At What Point Is A Company Too Big?

Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer, presents his pre-show keynote at the 2010 International CES in Las Vegas Wednesday evening. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Microsoft’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Decade

Technically Windows 8 is a step in the right direction, but there are plenty of folks who are stuck at XP and ain’t going anywhere. Those same people will complain when Windows 8 won’t run on their hardware

Whose problem is it that a lot of people still use Internet Explorer 6?

Okay, okay, I am not trying to come up to Microsoft's defense. I have no dog in the show. But I also don't feel like Microsoft should have come up with the search engine that Google did or that it should have come up with the social engine that Facebook did. I don't begrudge Microsoft for not having bought or begot Instagram.

And I think Microsoft could still get back the sexy in the gestures department if they could make it as fundamental as touch.

But that having said I do think Microsoft has been more slothful than it needed to be. It has not been a lost decade, but it sure has been slow.

Gesture will do for Microsoft what Big Data will do for Yahoo. Getting the sexy back is hard work. Some of it is to do with youth.

And I don't think a CEO change is in the offings. Through Ballmer Bill Gates gets to feel like he is perhaps still remotely running the company. That feeling. And he probably feels like noone else could do better.

Bringing touch to the PC is a big deal. Bringing gesture to all screen sizes is an even bigger deal.

I guess both Ballmer and Microsoft could lose some weight. 92,000 is a lot of people reporting to you. But then FoxConn hums just fine at 1.2 million workers. What gives?

Cyber Threats

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 17: U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement on the worsening nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan March 17, 2011 at the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC. Obama said that harmful level of radiation is not expected to reach to the U.S. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Barack Obama: Taking the Cyberattack Threat Seriously

Taking down vital banking systems could trigger a financial crisis. The lack of clean water or functioning hospitals could spark a public health emergency. And as we've seen in past blackouts, the loss of electricity can bring businesses, cities and entire regions to a standstill. ..... Nuclear power plants must have fences and defenses to thwart a terrorist attack. Water treatment plants must test their water regularly for contaminants. Airplanes must have secure cockpit doors. We all understand the need for these kinds of physical security measures. It would be the height of irresponsibility to leave a digital backdoor wide open to our cyber adversaries. .... a society that cherishes free enterprise and the rights of the individual. ..... reflects the insights and ideas of industry and civil libertarians. It is sponsored by a bipartisan group of senators. It is supported by current and former homeland security, intelligence and defense leaders from both Republican and Democratic administrations

Cyber security gaps are the chink in the armor. I compare it to mental health. So many of mild mental health issues go unreported. Similarly numerous low level cyber attacks are pushed under the carpet. There is a basic unpreparedness right now.

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