New "Internet services" era could be significantly disruptive for Microsoft
From 11/9/2005 New York Times:
In separate memos distributed internally to senior executives on Oct. 30, Microsoft's chairman, Bill Gates, and a chief technology officer, Ray Ozzie, warned that the new "Internet services" era could be significantly disruptive for the company.
Yeah, and the world of information technology in general...
Edit (11/9/05): for a good look at this memo, see this Web 2.0 Explorer entry. Here's an excerpt from Ray Ozzie's memo:
"It is now 2005, and the environment has changed yet again – this time around services. Computing and communications technologies have dramatically and progressively improved to enable the viability of a services-based model. The ubiquity of broadband and wireless networking has changed the nature of how people interact, and they’re increasingly drawn toward the simplicity of services and service-enabled software that ‘just works’. Businesses are increasingly considering what services-based economics of scale might do to help them reduce infrastructure costs or deploy solutions as-needed and on subscription basis."