Good marketing means carefully managing every aspect of product (design, manufacture, etc.), price, promotion (advertising, sales, public relations, etc.), and place (distribution). It’s simply not good marketing to secretly alter a product to generate revenue in ways outside the control of unsuspecting customers. That’s particularly true in a technology industry where privacy and security have […]
Windows (and Microsoft) 30 Years Later
February 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Windows 1.0 was released 30 years ago this year (albeit announced two years earlier), marking 2015 as a fairly significant milestone in the history of the technology industry. Love Windows or hate it, nobody can argue its impact on personal computing–and although a few months remain until its official anniversary in November, Microsoft is doing […]
Microsoft’s Strategy in 628 Words
February 18, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Twitter is great for teaching a person to be short and sweet in their writing. Unless you continue tweets, which I never do, you’re stuck with 140 characters or less to convey complete thoughts. That’s a challenge for any writer, and if nothing else Twitter has taught me to be more concise when the need […]
Amazon’s Kindle App: Everything That’s Wrong with Windows Phone
February 10, 2015 by 6 Comments
As I’ve mentioned before, I prefer Windows Phone. I like its workflow, as epitomized by the People hub where I can access all relevant information about a person, from the typical contact info to their social media updates to our entire contact history, all in one place. I like the at-a-glance information provided by the […]
Microsoft’s Superbowl Ads Were Genius
February 2, 2015 by Leave a Comment
I have a number of other posts I’m working on aimed at exploring where Microsoft and the larger technology industry are headed. It’s a complex set of topics, really, because in my opinion tech is going through some of the most significant changes in the last decade (or more)–the next 12-24 months will likely determine […]
The Tech Chat’s Future
December 11, 2014 by 5 Comments
I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus over the last few weeks, dealing with some personal items and trying to figure out what direction to take with The Tech Chat. I’d decided to focus on Microsoft technology back in June, which has become a much more nuanced decision given Microsoft’s push to provide productivity […]
Microsoft Releases its Wearable, the Band
October 30, 2014 by Leave a Comment
So, with very little fanfare (actually, maybe none, check out Paul Thurrott’s tweet above), Microsoft released their long-anticipated wearable device, the Microsoft Band. It’s a sleek, unobtrusive device with a colorful rectangular screen and 10 sensors aimed at connecting with Microsoft’s Health cloud service to track and manage all aspects of a person’s very individual […]
Microsoft on Every Device (Updated: Office Mobile Now Free)
October 28, 2014 by 3 Comments
Update: When I hitched my wagon to Microsoft here at The Tech Chat, I did so because the Surface Pro 3 convinced me that they’re doing some exciting and strategic things to become relevant again. Their decision, announced today, to offer Office Mobile for free to consumers (no longer requiring an Office 365 subscription to edit […]
Microsoft Posts Excellent Q1 2014 Financial Results
October 23, 2014 by 1 Comment
So, Microsoft’s earnings report for Q1 2015 has been released. The numbers will be sliced and diced by analysts and others over the next few days, but generally they seem extremely positive. Revenues were up 25% to $23.2 billion while operating income was down 8% to $5.8 billion given ongoing costs to restructuring and the Nokia acquisition. Some highlights: Devices and […]
Microsoft Ending Free Xbox Music Streaming
October 22, 2014 by Leave a Comment
For awhile now, Microsoft has allowed free Xbox Music streaming to Windows 8.1 and Web users. Downloading music and accessing it on Windows Phone (and other platforms) requires the Xbox Music Pass at $9.99/month, but if all you want is to stream from a Windows PC or via the Web, you’re all set. As Windows Central […]