Face value | The accidental innovator | Economist.com

Interesting Evan Williams profile

AT SOME point in the decade after he moved from the farm in Nebraska where he grew up to the innovation hub that is the San Francisco Bay Area, Evan Williams accidentally stumbled upon three insights. First, that genuinely new ideas are, well, accidentally stumbled upon rather than sought out; second, that new ideas are by definition hard to explain to others, because words can express only what is already known; and third, that good ideas seem obvious in retrospect. So, having already had two accidental successes—one called Blogger, the other Twitter—Mr Williams is now trying to make accidents a regular occurrence for his company, called Obvious.

Face value | The accidental innovator | Economist.com

Web Playgrounds of the Very Young - New York Times

Not thrilled to see this...

Second Life and other virtual worlds for grown-ups have enjoyed intense media attention in the last year but fallen far short of breathless expectations. The children’s versions are proving much more popular, to the dismay of some parents and child advocacy groups. Now the likes of the Walt Disney Company, which owns Club Penguin, are working at warp speed to pump out sister sites.

Web Playgrounds of the Very Young - New York Times

How to Lose Your Job on Your Own Time - New York Times

A timely reality check

In his day, the Ford Motor Company maintained a “Sociological Department” staffed with investigators who visited the homes of all but the highest-level managers. Their job was to dig for information about the employee’s religion, spending and savings patterns, drinking habits and how the worker “amused himself.”

Home inspections are no longer needed; many companies are using the Internet to snoop on their employees. If you fail to maintain amorphous “professional” standards of conduct in your free time, you could lose your job.

How to Lose Your Job on Your Own Time - New York Times

RIP: AOL kills Netscape (Computerworld)

Long overdue, imho

AOL LLC today pulled the plug on Netscape Navigator, the Web browser that once owned the lion's share of the market and that was the focus of a landmark federal antitrust case against Microsoft Corp.

In an announcement posted to AOL's blog for the browser, Tom Drapeau, the director of the company's Netscape brand, said the team is ending development and would cease issuing security updates as of Feb. 1, 2008.

"Given AOL's current business focus and the success the Mozilla Foundation has had in developing critically-acclaimed products, we feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape-branded browsers, hand the reigns [sic] fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox," Drapeau said.

RIP: AOL kills Netscape

FT.com / Home UK / UK - Festive rally in Apple share price sees it overtake Cisco

Timely reality check -- see the full article for details

A Christmas rally in Apple's share price made it the world's third most valuable new technology company, behind Microsoft and Google, sealing one of the most dramatic corporate turnrounds ever achieved.

The stock price surge has taken the maker of iPods and Macs past industry stalwarts such as IBM and Intel and was capped this week as Apple topped even Cisco, the networking equipment maker. With a market capitalisation of $174bn, up more than $100bn from a year ago, Apple is one of Wall Street's stand-out successes.

Yet while Apple's core business of digital music players and desktop computers remains robust, analysts warned that it faces a significant product transition to mobile handsets and a new generation of home digital media devices.

FT.com / Home UK / UK - Festive rally in Apple share price sees it overtake Cisco

Dozens of computer pioneer videos now online | Computerworld Blogs

Cool

Dozens of videos of recent speeches by pioneers of the computer industry are now on YouTube, thanks to the Computer History Museum, the Mountain View, Calif. organization announced this week.

Many of the CHM's videos already were on its own site, but they partnered with YouTube because of bandwidth issues. An important side effect is that YouTube can bring scores of new viewers who otherwise wouldn't seek out the CHM resources.

Dozens of computer pioneer videos now online | Computerworld Blogs

Dell’s All-in-One PC Has the Guts, Design To Compete With iMac | Walt Mossberg | Personal Technology | AllThingsD

This is probably the most positive Walt Mossberg review I've seen for a Windows machine.  See the full article for more details (and, of course, even stronger praise for Apple).

Something interesting is going on at Dell. The Texas personal-computer behemoth, long associated with boxy, boring machines, has started emphasizing industrial design. And the company, which in recent years seemed to care only about corporate customers, techies and hard-core gamers, appears once again interested in average, mainstream consumers who value simplicity.

The most tangible example of this new approach is Dell’s XPS One desktop — an elegant, handsome, cleverly designed one-piece computer. If it didn’t have the Dell logo on it, the XPS One might be mistaken for a product of the PC industry’s design leaders, Apple or Sony.

