Microsoft used to be evil. Then it was irrelevant. Now it looks like a winner.
How did this happen?
I have competed against Microsoft for most of my career, battling Windows with Linux in the mobile, desktop and server markets, but also taking on SharePoint while at Alfresco and SQL Server in my work now for MongoDB. For much of that time I raged against the Redmond machine for its stranglehold on computing, only to discover in the past few years that its grip is gone; that enterprises aren't building the future on Microsoft.
See also: The New "One Microsoft" Is—Finally—Poised For The Future
They're building it with open source.
And yet. Over the past few years Microsoft has established itself as a real competitor again. Though much of Microsoft's playbook remains the same, it has made key changes that make it a much more formidable competitor, while being a more likable one, too.
The Ghosts Of Microsoft's Past
No one needs me to rehearse the "evil years" of Microsoft's dominance. Years of illegally wielding monopoly power made Microsoft the company everyone loved to hate. (That distinction now goes to Oracle.) Consumers and enterprises, however, kept buying into Microsoft's vision, in large part because Microsoft did more than any other company to lower the bar to productively using complex technology.
See also: News Flash: Oracle Still Hates Open-Source Software
Microsoft's evil years, however, gave way to a long period of senile, if profitable, dotage. The Redmond giant was dead but didn't realize it, so awash it was in profits from yesterday's businesses fueled by yesterday's business model.
Sure, the company dabbled in open source. It sprinkled cloud across its offerings, too. But the heart of the business was still fixated on old businesses done the old way.
In addition, the company neglected its core principles, the things that make Microsoft great. That is changing, as new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told Vanity Fair:
But the thing ... what is scarce in all of this abundance is human attention. And whoever does the best job of building the right software experiences to give both organizations and individuals time back so that they can get more out of their time, that's the core of this company—that's the soul.
This, more than anything else, made Microsoft great. And it's the ingredient, more than any other, that Microsoft has been missing. Microsoft has been so fixated on its old way of doing -- For more information read the original article here.
This is the nose of the Gemini XII spacecraft as photographed by Buzz Aldrin. He was standing up on his seat with his hatch open while orbiting at 8,000 meters per second 188 miles over the Earth. I wish I were able to imagine the sensation of what this felt like.
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-- For more information read the original article here.
Google has announced that it's dramatically expanding its same-day delivery service into new cities, adding different vendors, and changing its name, too. Can you tell we're on the run up to the holidays yet ?
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-- For more information read the original article here.
“This car is nuts. It's like taking off from a carrier deck. It's just bananas,” said CEO Elon Musk. Tesla's next car, the P85D, will have two motors and all-wheel drive. It will match the 3.2 second 0 to 60 mph time of the McLaren F1, one of the fastest cars ever made. And it will be even more efficient than the current, already terrific, Model S.
The post The Model D Is Tesla's Most Powerful Car Ever, Plus Autopilot appeared first on WIRED.
-- For more information read the original article here.
More cities, more stores and more products
Starting today, we're expanding to three new cities: Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C. Across all our cities, more than 7 million people can now access our same-day delivery service, and in Northern California almost 12 million can use our next-day service.
We're also adding more merchants: 16 in total over the last couple of months. We've added national brands including 1-800-Flowers, Barnes & Noble, Nine West, PetSmart, Vitamin Shoppe and Sports Authority, and regional merchants such as Paragon Sports in New York and Vicente Foods in Los Angeles. In our new markets, we've added regional brands including Stop & Shop in Boston; Giant Food in D.C.; and Lux Roses, TigerDirect, Treasure Island Foods and Wrigleyville Sports in Chicago.
Additionally, customers in the Bay Area who are 21 and over can now order alcohol. Cheers (and please drink responsibly)!
Express membership
Starting today, shoppers who decide to become Google Express members will enjoy:
- Free same-day or overnight delivery on eligible orders over $15.*
- First dibs on delivery windows
- Shared membership with a household member
Membership costs $95/year or $10/month. Or you can choose to pay as you go, at $4.99 per eligible order. Learn more on our Help Center. Either way, we don't add any hidden markups, so you pay the same price for your stuff on Google Express as you would in-store.
New shoppers can try the first three months of membership for free. You can cancel it at any time, so it's easy to test it out and decide if you like it.
A shorter name
We've also noticed people referring to us as "Google Express"—and we love it. So as of today, we've simplified our name. Plus, we've added a punch of color to our parachute:
With more cities, more merchants, and -- For more information read the original article here.
-- For more information read the original article here.
-- For more information read the original article here.