Business
Ironic props to Mr. Ozzie
Every time Mr.Ozzie is in the news, my blogdiggerfeed for "Lotus Notes"takes off. It continues to be standard practice to acknowledge Rayin the press and blogs as the creator of Lotus Notes. I think it's kind of funny and ironic that Ozzie's contribution to LotusNotes is always mentioned as his biggest claim to fame... often by thesame bloggers, journalists, and pundits who love to bash Notes, claim Notesis dead, criticize the Notes architecture and user interface, etc. Ican't quite reconcile the almost reverent tones used to describe Ozziewith the usual conventional wisdom criticism of the product he's laudedfor creating. This is nothing personal about Ray, it's about howthe market continues to validate his halo around being one of the creatorsof Notes while often taking pot shots at the product itself. As for the "leaked" memo itself, I've been asked several timesto comment on it this week. Honestly, after reading it -- and wonderingwhat company executive has so much time on their hands that they can writesuch long-winded memos -- my thought was, OK, so he wrote a great memo. Let's see what comes of it. I also consider PaulThurrott's observation (foundvia Peter)quite insightful:That Microsoft needs to move more quicklyand begin innovating should be obvious. What I want to know is why thereis such a regular failure of leadership and direction at this company.Does Microsoft really need to be rebooted every five years to keep thecompany competitive?Thurrott, who has made his namewriting about Microsoft, has been increasingly critical of the companyfor the last 6-12 months. It's refreshing to see him apply a criticaleye rather than simply drink the kool-aid and rally around the flag.
Every time Mr.
Ozzie is in the news, my blogdigger
feed for "Lotus Notes"
takes off. It continues to be standard practice to acknowledge Ray
in the press and blogs as the creator of Lotus Notes.
I think it's kind of funny and ironic that Ozzie's contribution to Lotus Notes is always mentioned as his biggest claim to fame... often by the same bloggers, journalists, and pundits who love to bash Notes, claim Notes is dead, criticize the Notes architecture and user interface, etc. I can't quite reconcile the almost reverent tones used to describe Ozzie with the usual conventional wisdom criticism of the product he's lauded for creating. This is nothing personal about Ray, it's about how the market continues to validate his halo around being one of the creators of Notes while often taking pot shots at the product itself.
As for the "leaked" memo itself, I've been asked several times to comment on it this week. Honestly, after reading it -- and wondering what company executive has so much time on their hands that they can write such long-winded memos -- my thought was, OK, so he wrote a great memo. Let's see what comes of it. I also consider Paul Thurrott's observation (found via Peter) quite insightful:
I think it's kind of funny and ironic that Ozzie's contribution to Lotus Notes is always mentioned as his biggest claim to fame... often by the same bloggers, journalists, and pundits who love to bash Notes, claim Notes is dead, criticize the Notes architecture and user interface, etc. I can't quite reconcile the almost reverent tones used to describe Ozzie with the usual conventional wisdom criticism of the product he's lauded for creating. This is nothing personal about Ray, it's about how the market continues to validate his halo around being one of the creators of Notes while often taking pot shots at the product itself.
As for the "leaked" memo itself, I've been asked several times to comment on it this week. Honestly, after reading it -- and wondering what company executive has so much time on their hands that they can write such long-winded memos -- my thought was, OK, so he wrote a great memo. Let's see what comes of it. I also consider Paul Thurrott's observation (found via Peter) quite insightful:
That Microsoft needs to move more quickly and begin innovating should be obvious. What I want to know is why there is such a regular failure of leadership and direction at this company. Does Microsoft really need to be rebooted every five years to keep the company competitive?Thurrott, who has made his name writing about Microsoft, has been increasingly critical of the company for the last 6-12 months. It's refreshing to see him apply a critical eye rather than simply drink the kool-aid and rally around the flag.
Originally by Ed Brill from Ed Brill on November 11, 2005, 7:45am