Dell’s All-in-One PC Has the Guts, Design To Compete With iMac | Walt Mossberg | Personal Technology | AllThingsD

FT.com / Companies / Telecoms - iPhone users raise network hopes

The 3G iPhone will make this an even rosier picture for service providers

Buyers of Apple’s iPhone have turned out to be voracious users of electronic mail and other data services, giving network operators hope that the much-hyped device will finally unlock billions of dollars in mobile advertising revenue.

After years of false dawns for operators, the use of mobile phones for web surfing is on the verge of becoming widespread in Europe and the US, and iPhone research by O2 shows the device is acting as an important catalyst for such activity.

FT.com / Companies / Telecoms - iPhone users raise network hopes

Britain's Queen Elizabeth goes global on YouTube | CNET News.com

Strange days indeed

Buckingham Palace on Sunday said the 81-year-old monarch will post her traditional Christmas Day message--normally broadcast on television--on the video-sharing Web site as well this year.

At the same time, a new Royal Channel has been unveiled on YouTube, allowing Web surfers to view the queen's first Christmas broadcast in 1957, as well as other archive footage of the royal family and its events.

The catalogue is at www.youtube.com/theroyalchannel.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth goes global on YouTube | CNET News.com

Quoted in the News? Post a Comment, Please - New York Times

Hmmm

Google News, an increasingly popular way to get news online, may tip that balance, however, with a feature it calls “Comments From People in the News.” The idea is simple: if you have been quoted in an article that appears on Google News, which presents links and summaries from 4,500 news sources, including the familiar big players, you can post a comment that will be paired with that article. (Journalists can comment, as well, Google says, though none have done so thus far.)

Quoted in the News? Post a Comment, Please - New York Times

Software pioneer is 'Johnny Appleseed' of start-ups - The Boston Globe

Timely Michael Stonebraker snapshot

Stonebraker is the tech world's equivalent of Tom Brady: an idea guy it seems silly to bet against. His first three companies, all started in the 1980s and 1990s while he was teaching computer science at Berkeley, were acquired by high-tech biggies Computer Associates, Informix, and PeopleSoft for as much as $400 million.

But lately, Stonebraker has been a bit of a bumblebee, flitting from one company to another. In 2003, he started a company called StreamBase Systems Inc., now based in Lexington. Two years later, while still serving as StreamBase's chief technologist, he cofounded Vertica. Both database companies attracted funding from the same two local venture capital firms, Bessemer Venture Partners and Highland Capital Partners. With 2007 almost done, the timing could be right for another start-up.

Software pioneer is 'Johnny Appleseed' of start-ups - The Boston Globe

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: I'm weighing an offer from Apple

Plausible...

So it's a complicated situation but I want to keep everyone in the loop. Bottom line is I've received an overture from the Mothership with a mention of a Think Secret type settlement if I'll stop impersonating Dear Leader on the Web. Nothing nailed down at this point but frankly, honestly, I'm tempted to just take it.

The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs: I'm weighing an offer from Apple

Business & Technology | Steve Jobs might unveil Slim Mac, mightier iPhone at Macworld | Seattle Times Newspaper

It's that time of year again -- top 10 lists and speculation about Macworld news...

Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs's annual Macworld surprise may be a slimmed-down laptop and a higher-capacity model of the iPhone.

Jobs traditionally uses next month's Macworld Expo to showcase new products. Last time, it was the iPhone and Apple TV; the year before, faster Macs with Intel chips.

Business & Technology | Steve Jobs might unveil Slim Mac, mightier iPhone at Macworld | Seattle Times Newspaper

DBMS2 — DataBase Management System Services»Blog Archive » IBM acquires SolidDB to compete with Oracle TimesTen

Some IBM/Solid perspectives from Curt Monash; see the full post for more

IBM is acquiring Solid Information Technology, makes of solidDB. Some quick comments:

• solidDB is actually a very interesting hybrid disk/in-memory memory-centric database management system. However, the press release announcing the deal makes it sound as if solidDB is in-memory only.
• That strongly suggests that IBM is buying Solid mainly to compete with Oracle TimesTen. As of last June, solidDB was already IBM’s TimesTen answer via a partnership; this deal just solidifies that arrangement.
• This probably isn’t good news for Solid’s MySQL engine. That’s a pity, since solidDB technically has the potential to be the best MySQL engine around.

