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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

ITES: It's the ecosystem, stupid!

Microsoft CEO Ballmer braces us for a 'fundamental shift' in strategy with more Microsoft-designed devices

What Google and Microsoft have been learning over the last year is that there's more to Apple's magic than just the devices. Apple has succeeded in created an easy-to-use media ecosystem that virtually anyone can understand. That's no small feat in an era of PCs, game consoles, and mobile devices, each of which has a slightly (or severely) different interface.

One of the reasons I'm so bullish on Microsoft's futures it that they really have the biggest ecosystem out there right now. They just need to tie it all together. If every Windows PC user with an Xbox was suddenly given a new device that tied the other two together seamlessly, they could really give Apple a run for their money.

It's going to be a difficult transition, but I think this is the right move for Microsoft. They can't let their dominance in the desktop erode any more, or they simple won't be able to catch up.