Steve Ballmer has overstayed his welcome. By two decades.

Taste.
You don’t hear that word much when people talk about Microsoft. Yet, it’s painfully clear that lack of taste is the reason WHY things are not working out for Microsoft and the person at its top, Steve Ballmer.

In case you missed the great article in Vanity Far (How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo) from earlier this year about Steve and Microsoft’s challenges, this summary from yesterday should bring you up to date: Steve Ballmer’s Nightmare Is Coming True.

As Paul Graham notes, saying that taste is just personal preference is not true.
Before him, Steve Jobs was even more direct: The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste.

My 2¢:

Are you really surprised that Microsoft is slipping so badly?
To me, it’s really simple: People ignore designs that ignore people.
And this is especially true for those born after 1980.

There’s no easy way to chase ugliness away.
You can only hope to do it through a series of purposeful choices and a great deal of effort.
And you must give it your all. Now. Tomorrow. Forever.

Dec 4, 2012

P.S.
Like many of you, as a Mac user I still get offers from Microsoft to ‘come back.’
Here’s one I just received, which prompted me to write the above story:

“Which version is for you: family, student or professional?” In a word: archaic.