DBMS2 — DataBase Management System Services»Blog Archive » IBM acquires SolidDB to compete with Oracle TimesTen

IBM buys database software firm Solid Information - Yahoo! News

More on IBM/Solid.  This is a subtly significant deal, in part because Solid's solidDB for MySQL product helped to fill a MySQL gap (the lack of a high-performance, row-level-locking, transaction-based MySQL storage subsystem) after Oracle acquired Innobase in October, 2005.  I'm surprised MySQL AB didn't acquire Solid; apparently many MySQL enterprise customers will now be dependent on IBM and/or Oracle.

International Business Machines (IBM.N) Corp said on Friday it has agreed to buy in-memory database software provider Solid Information Technology from private owners for an undisclosed sum.

Solid's largest owners were private equity firms Apax Partners (APAX.UL) and CapMan (CPMBV.HE).

Solid is expected to have 2007 sales of around $14.4 million, Vesa Wallden, a member of Solid board told Reuters.

IBM buys database software firm Solid Information - Yahoo! News

Microsoft Signs Open-Source Deal - New York Times

This is an important milestone for the open source community

"We are pleased that the Protocol Freedom Information Foundation has chosen to take a (license) ... which will provide Samba with access to our specifications for the Windows protocols...," Microsoft said in a statement.

The foundation paid Microsoft 10,000 euros and will get the documentation it needs for all workgroup server protocols. Samba must keep the information secret, but it can and will reveal source codes to carry out the protocols.

Microsoft Signs Open-Source Deal - New York Times

F.T.C. Approves DoubleClick Deal - New York Times

I wonder how many lawyers Google employs these days...

Although Google, the leading Internet search portal, and DoubleClick, which connects advertisers to advertising opportunities on the Web, have been waiting for the better part of the year for an antitrust decision from the F.T.C., their uncertainty is not over yet. The merger could still be held up in Europe, where personal privacy has more legal protections than in the United States and where regulators do not always follow the F.T.C.’s lead on antitrust cases.

The European Commission said it would decide by April 2 whether the Google-DoubleClick deal should go through. Last month, the commission extended its scrutiny after an initial review raised competition concerns.

F.T.C. Approves DoubleClick Deal - New York Times

RIM Doubles Profit, Revenue - WSJ.com

More depressing news for Palm...

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd., showing its popular device is moving beyond purely business customers, reported strong third-quarter earnings fueled by rapid consumer growth during the lead-up to the holiday season.

The Waterloo, Ontario, equipment maker and wireless email provider said net income surged to $370.5 million, or 65 cents a share, from $175.2 million, or 31 cents a share, in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue doubled to $1.67 billion.

RIM Doubles Profit, Revenue - WSJ.com

Solid Information Technology - Home Page

The Wall Street Journal reports Solid was just acquired by IBM (terms not disclosed)

Solid Information Technology is the leading provider of fast, always-on and affordable database solutions. Solid serves both Embedded customers and Enterprise end-users with a combination of open source and proprietary database products.

There are more than 3,000,000 deployments of Solid's database technology worldwide in telecommunications networks, enterprise applications, and embedded software and systems. Market leaders such as Alcatel, Cisco, EMC2, HP, Nokia and Siemens rely on Solid for their mission-critical applications.

Solid Information Technology - Home Page

NetSuite affirms attraction of IPOs - The Boston Globe

Yeah, that was probably a pretty stressful morning...  It'll be fascinating to see how N closes today.

When trading began yesterday, it looked as if the IPO investors had buyer's remorse. The stock fell as low as $23.86 before rebounding strongly to finish at $35.50, up $9.50, or 36.5 percent.

That left NetSuite with a market value of $2.1 billion.

"This has been a surreal experience," Zachary Nelson, NetSuite's chief executive, said shortly after ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Nelson's 3.4 percent stake in NetSuite is now worth $73 million.

[...]

Ellison's NetSuite holdings are now worth $1.15 billion, enlarging his estimated $26 billion fortune before the IPO.

NetSuite affirms attraction of IPOs - The Boston Globe

Thinksecret.com to be shut down as part of Apple deal - The Boston Globe

Interesting times

Computer maker Apple Inc. and a Harvard undergraduate who published confidential Apple information on his Internet site have settled a three-year legal dispute that made international headlines.

