Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

How IBM Out-foxed Intel With The Xbox 360

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the beat-them-to-the-punch dept.

xcaverx writes "Learning from failure is a hallmark of the technology business. Nick Baker, a 37-year-old system architect at Microsoft, knows that well. A British transplant at the software giant's Silicon Valley campus, he went from failed project to failed project in his career. He worked on such dogs as Apple Computer's defunct video card business, 3DO's failed game consoles, a chip startup that screwed up a deal with Nintendo, the never successful WebTV and Microsoft's canceled Ultimate TV satellite TV recorder. But Baker finally has a hot seller with the Xbox 360, Microsoft's video game console launched worldwide last holiday season."

4 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Why not? by the+computer+guy+nex · · Score: 0, Troll

    "successful X360 launch may be stretching it a bit neh?"

    The 360 still has the best games sold/console ratio in the history of games.

    Their production output has finally hit a point where they can start keeping up demand well before the rival PS3 will hit shelves.

    Xbox LIVE has been a monumental hit with more downloads/day than iTunes already.

    Hard to say it wasn't a success.

  2. You must know some stupid businessmen by FatSean · · Score: 0, Troll

    Or, you have the recent American Illness of demanding immediate returns with no thoughts toward long-term performance. I call it Stockholder Syndrome.

    Wait till the XBox 360 comes out and see what happens. I may be wrong, but I think they will turn a profit and get even more marketshare. Then the third iteration will put them even with Sony and Nintendo.

    Disclaimer: I own a Sega Dreamcast and a Nintendo GameCube.

    --
    Blar.
  3. Re:Thus just in... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    "How Intel outfoxed IBM with Apple"

    That was easy.

    Intel got Apple to become so much of a pain in the ass to work with for IBM that IBM finally decided that the company wasn't worth the less than four percent of their chip sales and gave Apple the finger over a mobile 970 design.

    Congrats Intel! IBM is really kicking themselves! Heh.

    Oh, wait you believe the damage control Steve Jobs spouted back at last years WWDC...

    I shouldn't be so mean, you probably are bitter because you just bought one of these wonderfully named MacBook Pros that are so 'cheap' and 'reliable'.

    Heh.

    But hey, at least those iPod sales are still going strong. Well except for their drop in half last quarter...

  4. The common thread... by caudron · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...in all your life's failures is you.

    Tom Caudron
    http://tom.digitalelite.com/

    --
    -Tom