As Gates Steps Out, Tributes Roll In
We intentionally gave, or tried to give, this entry a
New York Times-sounding
headline -- they always seem to start with a dependent clause -- because this
is one of those times when the big-name, mainstream, non-business media are
storming into our territory.
Oh, sure, the Newsweeks of the world write about technology a lot more
frequently than they used to, but they still mainly show up just for the big
events -- enormous product launches, executive departures and arrivals, earnings
disasters (or, less frequently, blockbusters), that sort of thing. Down here
in the trades, we grind out technology news every day. Only relatively rarely
are we visited by our friends in the big-time.
Metaphorically speaking, we trade hacks are there for NBA regular-season games
in Minnesota in January, while Newsweek only bothers to waltz in when the Finals
are on. And yet, because they are who they are, the big guys get the exclusive
interviews with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, while we're stuck crowding around
Brian Scalabrine, trying to get a quote. (And, yes, this paragraph is brought
to you in honor of the World Champion Boston Celtics. We love you, Paul, KG...and
Scal.)
So, with Bill Gates, icon among icons, finally finishing the longest victory
lap in industry history, the big guns are all over the story. This week in particular,
Newsweek has unleashed a long
and, we're sure, interesting (we haven't read the whole thing yet) story
on the future of Microsoft without Gates...and of Gates without Microsoft.
The big N, whose little logo on the Firefox tab makes us think of the
Nebraska Cornhuskers, also offers
an update on the folks in the famous Microsoft photo from 1978. You know,
the photo that's made the rounds on the Internet thousands of times over the
last few years and has even turned up in an ad or two. There's even a 2008 (or,
at least, more recent) version of the photo.
Big ol' TV network ABC is in on the act, too -- albeit with an article written
by somebody at PC World; hooray for the hacks! -- with an article sorting
out the myths and realities of what Gates has and hasn't said over the years.
(Actually, we're pretty sure that tech mondo-publisher IDG has a deal with
some of the big news sources like The New York Times and ABC because
we see trade articles on those mega-sites all the time, so this doesn't really
count as the mainstream media invading our space. But we're trying to stick
with a theme here.)
And even a regular Computerworld blogger gets into the spirit of things
with an entry on Gates' five
dumbest decisions, which we find a little funny given that most executives
in any industry would give their left, um, eyes to have even been in the position
to make dumb decisions and still end up with more money than anybody else in
the world.
There are tons more of these Gates end-of-an-era things floating around, but
those were the ones that stood out to us. In case you were wondering, we at
RCP the magazine are planning our own story on this topic, but we're
focusing on Microsoft's current technological and leadership transition and
not so much on Gates himself. (By the way, if you have any thoughts on post-Gates,
Ray Ozzie, cloud-computing, virtual Microsoft, send them to [email protected]
ASAP. Thanks.)
Frankly, we'll be glad when all the glamour magazines and fancy Web sites clear
out of here and let us get back to the grind. And, as for RCPU's take on Gates
-- well, his legacy speaks for itself, as does Microsoft's success and current
position on top of the software mountain. There's not really a lot for us to
say that hasn't been said (or won't be said, over and over again), so, for once...we're
not saying anything at all.
Posted by Lee Pender on 06/24/2008 at 1:22 PM