Microsoft released the Zune Player this week. This is simply the latest in the conquests for the MS Technology Life Cycle. Will the success rate halt with the Zune, or should Apple be worried?Most developers are familiar with the Software Development Life Cycle, but Microsoft seems to have modified this process to run their entire business. I refer to this as the MS Technology Life Cycle. It has been used successfully in product after product, and has shaped the technology industry. It has produced some staggering results.
The real beauty of this process is that many parts of this pattern do not even require any activity by Microsoft. They can sit back and let others do the hard work and come in after the fact to sweep up the profits. Here is the basic pattern:
- Really smart people come up with a new innovative idea that can change the way people work. They get together with some of their friends and develop the product, and release it to the world. (NCSA Mosaic)
- The business world sees this product, and provides funding to nurture and grow the technology bringing it to the masses (Netscape)
- Microsoft, being ever so observant, hops on the bandwagon, typically 2-4 years late. They are far behind, but they put their team of developers on it and release a substandard alternative. (Internet Explorer) It creates a little bit of interest, but is quickly dismissed as a wannabe and forgotten about.
- Microsoft then releases its version 2 (or 3 or 4 if they skip some numbers). It fills in the gaps from the 1.0 and gains widespread acceptance. (IE4) In this stage, the product still does not need to be a finished product. Marketing can fill in any remaining gaps.
- The people that invented the technology and the company that grew it are forgotten, and either change industries or go out of business (Netscape)
- Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
Whether the Zune is destined for greatness or will be a flop depends on how well this pattern holds up. How has this worked for Microsoft in the Past?
| Innovators | Incubators | MS Product | Result |
| NCSA Mosaic | Netscape | Internet Explorer | Netscape destroyed |
| VisiCalc | Lotus 1-2-3 | Excel | Whats a Lotus? |
| Atari | PlayStation2 | Xbox360 | Time will tell |
| CGI, Perl | Java | C# | Isn’t Java a coffee? |
| Xerox GUI | Macintosh | Windows | 95% Market Share |
| OS2 | OS/2 Warp | Windows NT/Server | |
| Sendmail | GroupWise | Exchange | Business market cornered |
| Diamond Rio | iPod | Zune | Wait for the next version |
Everyone points to the massive marketshare enjoyed by the iPod, but when you look at the equally impressive marketshares of Netscape, Lotus 1-2-3 and the others, back in the day, you quickly realize that that doesn’t matter. iPods only last a couple of years before they need to be replaced anyway.
Sure, there are examples of failed attempts. (MSN vs Google, Microsoft BOB, etc.) Some of you are going to trumpet the virtues of Firefox, PS3, Wii, Python, and a host of others, but you can’t argue that this behaviour has been chronic and – generally speaking – quite successful.
Now, lets be honest, the Zune is not an iPod killer (at least not in this v1.0 state), but anytime Microsoft enters a market, the incumbent should be worried. I am not rushing out today to buy a Zune, but wait until version 2!
That’s a great breakdown. I had forgotten about the lotus/Excel as well as the exchange bits.
Check out http://www.thatedeguy.com/archives/2006/11/ipod-perception-vs-zune-reality
for more on the zune/ipod bit. I really think that both of us have a pretty good point on this and might just end up being right.
you are forgeting that people are lazy and will use what ever is put in front of them that is how microsoft did so well in most of the products you mentioned. they just bundled them with the machines. that won’t work with the zune.
Very interesting comments you’ve got there. 🙂
Have you read Schumpeter? He wrote theory on innovation and entrepreneurship. Essentially, at first he thought it was the stand-alonge entrepreneur that would drive innovation and business cycles (Schumpeter Mark I), but later changed his mind to thinking it was the big corporations (i.e. Microsoft) that would drive business cycles due to market power/capital they can “catch up” quicker when they see a new trend becoming big (and they don’t even need to go for anything before concepts have been proofed (eg. “people like mp3 players”)….
I guess another example here would be the Xbox vs. Playstation/Nintendo? Was the first Xbox better than Nintendo/Playstation? I think not….
Your comparisons don’t work, the results are not conclusive, and you do not have a good understanding about what these products are.
Should we assume from your statement that C# is more popular than Java and Perl? Should we assume that Sendmail and Exchange have even close functionality and are competing with each other? Shal we assume that Netscape is destroyed, and ignore the fact that Phoenix/Firefox rose from it’s ashes?
Sheesh.
Brown is an awesome choice for a MP3 player.
Besides, all those assertions you made are when Microsoft was somewhat young and agile – now they are just old, dorky, and clueless.
this is 2010 and still zune is no one compared to ipod. You can not even use it on any other OS like linux & MAC OS, etc.
Even for Windows you need to install crapware zune software to make it work. What Microsoft was thinking.