Gates Not Pleased with Microsoft's Rate of Innovation

[Michael Essany]

In a recent and arare interview with the Microsoft Chairman, Bill Gates tells "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose that Microsoft can and should be doing more to innovate in mobile today.

When asked point-blank about about Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's performance, Gates said the following:

"Well, he and I are two of the most self-critical people -- you can imagine. And here were a lot of amazing things that Steve's leadership got done with the company in the last year. Windows 8 is key to the future, the Surface computer. Bing, people are seeing as a better search product, Xbox. Is it enough?... No, he and I are not satisfied that in terms of, you know, breakthrough things, that we're doing everything possible."

Gates poignantly revealed his thoughts that Microsoft failed to make critical early headway in mobile, a product genre where Apple went on to capture a practically insurmountable lead. "We didn't miss cell phones, but the way that we went about it didn't allow us to get the leadership. So it's clearly a mistake," Gates admits.

To watch the insightful interview with Gates on CBS This Morning, click here.

Source: CBS

[Jahooba]

It seems reasonable that he should kick himself for letting Apple take the lead. But, in Microsoft's defense, no one foresaw Apple's plans for domination.

Apple had been working on the iPhone in secret for years, which put them years ahead of the competition.

It's not so much Microsoft doing poorly as it is Apple just knocking it out of the park.

[NewdestinyX]

Microsoft was always a 'following' company. Their only true innovation was DOS. And for that achievement they got to dominate the business world software usage for the last 30 years. Apple will never surpass them EVER in the business software world.

But in every other arena Microsoft has been a 'borrower' of ideas - not an innovator - and then they just excel at mass producing. Windows was a direct steal from Apple.

And now Gates is wondering what the deal is.

I respect Gates. Amazing businessman and laudable giver to the less fortunate. But there are few great innovators. Jobs innovated. Gates mass-produced. And Microsoft is simply missing in action in the mobile phone arena.

[Adrian97c]

It seems reasonable that he should kick himself for letting Apple take the lead. But, in Microsoft's defense, no one foresaw Apple's plans for domination.

Apple had been working on the iPhone in secret for years, which put them years ahead of the competition.

It's not so much Microsoft doing poorly as it is Apple just knocking it out of the park.

B4 iPhone, there was iPod & MS tried catching up w/ Zune, but failed.

[highboi]

It seems reasonable that he should kick himself for letting Apple take the lead. But, in Microsoft's defense, no one foresaw Apple's plans for domination.

Apple had been working on the iPhone in secret for years, which put them years ahead of the competition.

It's not so much Microsoft doing poorly as it is Apple just knocking it out of the park.

dont forget safari, i read here recently they had to mask the user agent to prevent leakage of the upcomming software

[kalpesh78]

B4 iPhone, there was iPod & MS tried catching up w/ Zune, but failed.

I think Ipod was first when it came to MP3 devices. Zune came into the picture much later. and i think Ipod was always in the lead (ofcourse sony's walkman was there before all these)

[NewdestinyX]

(ofcourse sony's walkman was there before all these)

But only as cassette/CD players - not an MP3 player.

[XweAponX]

But only as cassette/CD players - not an MP3 player.

No, that's not correct: one of the first portable MP3 devices was the Network Walkman. Granted it was a POS that used lame ATRAC hard to use encoding (I think that was what they called it)- but they were made right after the Rio hit stores.

[steve-z17]

Gates is a good guy, I respect him. He's done amazing things in the world of computers. It's nice that he can admit that Microsoft dropped the ball when it comes to smartphones. I really wish they would step up their game and get to a level where they can really compete with iOS & Android.

[NewdestinyX]

No, that's not correct: one of the first portable MP3 devices was the Network Walkman. Granted it was a POS that used lame ATRAC hard to use encoding (I think that was what they called it)- but they were made right after the Rio hit stores.

Like I said.. NOT an "os-driven" MP3 player. Less than 10,000 people, I'll bet, ever owned those. The history books will always attribute the "invention" of the portable MP3 player, eventually with GUI, to Apple.