[...]

Terms of the settlement were confidential. But two key points were made public - Ciarelli did not reveal the sources for his controversial stories, but he did agree to shut down the website.

Thinksecret.com to be shut down as part of Apple deal - The Boston Globe

NetSuite rallies 36% after shaky start - MarketWatch

Apparently the irrationally exuberant investment community works mostly in the afternoon...

NetSuite (N 35.50, +9.50, +36.5%) shares dipped into negative territory as trading began, then gained more than 3% after a few minutes before staggering back into the red. But the stock bounced back early afternoon, rising more than 36% to more than $35.50 a share.

This came after the company got a substantial bump in the price of its initial public offering. The deal was priced late Wednesday at $26 per share following a Dutch auction that originally was pushing the deal at a price range of $13 to $16 before NetSuite twice raised the price range in the days before the offering.

NetSuite rallies 36% after shaky start - MarketWatch

Business Technology : Can Larry Ellison Keep it Up?

Larry Ellison is having a pretty good week (the Boston Globe article referenced in the next post also notes, for example, that "Having bankrolled NetSuite in its early days, Ellison owns a 54.5 percent stake, worth $844 million").

Oracle recorded $5.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter of its fiscal 2008, up 28% from the $4.2 billion it made in the same quarter last year. Net income rose 35% to $1.3 billion from $967 million the year-ago quarter. There don’t seem to be any obvious signs of weakness: New software licenses, a key metric for the company, grew 38% to $1.67 billion, and U.S. sales were strong despite gloom and doom tech-spending forecasts – although those forecasts may be more of a warning sign for future quarters. Oracle’s stock was up almost 5% in after-hours trading.

Business Technology : Can Larry Ellison Keep it Up?

NetSuite prices IPO at $26 share, raising $161m - The Boston Globe

IPO 2.0...

NetSuite Inc. priced its initial public offering at $26 per share yesterday, raising $161 million for its online business software service.

The IPO proved more lucrative than the San Mateo, Calif.-based company anticipated, reflecting the hopes riding on NetSuite despite a nine-year history of losses, which total nearly $242 million.

[...]

Propelled by the strong demand for shares, NetSuite now has a market value of $1.5 billion.

NetSuite prices IPO at $26 share, raising $161m - The Boston Globe

First Look: Office Live Workspace offers collaboration with a side of confusion [ComputerWorld]

Useful snapshot of Office Live Workspace

Microsoft Corp.'s Office Live Workspace, just released into beta, makes it easy for small businesses, workgroups and organizations to collaborate online and share documents. Even individuals who want to track projects and access documents from more than one PC will find it useful. It's a surprisingly sophisticated service, and although there remain rough edges and puzzling oversights (which may or may not be addressed in the commercial release), it's a very impressive piece of work, especially considering its price tag -- free for the moment.

First Look: Office Live Workspace offers collaboration with a side of confusion

Microsoft in 2008: 10 Predictions | ZDNet Photo Gallery

Here's an outlier via Mary Jo Foley 

Bruce Chizen, Adobe's CEO who abruptly resigned in 2007, has been mum on his future plans. But sources say Chizen is going to join Microsoft to run the Expression team in the new year. As Microsoft watchers know, Adobe and Microsoft are competing head-to-head in the design-tool space. If the sources are right (and there are no non-competes in the way), Chizen may have a new roost to rule soon.

For some insights on how Mary Jo Foley and other very successful bloggers work, check out Blogging Heroes: Interviews with 30 of the World's Top Bloggers

Microsoft in 2008: 10 Predictions | ZDNet Photo Gallery

Why Nobody Likes a Smart Machine - New York Times

A timely reality check -- read the full article and consider reading Norman's new book 

So the bad news is that despite two decades of lectures from Dr. Norman on the virtue of “user-centered” design and the danger of a disease called “featuritis,” people will still be cursing at their gifts this Christmas.

And the worse news is that the gadgets of Christmas future will be even harder to command, because we and our machines are about to go through a rocky transition as the machines get smarter and take over more tasks. As Dr. Norman says in his new book, “The Design of Future Things,” what we’ll have here is a failure to communicate.

Why Nobody Likes a Smart Machine - New York Times

Glitches Bug Google's Android Software - WSJ.com

Unusual to see this sort of article in the Wall Street Journal...

