Coming At Microsoft Office From All Sides

In my morning digest from GigaOm the following; “Box won’t say it out loud, but it’s now taking on Google and Microsoft with Box Notes.” It will keep on coming until Microsoft puts the power behind innovating for the current technologies.

OneNote was the best note taking software starting in 2003 but lost it to Evernote when Evernote became available on the smartphone. I actually switched to Evernote around 2008 because it was easier to sync between my computers than OneNote via the use of Microsoft’s Mesh – currently SkyDrive. OneNote has lost a great deal of the traction it once had because of that. Actually I just noticed that OneNote’s price has dropped.

So will Word unless Microsoft can give up the BIG numbers for a smaller less costly app product. I believe early on in the article by Barb Darrow in GigaOM she calls out Microsoft for ‘feature overkill’. Google Docs has just not hit a homerun – yet. Could Google? Well they also have to put something much more into it. You can’t even blog from their own software. 

Microsoft’s Enterprise Focus Could Be A Big Mistake

I have written often regarding the fact I think many companies, including Microsoft, are not reading the tea leaves correctly. They see what is happening but because of their closed environmental thinking they are missing changes that are occurring outside the upper floors and it is happening very fast.

Some missed the speed of acceptance of the smartphone, the tablet, and the power (that could be) of apps.

I had and experience this week that brings to the front what I think of as an example of the Microsoft Enterprise focus mistake.

I had been teaching Excel at a company that is considered to be in the top thirty of the largest companies in the country. During a break in a class a student asked about office 365. His question was; "is the package a full version or something light?" My answer was it is a full version of Office Professional, at least to my knowledge.

I explained that I use it, I have been very happy with it, and I recommend it to others. I also had to explain I just discovered that Excel Enterprise version did have some advanced tools one of which was something called Power View.

Along the same line I have recently had this discussion with an enterprise consultant who brings to the plate an in-depth knowledge of Business Analytics. I am one that convinced him to try the Office 365 subscription which he did and likes. This person also has used Tableau and Spotfire and is now looking seriously at Excel with all it’s recent changes. He might be a bit distressed to find that he can’t get all the tools either.

Is he deprived? How insane is it that. Where outside consultants, instructors/trainers, bring to the enterprise the new exciting tools, there are some we cannot have. If left up to the internal reaches of the company it will be years before they see them. And years before they subscribe to stay ahead of the game.

To augment my point; The conversation about Office 365 (with this career employee of the un-named company) is that his company is using Office 2007 with no plans to upgrade. Because of the nature of their business they could be considered power Excel users. This person wants to buy the subscription on his own and bring the new tools into play. He, and many others, want to LEARN! Microsoft’s Enterprise advantage is not an advantage.

There is an indication here that focusing on the enterprise just might not be to Microsoft’s benefit. The enterprise, as we are seeing, is being consumer driven, outside as well as inside. The increasing rate of acceptance of the ‘latest and greatest’ by the consumer, is far exceeding the rate of acceptance inside the enterprise. IT is scrambling to keep up.   

Bring it to the people!

In a world of BYOD we could be seeing BYOS - Bring Your Own Software. Or apps in the case of the tablet and phone. 

This employee got the point. To grow I need to learn more and you know this just might be fun. What is new now!

My 2¢ about Microsoft vs. Google maps

First it’s Bing (ba da bing) and now its map’s. Read all about it at Computerworld - “Microsoft takes aim at Google with Nokia's mapping apps.”

A simple question; Why? The only people that will go there will be Microsoft Fan Boys and Girls. I have Google maps on everything, phones, tablets, computer (via the web). If Internet Explorer doesn’t get more help who will go to Microsoft Maps? I tried Bing and it’s OK but I still use Google.

Actually Microsoft had a map program years ago however could not keep it up. I know I purchased it. They let it, like Encarta, drop out of sight. I also purchased Encarta. Bummer.

Microsoft has to stop fighting Google and Apple (and in the near future Amazon). Microsoft needs to better itself. If they can do that they won’t need to worry about the others. We have Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler doing pretty well.

I do realize the title of the article in Computerworld (the headline) was determined by the writer at Computerworld however the headline was a direct result of a quote from Microsoft.

"An effective alternative to Google," and "more than one digital map of the world" is needed, Microsoft said in a presentation on the strategic rationale for the deal, which was posted to the company's website.

Maybe Microsoft could make SkyDrive as fast as Dropbox. That could be an advantage.

Another thought would be to make sure that all Excel users have the same tools. Just discovered that only Enterprise users get some of the new sophisticated Excel tools.

