A Personal Blog
IT Thoughts
IE7 Will Have PNG Support
Apr 23rd
Whoops, forgot to make a note of the official post over on the IE blog.
Once again, here are the high points I’m expecting for IE7, based on loads of chats with loads of folks (inside and outside the company):
1. Leaner, thinner, faster 2. Absolute best standards support in the industry 3. Best security in the industry (IE basically already does this at a conceptual level, but the model needs some work)… Included in this I’d say features like “return to default configuration”, “block all adjustments unless specifically approved”, etc 4. Improved popup blocking, as well as ad blocking 5. Much better tabs interface
But, I’m expecting more beyond that. IE7 is Microsoft’s chance to fully bridge this generation of computers to Longhorn’s generation of computers, so they’ll put a lot of “enabling” technologies in as well, which will make a lot of interesting things, like AJAX, even more possible and easy to develop.
I’ve been preaching all of this for months though. I wasn’t preaching PNG specifically, because I wasn’t allowed to mention it, but my line was “The IE Team wants to be the most standards compliant and supporting browser ever… Is PNG a standard? *wink wink, nudge nudge*”
My Disappointment With Microsoft
Apr 21st
I’ve been sitting on this post for a while. In fact, I’ve rewritten it more than 3 times now because I couldn’t get my thoughts right about it.
Then Scoble comes along and nails it for me: Thrill customers or else they’ll go elsewhere. And quickly.
I’ve been really struggling with my opinions of Microsoft in the last few months. Less than a year ago, Microsoft was my dream job. Being an evangelist on the windows / IE / XBox / Office / MSN / etc teams would have floored me. Being a PM would have rocked as well. It would have rocked hard.
I started noticing the change early this year. I was offered several interviews, and turned them all down. At the time it was because I was already doing my “dream job” (this blogging thing) and didn’t want to give that up. Which was, and still is, true. But at the same time there was something deeper: a sense that maybe Microsoft wasn’t where I wanted to work anymore.
At the same time, though, I would jump at the right opportunity. Like this one at IE, or this one with Jeff Sandquist.
Both seriously tempted me to think about maybe applying (heh).
My problem is that there isn’t the thrill there that once existed for me. I love to solve problems, help people and create great solutions to hard problems. Oh, and have loads of fun doing it. I know that on the right team at Microsoft that could happen.
My challenge is that I don’t just want “any job” (if I ever do take a job again). I want a job, working on a product or service, within a team as part of a company which will thrill me. A year ago, that would have been Microsoft.
What is it today? If I had to take a new job, I have some ideas.
What’s the point?
Scoble nailed it: Microsoft simply isn’t thrilling me anymore. They used to. I’ll still happily defend Microsoft when the time is right, will evangelize dozens of products to the right people and so forth. But it’s less joyful, and slightly more forced, than it used to be.
So, c’mon Microsoft, thrill me again. I’ll be one of your best evangelists forever if you just give me a reason to be! Being at this week’s Search Champs would have been a great way to start that process, but it’s by no means the last. I love the relationships I have with folk at Microsoft, but it needs to go beyond the people. Thrill me with your software, thrill me with your attitude and thrill me with real promises for a real future! I still haven’t seen anything in Longhorn to actually excite me. And I’m easily excited about those kinds of things. I haven’t yet seen anything in IE7 to excite me, and I’m just the kind of person to lay the smack down if IE7 was half of what it could be. Give me a reason to be excited, and I promise you I’ll be the last one clapping and hooting and jumping around.
If Microsoft can’t get someone like me excited, how are they supposed to get cynics, analysts, journalists and regular folk excited?
Wanted: Experts
Apr 19th
I’m about to launch a new venture, and I’m looking for experts in various fields. I can’t really say what it is, but it is paying (probably the best hourly wage you’ll make in your life) and is a really great opportunity.
Right now I’m nailing down experts on “professional blogging”, “time management” and “business blogging”. Ideally you would have experience with public speaking. Please email me if you’re interested (or have questions).
Update: Please note that we are NOT looking for people to fill the 3 slots I mentioned above. We’re looking for people who can “own” a content area. It can be in relation to blogging.
How to apply: Ideally, I’d like a 1-page doc outlining who you are, why you’re qualified, what you’d like to teach about, etc.
What happens next: Based on inquiries, I’ll hold a half hour informational session actually outlining what we’re doing, likely sometime next week. Be ready. After that happens, this should all come together very, very quickly.
Acquisition is About Survival
Apr 18th
I’ll probably have a few thoughts about this over the coming days, but I just want to echo Mack’s thoughts: this acquisition does nothing to help the companies “compete against Microsoft”, which is the stated purpose.
The problem here is that Adobe and Macromedia, for all intents and purposes, define their industry. They don’t really have any larger company to compete with. Sure, there’s Quark in desktop publishing and Avid in video editing… But really, these two companies own the industry in every way imaginable.
Dan Gillmore notes that this is further proof of a useless anti-trust system.
I’m not sure I agree.
Either way, though, how is the new Macrodobe going to compete with Microsoft? Flash and Acrobat are great platforms, but really that’s all these two companies have going for them. Both have seen their influence, profits and respect wane in the last 5 years or so. For example, when was the last time a graphic designer actually got excited about a new Photoshop release? V6 was kinda alright, but as far as I can remember it was really v4/5 that were the “glory days” (though I do remember how hard it was to adjust to the concept of layers in v3).
Similarly, Flash has seen only a mediocre number of improvements over the years. For hard core Flashers the improvements have seemed significant, but the reality is that what is being produced with Flash these days isn’t much more exciting than what was being promised with Flash 5 years ago when I started out with the technology.
Both of these companies needed something to prop them up. Adobe needed something to focus them. Macromedia needed something to diversify them. Welcome to the new Macrodobe. A behemoth without vision – yet – and without a real core product group. If you think the HP / Compaq merger was a mess, just wait for this puppy.
I’ll have some guesses tomorrow or later this week on what new product lines might look like, based on feedback from employees and such. Assuming I have time. This might end up being a suddenly busy week. No official news yet, but the move we’ve been planning for “months from now” might suddenly be a whole lot closer.
