Robert Scoble Says the Map Wars are Heating Up - What's wrong with Microsoft?

Submitted by Patrick Grote on Sat, 04/09/2005 - 2:40pm.

Robert Scoble noted today that the Map Wars are heating up and he's jealous of the community being built around Google Maps. Robert says to not forget about Microsoft and shows an example. That's the problem. Microsoft is very forgettable nowadays. What's wrong with them and when did this happen?

I can remember back in the early to mid-90s when Microsoft was the company pushing things to the edge. Their development cycles were shorter and it seemed each time a new release or product came out there was something cool about it. For instance, who can forget what it was like to have peer to peer networking built into a product like Windows for Workgroups? Until then you had to load an old school DOS networking package like Lantastic to share files. WFWG integration was tight, worked well and supported different protocols.

The internet age rolled around and it seems like Microsoft has been playing catch up ever since. Each new product or service on the internet is developed by someone else. Microsoft catches up, but barely. What they offer is serviceable, but never better than what is out there.

Browser? Surpassed by Firefox, Opera and Safari.

Blog tools? Surpassed by Wordpress, Blogger and Live Journal.

Email? Surpassed by Yahoo and Google.

Search? Surpassed by Yahoo and Google.

Google Satellite ExampleWhen Microsoft releases a new consumer based product the yawns are deafening. And this from the company that introduced celebrity and glitz to product rollouts.

So today Robert Scoble brings up the Map Wars. Google and their PHDs have taken Microsoft to the woodshed again. Scoble does mention that Microsoft has TerraServer and he demonstrates the power of their satellite maps by showing where he works. Agreed, TerraServer is no match for Keyhole. Just take a look at where I live.

Microsoft shows much more detail and has newer satellite photos, but so what. They have this great feature, but have done nothing with it.

Here's the critical point that Microsoft refuses to believe about itself. They started work on the latest version of TerraServer in fall of 1998. Google acquired Keyhole in October of 2004. It's taken Google roughly 9 months to implement something that is open, extensible and cool, while Microsoft has had 7 years to do the same and came away with a pretty cool demonstration of their product, but nothing past that.

Microsoft Satellite ExampleWhy is it that Internet Explorer hasn't been updated in ages? Why is it that Windows XP still looks like and works like Windows 95? Why is it that the Office Suite has stagnated? Has Microsoft become fat, dumb and lazy?

Microsoft can do three things to turn things around:

Create a sandbox. Google takes many dings for the beta products they produce, but they're throwing the noodles on the wall to see if they stick. It seems Microsoft feels they need a complete, polished product before they turn it on or they try to include all features from day one. Huge mistake in internet time.
Open and extensible. Microsoft is making progress in this area, but it's too little too late. This is almost an afterthought from Microsoft and they are missing the huge opportunities generated by others using their products as tools.
Go get them. Google and Yahoo are making inroads by purchasing companies for areas they feel they need and then doing a great job of leveraging them. Google has taken it a step further by hiring people in the industry, such as Firefox developers, to send a clear message. What's Microsoft doing? They bought Groove Networks, but they owned a piece of the action already.

10 years ago we could have expected more from Microsoft, but today some of us celebrate when they simply catch up. Microsoft has lost the ability to move with speed and precision into markets it doesn't dominate and the slope of innovation is getting slipperier by the day.