Thanks for the Memories Bill

Today marks the transition for two high profile entities: Bill Gates, and Microsoft.  Bill Gates will leave the Microsoft campus today for the last time as a full-time employee.  He is moving on, with the noble goal of bringing vaccines to third world countries, via the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Bill is not totally gone, as he is still the Chairman of the company, and he will still put in about a day’s worth of work each week from home, but it will be strange to think about a Microsoft that will not have Bill Gates there day to day.

This is a man that has dedicated himself to a company, and an industry for most of his life, going back to the age of 15.  There have been successes along the way, like Windows, Office and a little side project called the Xbox.  There have also been some failures, like favorite whipping boy Microsoft Bob, Windows Millenium, and for some Vista might even be in that category.  But one thing is for certain, there will be a void at Microsoft.  This is not a knock against all the talented people at Microsoft, but Bill Gates has become an icon, almost bigger in identity than Microsoft, and his departure leaves the company looking for someone to replace that space.  Steve Ballmer is a great guy and can be larger than life, but he will never be Bill Gates, because he is not a technical guy, a geek shall we say.  Microsoft will go on, and will continue to make billions, but it will just seem to have less of a public face, without Bill at the helm. 

Good luck Bill, and enjoy the extra Bridge games.  Maybe I will run into you some time and actually learn how to play the game.

Wake Up Zune: A Marketing Suggestion

The Zune conjures up images of an ugly albatross that keeps flapping around the neckline of Microsoft. Its not that it is a bad player, but it just seems to sit in the shadow of the iPod, trying to find a way to a ray of sunlight.

So why does it sell so poorly? I mean it has a lot of neat features, and it looks pretty cool, but it just does not seem to have that IT quality that makes the iPod so wanted. It also seems to have one of the most uncharismatic marketing teams behind it. I mean look at that picture of J. Allard and tell me he looks happy, or even makes you want a Zune. At least Bill is trying to look happy, but Allard just looks like he thinks he is going to catch a disease from the Zune that he is holding.

So I was kicking around the thought of getting a portable player and I have been considering a Zune, because I just do not feel like buying an iPod, because they will just release another version I will want every five to six months. I am also a big Microsoft homer, so I have a desire to keep brand loyalty to them. My problem is that I cannot find a great enough reason to select a Zune, but I thought of a pretty cool idea that could move the device…maybe.

As I was buying my latest crack addiction, Rock Band DLC, I thought about how much I like the music that has been in this game, and in the Guitar Hero series for the most part. So it dawned on me that I would pay extra on the marketplace to have a way to get these songs in a portable format. Microsoft, having deep pockets, could use this as a way to get people sold on the Zune. All you would have to do is plug the Zune in, and get your music tracks right from the game. It just seems like a no brainer. Thank you Microsoft, make sure to put some zeros on the end of that number when you send the royalty check. And J. Allard, cheer up, it can’t be all that bad.