http://disqus.com/people/tonyflanders/enSun, 01 Jun 2008 17:27:47 -0000http://technovia.co.uk/2008/05/why-microsoft-l.html#comment-567686Well, Ian, I accept your comment on leadership and strategic direction of the company.tonyflandersSun, 01 Jun 2008 17:27:47 -0000http://technovia.co.uk/2008/05/why-microsoft-l.html#comment-565772Sorry. Can't blame this one on focus groups. As a user who started with CPM 85, went to DOS and Windows with many techo-geek friends and colleagues; Microsoft was always gorky and only rapidly increasing processor speeds and memory allowed them to program around gorky original stuff. Microsoft's problem is not that they listen to focus groups - that's profoundly naive; it's that their financial growth depends on the next generation breakthrough - but since they don't have anything that consumers really want they develop what their own people tell them. They don't have input ( as you claim ) they have withinput. Result - bloatware with millions of lines of code that are increasingly at risk of breakdown and security openings. There's is a reason it's called Windows - that what I did with my Thinkpad after my third total collapse - threw it out the window. I've been a happy MAC user ever since - because Mac does what I want it to do, in a way that is intuitive to my instincts. that's the genius of Mac. But unless you delude yourself - Apple listens to its users all day everyday - if you're a Vista captive you wouldn't know that. I don't know if Steven Jobs uses focus groups; but I do know lot's of my focus group techno-clients wouldn't listen to their focus groups and couldn't understand why people willfully wouldn't understand what they demanded the user do. Too bad. So sad. As a new user of the iMac I carry on my intention and my endless quest to eliminate Microsoft from my life. Not only am I making money off the iLife software (iMovie in particular) I have substituted iWorks for Microsoft Office for Mac ( because it even crashed with corrupt files on my Powerbook) and my professional colleagues with whom I must communicate are coming to agree with me.I say I do Focus Groups Plus plain and fancy thinking at reasonable rates. It's not that focus groups are great - it's that engaging, listening, dialoguing and synthesizing with your customrs is the key to win-win situations. Stop blaming focus groups for inadequate leadership[.tonyflandersSun, 01 Jun 2008 03:23:30 -0000