I don’t think Microsoft has it right and not sure they can get it right.

I may change the name of this blog to My 2¢.

My 2¢ on the Microsoft-Nokia deal.

After reading Om Malik’s “Why I think the $7.2 Billion Microsoft-Nokia deal is a terrible idea” I started thinking about the way times are changing and questioning Microsoft’s scrambling around. I have read they are trying to go the Apple way with controlling the devices. I also read that Google is eating into their markets. Time changes everything – as Apple can attest to. Microsoft needs to re-invent itself and not in the Apple mold or as Google.

For the most part I have to agree with Om Malik and his focus on this rather interesting direction at Microsoft however my thoughts go along a somewhat different line.

I like to look at Microsoft as three independent forces trying to operate inline with each other; Enterprise, Windows OS, and the Office software business. So much so inline with the other internal forces that it limits each groups own innovation.

Enterprise has it's own nightmare. At one time it was controlled completely by corporate inside IT people, today that may not always be the case. Microsoft’s Enterprise division (group) needs it's own direction without influence from other internal sources. The Enterprise side needs to be flexible and open to all the devices currently being relied upon my the organizational worker – or ‘consumer’. As I see it the Enterprise is becoming less of a dictatorial environment and more democratic. BYOD is becoming (has become in some cases) the standard. They will be connecting that Apple, Google, Amazon, device to the internal network. Forcing Enterprise to work with Windows or Microsoft Office could create a bind in the long run.

As for the Window OS division they have their challenges. Chrome is gaining OS share over Apple and could over take Microsoft Windows in the open market (I said could). The Windows OS (and I like 8.1) is still not as quick or as open to accepting outside app’s as it should be. Again that is if it wants to stay number one or become iOS whose market is still on the small side but totally independent. Based on what is happening to the Enterprise area, iOS and Chrome could very well be a contender for space, and perhaps already are. 

The one big 'potential' money end for Microsoft is the Office software. Microsoft needs to acknowledge the advances of Google and Apple (and perhaps Amazon) in the tablet and phone markets and provide 'real time' app's for these devices, something other than connection to SkyDrive. It will hurt their large dollar revenue numbers in the short run however other cost savings will also go along and profit could, in the long run, still be there.

I priced out a laptop computer this week for someone and in the process discovered that to go from 8GB of RAM memory to 16GB was only $80. Two years ago that was $300. Perhaps Microsoft won’t be able to sell that Office package in the future for $400 – who will use it?

Question: Should Microsoft become the Microsoft Group? Operating 3 independent Public companies?

End of The Tablet (or Smartphone) As A Gadget?

OK I am tired of the iPad and Nexus 7 as cute gadgets. Add the smartphone to that as well.  “Oh yes, I have one of those. We can check our email, watch a movie, read a book. I can even go to Facebook while watching TV.”

Problem is I can only do a minimum of reasonable productivity on these devices.

Actually I am getting bored with the whole thing. It was fun at first, just like the computer was 30+ years ago. Now these ‘gadgets’ are a time sync. I WANT MORE!!

When will the tablet grow up? Become a useful productive member of society? And not have to be supported by a laptop/notebook computer? If these tablets are to really take over they have to do more. They have to evolve and soon. Best I have here is a note taking device with some communication capabilities.

Up front let’s say that I do not want to create web pages, design the next complex automobile, or architectural wonder.  All I want are all the office like resources.

Currently I can make a presentation from my tablet to others however I can’t take the order or write a really nice thank you letter on it, I have to return to the computer. I can present highly sophisticated real time graphics on the iPad and even my Samsung phone but can’t write a letter that includes graphics, charts, or photo’s (with word wrap), and send it to my client. Back to the computer. In some cases I can’t even edit the document I am presenting.

Forget blogging anything meaningful with graphics from one of these devices. Guy Kawasaki says you should not put up a blog post without a picture, hmmm…. back to the computer (which I am using to write this).

With our rate of acceptance of new technologies accelerating it’s only reasonable that we want MORE!! The issue is I want it NOW!!

OK Apple, Google, Samsung, what’s next?

My wife’s car is ready, the coffee is gone, so I will move along. I think the dealership thinks I have take up office space here.

There's something due any day
I will know right away
Soon as it shows
Read more: Westside Story - Somethings Coming Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Yes the Tech Scene Has Been Changing–Where Have You Been?

NY Times article in their Technology section; Shifting Tech Scene Unsettles Big Players (published August 21,2013).  Admittedly this must be a fascinating read for someone who has not paid any attention to the technology changes in the last 5 years.