"Functionality is not there, is poorly documented or just doesn't work. It's clearly not ready for prime time," said Mr. MacBeth, who earlier this year helped found mobile software start-up MergeLab.

Complaints about new software aren't unusual, but a sizable number of developers -- the very people Google hopes will add the bells and whistles to its mobile-phone software -- are complaining that the tool kit is plagued by coding errors. Google, they said, has been largely unresponsive.

Glitches Bug Google's Android Software - WSJ.com

At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star - New York Times

This is so cool...

Walter H. G. Lewin, 71, a physics professor, has long had a cult following at M.I.T. And he has now emerged as an international Internet guru, thanks to the global classroom the institute created to spread knowledge through cyberspace.

Professor Lewin’s videotaped physics lectures, free online on the OpenCourseWare of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have won him devotees across the country and beyond who stuff his e-mail in-box with praise.

At 71, Physics Professor Is a Web Star - New York Times

Platformonomics - OpenSocial: Reality Sets In

Missed this one last week -- Charles Fitzgerald's anticipatory obituary for OpenSocial; see the full post for details

A little over a month ago OpenSocial was hailed as "checkmate" and mesmerized the blogosphere.  Now, the chorus of Kumbaya has been replaced by the cacophony of competition.  As I argued earlier, OpenSocial was a game plan we've seen before, just not a particularly successful one.

Platformonomics - OpenSocial: Reality Sets In

The Depth of eBay’s Problems 1: Disappointed Buyers - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

Stark reality check for eBay; also see  The Depths of eBay's Problems 2: Angry Sellers

I wrote a post Friday with the thought that Amazon should buy eBay, and readers nearly revolted at the idea. The outpouring of rage at eBay was of the sort we don’t see here for anything other than cellphone companies. The company is clearly getting hit by both buyers and sellers. I’ll write a post shortly on the frustrations of merchants on eBay.(UPDATE: That post is here.) Below is a sampling of the complaints from Bits readers.

The Depth of eBay’s Problems 1: Disappointed Buyers - Bits - Technology - New York Times Blog

World of Confusion - O'Reilly XML Blog

A timely reality check -- see the full post 

As the anti-OOXML mob’s technical and editorial objections evaporate, and consequently as the reasonable people increasingly see that ISO is delivering a good result for them and jump ship, the rabid anti-OOXML misinformation campaign is ramping up. The basic strategy is to say that things are so bad that no improvement is possible, and indeed that any improvement is complicity.

But it is quite possible for the different sides to engage civilly and constructively.

My ODF/Open XML/etc. overview will be out by mid-January, BTW

World of Confusion - O'Reilly XML Blog

Google Aims to Be the Platform For Businesses [eWeek]

Quite a contrast to a recent Google Apps rant from FSJ

What are your goals for Google's Apps for the enterprise for 2008?

[Dave Girouard: Vice President and General Manager of Google's Enterprise business:] We're getting amazingly fast traction with small businesses, and now we're starting to see bigger businesses more. We definitely have some large businesses that are evaluating or piloting Google Apps. They like the vision that you ought to have some different types of solutions out there like Google as alternatives to IBM or Microsoft.

Any of the big guys, like Accenture or IBM Global Services, they all look at SAAS and it doesn't quite fit their model. They're used to saying, 'SAP installation, send in the school buses and we'll put people on site for a year.' SAAS is different, it's easier. What I would hope and expect in the coming months is that you're going to see big companies coming out and saying 'we're using Apps and we're using them to scale.

Google Aims to Be the Platform For Businesses

Palm: A Fall From Grace, But What's Really Going On Here? - Tech Check with Jim Goldman - CNBC.com

Sad...

Talk about a fall from grace: this is the company that virtually invented the smart wireless device, and today, courtesy of siliconalleyinsider, a shocking realization that the company's stock is worth less than its balance sheet.

The blog says that Palm's current market cap of $573 million is woefully short of its $369 million in cash and $259 million in short-term investments.

Palm: A Fall From Grace, But What's Really Going On Here? - Tech Check with Jim Goldman - CNBC.com

Adobe 4th Quarter Profit Climbs 21 Pct. - New York Times

Impressive numbers

The maker of popular consumer and corporate software such as Photoshop and Acrobat reported Monday that its fourth-quarter profit climbed 21 percent, beating Wall Street expectations.

