For over quite some time Jon Friedman has remained to be the man behind most of the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) notorious product failures, including the KIN phone, ultra mobile PCs, the SPOT watches from 2004 not forgetting the unreleased Courier device.
Quick reflection
It was in the course of this week that Microsoft’s Build developer conference was held and it was in the same event that the official gave an account of his personal career at the software company. He also gave the various reasons as to why the products turned out to be a great failure.
He opined, “We were ahead of our time, Bluetooth phones weren’t really around, the smartphone hadn’t really taken off. We gave up a little too early I would say, it was a side project and Bill Gates loved it.”
It was way back in 2004 that the company unveiled the SPOT smartwatches and trusted sources indicated that all of them were powered by a FM radio sub-carrier technology and thus users were able to access information and news on their wrists.
Friedman’s account and Bill Gate’s perspective
Friedman has said that they appreciated the experience a huge deal and that they would be borrowing much from it in making other decisions in the future. However, the company gave up quite early and the official believes that wasn’t the right thing to do. He said that despite being a side project it has found favor in the eyes of Bill Gates. In fact, the tech guru termed it “a computer on every wristop.”
Friedman has been ever busy while at Microsoft and he will go down the records for the introduction of the small tablet-like PCs. These ones came up about 12 years ago before the unveiling of the iPhone and iPad. The official spoke about the introduction of the Windows Vista and everything surrounding it.
Just like the rest of the progressive business globally, Microsoft is considering the idea of enticing the significant number of app developers around the globe with a better store revenue split. The company is also thinking about reorganizing its software and devices business, a move that will see it impact the way teams deal with its services and products as well.