In my thinking the corporations having problems today are the people who produce the current technologies however they do not get why people buy them. Perhaps they are thinking “someday people will all get over these gadgets and return to the old world”. Why do these companies build these products? They do it to produce revenue. Most are inadequate derivations of successful products produced by an innovator of yesterday.

These same companies DO NOT understand the personal/sociological change occurring (or that has occurred). They produce for the money what is being purchased but do not "SEE" the change! Perhaps the change is not internal. “We build what they buy. Why people buy this stuff we have no clue.”

How often do you see someone (perhaps yourself) using a smartphone as a cute gadget? “Cool man”, I can make calls and get email and listen to the latest tunes on my phone. Oh and look at pictures also.

What do I see? People with graphical information related to their business data, being viewed on that same smartphone. These same people going to meeting’s with connections to their server showing Excel spreadsheets on their iPad as well as tableau visual analytics. This data stays up-to-date and is real-time. These people are not playing. This is REAL and it is TODAY! Apple device or Android, it works everywhere.

Question: Why is it a sudden revelation that  HP's printer business is down? WHY is anyone surprised? Paper companies are going out of business - why? What is happening to the printer market? If Wall Street expects the printer market to grow they are out of touch.

NO ONE IS PRINTING! Amazing! Where have you been? OK some print but not the number that did. And it it getting less and less each day. Put you money on Google, Dropbox, SkyDrive, SharePoint, but get away from printers.

What is happening to the PC business? It is changing and as soon as some company is smart enough to realize that tablets of all sizes are becoming dominate productive devices we could lose a number of companies we thought would stay ahead of the curve. If major software providers of today don’t get off their high horse they will be replaced in years to come.

What is happening to the newspaper business? The movie business? The music business? What about books, magazines, the US Postal Service?

In closing; Yes the tablet was innovative, even if it took a long time from the first entry into the market to get to the iPad. Now look at the speed of development. We still ask what’s next? What have you done lately? Apple? Dell? HP? Microsoft? Just to name a few. Hey the iPad, iPhone, Galaxy S4 – that was yesterday. We want tomorrow.

Innovate, innovate, innovate. Don’t procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate. The consumer is ready now.

Finally. Today seems to be a world of choices in which the founders have lost track.

The End of Catch and The Beginning of Chromecast

I was a bit distressed on Wednesday (July 31st) reading in TechCrunch that Catch is shutting down. The article; “Evernote Competitor Catch.com Shuts Down….” is an interesting read. TechCrunch refers to Catch as an Evernote competitor however I might not go quite that far. On the other hand I have used one of Catch’s products, AK Notepad, for some time.

Is this the ‘fear’ behind latching onto an app and then down the road it disappears? I admit that AK Notepad was free and I used it as one would use a scratch pad on my phone. I made quick notes, grabbed a phone number, simple shopping list, and even used it to alert me to buy lottery tickets. It was easy to use and it was FREE. Perhaps the FREE part is what did Catch in. Although my PRIME use was the phone it was also available on my tablets. Catch, the parent, would sync my notes between my phone and my Nexus 7.

NOW I am a big Evernote user but AK Notepad, as I said, was my scratch pad. I will now be using Evernote as my scratch pad I guess but what if it sells out? Always there in the background.

Going back to the FREE aspect. I am more than willing to pay a reasonable amount to have an app and I would have paid for AK Notepad. How much would I pay is the question. I pay for Evernote – $45/yr, and PrinterShare Premium for printing from my phone and tablet. I pay for many other apps on my phone and tablets. You have to determine the value to you versus the cost of the app. The NY Times is a case in point.

I like the NY Times however I will not pay the current rate for the NY Times subscription as I believe it is too much money. At $16.75/mo or $195/yr. (currently) for a digital subscription I believe that I can do as well with my RSS feeds and other resources. I would pay but we have to get it down considerably.

Chromecast -

On a little different note I received by Chromecast device yesterday and installed it last night. Installation was a wiz after dealing with some Internet access issues on my home network. I was able to show my desktop on the beautiful 60” Samsung screen and it looked cool. The desktop did stutter and not scroll as I wanted however that aspect is in Beta and I am sure it will begin to work.

I lit up the Netflix 3 month gift and away we went. Seamless viewing and my router is on the second floor the TV and I on the first floor. I controlled it from my notebook and next up will be controlling from my phone. I was quite pleased. Over the next couple of weeks I am sure we will be playing a great deal with this.