M$ does not need a Bill redux, it needs an outside perspec

Bill Gates' passion for computing played in an indelible role in the development of the technology industry, and it will long be remembered. But, if you look at his disastrous final years at Microsoft before retiring, it's clear that he's not the leader Microsoft needs to find a way forward in the 21st century. The company needs an outside perspective.

There's a good reason why journalists and historians rely on primary documents and multiple sources in order to discover the truth about events. It's because the way people remember things is tied much more to their current priorities than an accurate account of the way things happened.
The technology industry's collective memory about Gates is flawed. Again, that's not to minimize his contributions in popularizing and commoditizing computers for the masses in the 1970s through the 1990s. However, don't forget that it was Gates who drove bad product decisions that caused Microsoft to squander its place in the tablet and smartphone markets. It was Gates who badly overestimated the progress and demand for voice recognition and pen computing. And, above all, it was Gates who blindly led Microsoft into the biggest product disaster in its history with Windows Vista.

Click to expand...