The reason why this is happening is because most business software designed by engineers for engineers ends up being shelfware. One of the main ideas behind modern Business Intelligence software is that the most sophisticated pattern recognition engine lies between our ears. Give the user a well designed visualization of their data and they'll see the pattern. Give them grids and tables and they'll shrug.
If Microsoft ever gets their heads out of their (lawyers') asses they will do the smart thing that Apple and Sun did: Give away all development tools for free. That's the only way that the Windows platform will survive the onslaught. What kernel do computer science students study in school today? Clue: Not Windows. What compiler and tool chain do most college students learn C with? Clue: Not Microsoft's. Which OS gives the community the most ability to customize for the Long Tail? Clue: Not Windows.
As a recent transplant from the planes to Silicon Valley, and having already been involved with 2 startups (and about to join #3), I'd like to point out one minor detail:
Silicon Valley has a culture that tolerates failure.
It is OK to fail here. It is not OK to fail in Japan, China, Russia or anywhere else.
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The reason why this is happening is because most business software designed by engineers for engineers ends up being shelfware. One of the main ideas behind modern Business Intelligence software is that the most sophisticated pattern recognition engine lies between our ears. Give the user a well designed visualization of their data and they'll see the pattern. Give them grids and tables and they'll shrug.
If Microsoft ever gets their heads out of their (lawyers') asses they will do the smart thing that Apple and Sun did: Give away all development tools for free. That's the only way that the Windows platform will survive the onslaught. What kernel do computer science students study in school today? Clue: Not Windows. What compiler and tool chain do most college students learn C with? Clue: Not Microsoft's. Which OS gives the community the most ability to customize for the Long Tail? Clue: Not Windows.
Silicon Valley has a culture that tolerates failure.
It is OK to fail here. It is not OK to fail in Japan, China, Russia or anywhere else.