I would argue that Microsoft used to know how to ship software, but the world has changed... The companies that "know how to ship software" are the ones to watch. They have embraced the network, deeply understand the concept of "software as a service", and know how to deliver incredible value to their customers efficiently and quickly.

I'd be lieing if I didn't admit to the same concerns. Fortunately I'm on a team that has shipped a version a year so fixes and new features are rolled out much more frequently then in the Windows world. But still, are we able to compete in terms of nimbleness with the startups out there? Do we need to find a way to deploy Media Center as a service?

Update: Kevin Schofield has had the best response to Mark yet..
3:09:59 PM   []

A co-worker who read about my quest for an iPod competitor (which I followed up on and subsequently bought an iPod this week) stopped by today to show me his Archos Gmini 400. Oddly I didn't find it in my quest for a new player and I wish I had considered it as not only does it have the same form factor as the iPod 40 GB photo but it also has lots of additional features such as works with Windows, video playback, radio, music recorder, compact flash transfer,... And it's only $357 from Amazon.

While I only played with it for a few minutes I did see some drawbacks. You have to use two hands to use it which means that it won't work in the car which is a high priority scenario for me. The UI also could use some polish. Both of these issues frustrate me because Archos has been building compelling portable players for a number of years now but have been hampered by a poor user experience and a lack of marketing. They're so close but until they can get their devices to cross over from early adopters and geeks to the mass consumer market they aren't going to get the attention and sales that they rightly deserve.

I'm also hearing rumors about some new iPod killer being released but we've been hearing about iPod killers from years know so I won't believe until I see it.

And then Engadget has an article on, Next iPod to get a big boost in battery life?:

Supposedly the PPC5022 would make it possible to make a hard drive-based digital audio player with triple the battery life of a player using the PP5020, which could conceivably mean an iPod photo that could last as long as 45 hours before it needed recharging

2:49:21 PM   []

Another surface computing project on display at the [MSR TechFest] event is called PlayAnywhere. The system basically turns an ordinary tabletop into an interactive surface that could be used for playing computer games, among other things. It consists of a computer, a projector and an image-processing system that analyzes video from an incorporated camera to see what is happening on the table, allowing the system to react as programmed.

Sounds suspiciously like the web table I wanted back in 1997.
2:18:16 PM   []