¥ irritation
Slightly depressing discussion yesterday with a friend who cuts code for a very smart and entirely admirable application software company. They were riding high for a while back there, but are now having to work way harder even to maintain their position. That Red Queen thing again.
The thing that tipped me off and had me grinding the gears late into the night was my mate’s comment that they’re all in a state of hubbub at this damn fine firm, over the rumour that Microsoft might be entering their space. Sheesh.
I’m sure there's a huge wheel of fortune sitting in Bill Gates' office, with the segments marked out into market sectors that MSFT might conceivably think of entering at some point in the future (everything from satellite dishes to lingerie).
Once a month, Bill spins the wheel and, wherever it lands, Redmond's fearsome Market Freezing department goes to work.
All they have to do is put out enough low level buzz about the vaguest possibility that they might, just maybe, if they feel like it have some speculative half-formed designs on the market in question. That's usually enough to put a high percentage of CIOs and other CXOs into catatonic decision paralysis for another few months, allowing the Borg to go back to what it was really interested in in the first place.
It's like plate-spinning. They work their way around the markets applying a little slap to the tail every now again to make sure no one's ever able to get too far advanced in any area they might feel like having a crack at someday, when they get bored futzing around with the Feds. Keep all those plates spinning, and you can keep your competitors or potential competitors so busy trying to figure out WTF you're actually doing, that they end up forgetting what it is they were supposed to be doing in the first place.
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." – Buddha (allegedly)
"Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." -- Ayn Rand
"It's all bollocks." – Michael
Slightly depressing discussion yesterday with a friend who cuts code for a very smart and entirely admirable application software company. They were riding high for a while back there, but are now having to work way harder even to maintain their position. That Red Queen thing again.
The thing that tipped me off and had me grinding the gears late into the night was my mate’s comment that they’re all in a state of hubbub at this damn fine firm, over the rumour that Microsoft might be entering their space. Sheesh.
I’m sure there's a huge wheel of fortune sitting in Bill Gates' office, with the segments marked out into market sectors that MSFT might conceivably think of entering at some point in the future (everything from satellite dishes to lingerie).
Once a month, Bill spins the wheel and, wherever it lands, Redmond's fearsome Market Freezing department goes to work.
All they have to do is put out enough low level buzz about the vaguest possibility that they might, just maybe, if they feel like it have some speculative half-formed designs on the market in question. That's usually enough to put a high percentage of CIOs and other CXOs into catatonic decision paralysis for another few months, allowing the Borg to go back to what it was really interested in in the first place.
It's like plate-spinning. They work their way around the markets applying a little slap to the tail every now again to make sure no one's ever able to get too far advanced in any area they might feel like having a crack at someday, when they get bored futzing around with the Feds. Keep all those plates spinning, and you can keep your competitors or potential competitors so busy trying to figure out WTF you're actually doing, that they end up forgetting what it is they were supposed to be doing in the first place.
"Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." – Buddha (allegedly)
"Competition is a by-product of productive work, not its goal. A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others." -- Ayn Rand
"It's all bollocks." – Michael
