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See Also: Apple Is Preparing For The End Of The Steve Jobs Era By Teaching Management Classes Internally Steve Jobs On The Difference Between A Vice President And A Janitor Microsoft Buying Skype Would Make No Sense $(".related a").mousedown(function() { $.post("/ws/heatmap", { homepage: '4dc87ae149e2ae8c6d0e0000', uri: $(this).attr("href") }); }); For his profile of Apple in Fortune (excerpt here), Adam Lashinsky interviewed an unnamed executive who has worked at both Apple and Microsoft. Here's how he summed up the difference between the companies:
"Microsoft tries to find unrealized pockets of revenue and then decides what to make. Apple is just the opposite: it thinks of great products, then sells them. Prototypes and demos always come before spreadsheets."
It's a great quote -- it's quick, it's pithy, and it confirms the stereotypes most readers have of both companies.
Of course, reality is not quite so simple.
Microsoft does occasionally launch a product without a business model in place.
Take Surface, its tabletop computer -- when it launched in 2007, Microsoft didn't have a channel or sales strategy in place. The product didn't even have a price tag. It was basically a research project that Microsoft rushed out with a couple partners to show that it, too, had innovative touch screen technology -- Apple wasn't the only one.
Or what about HailStorm, a set of online services for storing user data that Microsoft floated in 2001? That initiative was killed in large part because Microsoft couldn't figure out how to make money from it -- but only after an entire product team had spent months building a prototype and explaining it to the world.
On the other side, Apple's genius isn't only in its ideas -- it also executes them brilliantly. Microsoft has had plenty of ideas before competitors -- it had a smartphone OS and a number of tablets way back in 2002. But Microsoft didn't know what to do with those ideas. Apple did.
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More » Edit This » Microsoft Summary Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to... More » Matt Rosoff is Silicon Alley Insider's West Coast Editor Contact: e-mail: var dw = function(s) { document.write(s); };dw('mro');dw('soff');dw('@bus');dw('ines');dw('sins');dw('ider');dw('.com');dw('');use contact page AIM: mattrosoff Subscribe to his RSS feed | twitter feed Recent Posts Microsoft's 15 Biggest Acqu... Soon, You'll Be Able To Buy... Google Brings Big Hollywood... Receive email updates on new comments! Email 7 Comments 8 0 Flag as Offensive Greg on May 9, 7:48 PM said: 1999 called and they want their cliched business analysis back. Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive jim_herd on May 9, 7:58 PM said: Tsk. The first Windows tablets ran Windows for pen in 1991 as Microsoft jostled for position with Apple and its Newton. I don't know, kids these days ... ;). Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive Gordon on May 9, 8:06 PM said: sounds more like Google. see Gmail, Android etc. Reply 3 0 Flag as Offensive the biggest difference on May 9, 8:08 PM said: The biggest difference is that Steve Jobs experimented with drugs and considered it life altering change, Bill Gates did not. Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive pinkobane on May 9, 9:09 PM said: @the biggest difference: As silly as a statement seems, there is something to this remark. I've never taken illicit drugs, but a co-worker of mine told me that after he took LSD (or was it 'shrooms) in college, he felt his brain was permanently wired or chemically "different". For Jobs, assuming he took one of these drug types, may have enhanced his already developed creativity. If Gates took anything, he probably just smoked pot in his Alberquerqe days. In the interests of their work, how many of our advances were fueled by those willing to risk how their mind functions? I'm not promoting drug use, but I'd venture to say that is very substantial, much more than we're willing to admit, especially when it comes to revolutionary thoughts and ideas. Reply 1 0 Flag as Offensive the biggest difference on May 9, 11:48 PM said: @pinkobane: It sounds silly mostly for people who are not even aware of the fact, that the Nobel prize winner scientist, who discovered DNA openly admits that he first saw the particular structure during an LSD trip. Terence MsKenna in his book Foods of the Gods - The search for the original tree of knowledge - A radical history of plants, drugs, and human evolution - claims that consuming drugs had the most profound affect on the evolution of human sapiens. Reply 0 0 Flag as Offensive Ann Nonimuss on May 10, 12:36 AM said: @the biggest difference: I always wondered why Bill Gates "dreams" of tablets were so distorted. No drugs. Same with the Zune. Bill kept envisioning products with no pizzaz, just black and white crap visions. Steve, on the other hand, sees the magic of a ground-breaking product in technicolor. I wonder what drugs he's taking now. Apart from chemotherapy drugs, that is. At least Bill will live a long and prosperous life and Steve probably wishes he'd never gotten cancer and is working his ass off before the sooner than expected end comes. Reply Join the discussion Login With Facebook Login With Twitter Name (Required) Email Address (Required but never displayed) URL Comments (You may use HTML tags for style) Get SAI Emails & Alerts Learn More » Customized instant email alerts (sample) NEW! 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