Executives credited record revenue, from Adobe's biggest-ever software launch. Net income for the three months that ended Nov. 30 was $222.2 million, or 38 cents a share, compared with $183.2 million, or 30 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales were a record $911.2 million, up 34 percent and easily exceeding the company's own estimates of $860 million to $890 million.

Adobe 4th Quarter Profit Climbs 21 Pct. - New York Times

Going Public Caps Dream for a Maker of Software - New York Times

PR gold stars to both NetSuite and Oracle for this piece... 

If the initial public offering for NetSuite shares goes as planned later this week, Evan Goldberg will have come a long way from the overcrowded Silicon Valley apartment that served as the company’s first office nearly 10 years ago.

Going Public Caps Dream for a Maker of Software - New York Times

Pattern Finder: The Quotes That Didn't Make the NYT Article on Google vs. Microsoft

Some insights from my Burton Group colleague Guy Creese (see his post for details)

The New York Times just published an article by Steve Lohr and Miguel Helft on Google vs. Microsoft entitled, "Google Gets Ready to Rumble with Microsoft." While I was quoted in it--"A recent report by the Burton Group, a technology research firm, concluded that it was 'unclear at this point whether Google will be able to capitalize on the trends that it’s accelerating.'”--there were a number of my quotes left on the cutting room floor. So I thought I'd add them back in via my blog.

Pattern Finder: The Quotes That Didn't Make the NYT Article on Google vs. Microsoft

Business & Technology | Companies listen online, tap into marketing opportunities | Seattle Times Newspaper

Don't worry; it's only people who are trying to determine which (explicit or implicit) ads to put in front of you, in order to sell you stuff...

You may never hear a word from a conversation analyst, but there's a very good chance one is paying close attention to what you're saying on blogs, in Web forums or in product reviews on sites that sell books or blenders.

Somewhere, someone is reading and analyzing your words.

Business & Technology | Companies listen online, tap into marketing opportunities | Seattle Times Newspaper

Auctioneers ask for double Kindle's retail price | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Speaking of supply & demand dynamics as measured by eBay...

Auctioneers at eBay were asking for more than double the retail price of Amazon's Kindle e-Reader on Friday.

A check of eBay at 2:45 p.m. PST showed prices for the e-Book reader went as high as $930. TechCrunch reported that a Kindle, which retails for $399, was bid up to $1,500 earlier in the week

Auctioneers ask for double Kindle's retail price | Tech news blog - CNET News.com

Technology Review: GameStop to sell Nintendo Wii rain checks before Christmas as shortage persists

Small comfort to kids looking for an Xmas Wii.  I wonder what the average price of a Wii rain check will be, on eBay...

''We expect this to be a great way for consumers who desperately want a Wii to have something to put under the tree,'' Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said Friday.

The rain checks will be available at the regular Wii system price, $249.99, on Dec. 20 and 21, and will entitle buyers to get the Nintendo console before Jan. 29. Fils-Aime said ''many tens of thousands of rain checks'' would be available.

Technology Review: GameStop to sell Nintendo Wii rain checks before Christmas as shortage persists

More Americans Googling others, selves, poll says - The Boston Globe

See the full article for more Pew stats

More Americans are Googling themselves - and many are checking out their friends, co-workers, and romantic interests, too.

In a report yesterday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said 47 percent of US adult Internet users have looked for information about themselves through Google or another search engine. That is more than twice the 22 percent of users who did in 2002, but Pew senior research specialist Mary Madden was surprised the growth wasn't higher.

More Americans Googling others, selves, poll says - The Boston Globe

Faster Chips Are Leaving Programmers in Their Dust - New York Times

A timely reality check; read the full article 

Although the Microsoft effort was started about five years ago by Craig Mundie, one of the company’s three chief technical officers, it picked up speed recently with the hiring of a number of experts from the supercomputing industry and academia.

Mr. Mundie himself is a veteran of previous efforts in the supercomputer industry during the 1980s and 1990s to make breakthroughs in parallel computing. “I’m happy that by hiring a bunch of old hands, who have been through these wars for 10 or 20 years, we at least have a nucleus of people who kind of know what’s possible and what isn’t,” he said.

Faster Chips Are Leaving Programmers in Their Dust - New York Times