http://www.microsoftmonitor.com/archives/006294.html
Today’s Wired news story on iPod popularity at Microsoft isn’t surprising, especially if the music player is as widely-used there as reported. Apple sold eight million iPods last year. The device is hot, hot, hot. Is it surprising that at Microsoft, where management encourages adoption of the newest technologies, a hot device would be popular?
Of course, that new technology adoption does tend to be Microsoft products, which many employees use even during beta testing–a process sometimes called “dogfooding.” So, I can understand how iPod popularity might rub some folks the wrong way. After all, Windows Media Player 10, MSN Music and a whole bunch of WMA DRM music stores and PlaysForSure devices compete with iPod and the iTunes Music Store.
I assume iPod usage has got to frustrate, maybe even irk, some of the folks over at the Windows Digital Media division. But I see more of an opportunity than a problem. In fact, I would argue that Microsoft would make even better products if more employees used other vendors’ goods. Microsoft developers and their hardware partners could learn lots from the iPodders and use that knowledge to improve PlaysForSure-logo products.
I’m not convinced dogfooding is as good for Microsoft as the concept seems. On the one hand, employees test the newest Microsoft products and shake them down, so to speak, before release to customers. But there’s a serious downside to the approach. Microsoft’s computing environment doesn’t reflect the majority of its customers’ infrastructure. According to JupiterResearch surveys, 52 percent of big businesses run mixed infrastructures. Even among all-Windows shops there is tremendous fragmentation; it’s not unusual for one company to run three, four or even five versions of Office or Windows. And I’ve got a couple questions: Is there any group of people at the company working in a Microsoft-free zone, say, with Linux and open-source products? Or are there other people running just Windows XP Starter Edition or Windows 98 to simulate what customers might use in emerging markets?
Besides dogfooding, Microsoft also provides employees deeply-discounted products at its company store. It’s a nice perk for sure, but, again, encourages a Microsoft-centric worldview.
I’ll be up on the Microsoft campus next week, where there will be opportunity to see for myself how many people use (or hide the use of) iPod. How many people really doesn’t matter. Individually, though, each iPodder is a challenge and opportunity. Because when a Windows Media Player and PlaysForSure music player combination starts converting these people–earlier adopters and buying influencers–Microsoft will finally be on the right path to dealing with iPod and iTunes.
Some advice to the Windows Digital Media group: I’d start interviewing Microsoft iPodders about why they chose the iPod over their own company’s and partner’s technologies. Then I would recruit some iPodders to test new devices with Windows Media Player 10. More importantly, show these employees the real, larger entertainment experience–the expanse beyond just music. When a Robert Scoble uses an iPod and SMT 5600 Smartphone–two devices with inherent incompatibilities–there is a fundamental problem with the Microsoft products, marketing messaging, or both. The people who work at Microsoft, regularly use its products but also have iPods could be a great resource for identifying shortcomings and fixing them.
And now might be a good time to encourage even more employees to use competing or complimentary products. Microsoft may generate lots of good ideas, but so do many other vendors.