal computer is all about personal leverage (as is most technology: my car, microwave oven, telephone, etc.). If you want to keep the cycle alive, increase the leverage. What is the biggest opportunity available for increasing personal leverage? Suck the Web down to the PC. Reinvent it on the PC.
I want the entire value of the best of the Web on my PC (Watson). I want to be able to publish a complex website (Radio). I want to add rich content (video and audio files) via my personal website and distribute it in a way that doesn't break my piggy bank (P2P multi-cast). I want to recombined data available via the Web in new ways that make it more meaningful to me. Reinvent the Web and it will drive PC sales for years… [John Robb's Radio Weblog]