[Raptor2213]

Wow, I love how deluded he is. Windows 8's UI is horrible and no one wants it. Bing has always sucked. No one wants to buy their "flagship" technology because everyone wants things that work.

[hapishyguy]

Wow, I love how deluded he is. Windows 8's UI is horrible and no one wants it. Bing has always sucked. No one wants to buy their "flagship" technology because everyone wants things that work.

what a self cave man verdict " Windows 8's UI is horrible and no one wants it "
Did you really meant NOONE noone on the planet

[bigboyz]

Windows 8 is NOT the future. Live tiles..no no! I look at it this way, when my friends that actually use Windows 8 opt for the classic view or experience over live tiles, that would be a fail in my eyes. I know the test subjects in this case are limited but i even asked coworkers and they advise they don't like it. When asked why you dont like an iPhone most say its too small. Not that they don't like the OS big difference for obvious reasons.

[bsltiger]

Windows 8 is NOT the future. Live tiles..no no! I look at it this way, when my friends that actually use Windows 8 opt for the classic view or experience over live tiles, that would be a fail in my eyes. I know the test subjects in this case are limited but i even asked coworkers and they advise they don't like it. When asked why you dont like an iPhone most say its too small. Not that they don't like the OS big difference for obvious reasons.

Well, the tiles are for touch screen devices. I've played around on a touch screen device once and rather enjoyed the tiles. The desktop version was left in place for... Well... Desktops. So using the desktop feature on a desktop hardly counts as a fail in my opinion.

Jahooba, while no one foresaw the plans Apple had for the mobile industry, the fact of the matter is Gates is disappointed that Microsoft hadn't done it. It, quite obviously, was an achievable goal, and Microsoft made no headway in achieving it until it was much too late.

[Zombian]

Personally I'm a huge fan of the windows 8 tile ui. It's refreshing in a world of small static icons. I bought a surface pro 4 days ago and I love it. I still like my iPhone but after 4 years of jailbreaking to get what I wanted out of it I've become pretty sick of the closed ecosystem. Windows 8 is perfect for me because I can have the elegance of a touch interface but when I really need to get work done I can in a more traditional way (although there are plenty of apps that let me do it in a more metro ui way) as far as I'm concerned windows 8 is home run and exactly what's I've been looking for in an OS.

[aorowe]

I don't understand why so much crap is given to Microsoft about Windows 8.

At the very least, you can say that they're trying something different. A lot of people give Apple crap about iOS do to the fact that the UI remains the same virtually after five years. So I have to ask, "which is it?" It seems like you're screwed if you do, and your screwed if you don't. Apple gets crap because iOS is practically the same and stale, and Microsoft gets crap because Windows 8 is different and people are not used to it.

Yes, it seems like a big change, but at least they're trying. And even still, they've included the old interface so it's not like people are boxed into using the modern UI

[Zombian]

I don't understand why so much crap is given to Microsoft about Windows 8.

At the very least, you can say that they're trying something different. A lot of people give Apple crap about iOS do to the fact that the UI remains the same virtually after five years. So I have to ask, "which is it?" It seems like you're screwed if you do, and your screwed if you don't. Apple gets crap because iOS is practically the same and stale, and Microsoft gets crap because Windows 8 is different and people are not used to it.

Yes, it seems like a big change, but at least they're trying. And even still, they've included the old interface so it's not like people are boxed into using the modern UI

Couldn't agree more. I treat the desktop and start menu more like "modes" one is more of a media consumption mode an the other more like a work mode. I have no trouble switching between the two and for the most part I can things done fast than ever before on my new windows 8 machine

[Mrteacup]

It seems reasonable that he should kick himself for letting Apple take the lead. But, in Microsoft's defense, no one foresaw Apple's plans for domination.

Apple had been working on the iPhone in secret for years, which put them years ahead of the competition.

It's not so much Microsoft doing poorly as it is Apple just knocking it out of the park.

Not exactly true, you could say that about any product no one develops things in public or in a few years, pretty much all products take 5-7 years