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The Altair 8800 caught the imagination of early adopters. But there were ofcourse no applications to speak of. It needed two very visionary former highschool classmates to decide to write software for it and other computers–for aliving. Bill Gates and Paul Allen set up Microsoft, in the same year: 1975. Theyran it as a partnership for the first years. Five years later came the IBM PC,and the rest is history. From $16,000 in revenues in 1975 it touched $23 billionlast year, with 40,000 employees.
Microsoft’s impact is far in excess of what those numbers suggest. It’sthe most valuable company in the world, and probably the biggest example oftechnology marketing in history. It’s in the enviable position of monopolizinga key component–the operating software–of the largest-selling tech productin the world, the personal computer. Intel also holds a similar position, butthe processor is hidden, while the operating system is visible. The OS is thecomputer, as far as users are concerned. So Redmond didn’t need to spendbillions on a "Microsoft inside" campaign, for mindshare.
Microsoft is most often described as a marketing success, which is not to saythat there’s no technology there. But the nimbleness, market-savvy andnegotiation skill shown by Gates and company, right since the famous DOS dealwith IBM, has been largely responsible for taking Microsoft up to where it is.Even in its first ten years, Microsoft built up a reputation for being a toughplayer on the software playground. Now, its exceptional negotiating monopolyposition, where it can dictate what software all the world’s top players carryon their PCs, is part of the reason it’s in trouble with the US Justicedepartment.
Another reflection of Microsoft’s position and ambition was its changingtagline. From the mild "Making it all make sense", it picked up thestartling "Where do you want to go today?" Which didn’t make muchsense at first to lots of people, until realization dawned: Redmond was talkingabout omnipresence here, a step toward infotech world domination. Now, its new.Net vision plans to use Microsoft software to integrate networks, sites andappliances, from PCs to TV sets and mobile devices.
Most PC users love to hate Microsoft and its crash-prone Windows. But love itor hate it, its dominant role in the infotech-centric world is undeniable. Nowthat the PC era that it ruled has dissolved into the network age, Microsoft’sbig challenge will be to keep up with it, while fighting its legal troubles andtough big-brother image. It probably can do it.