Bill Gates's dream: A computer in every home
But this also has led me to think, what was Microsoft strategy when actually everyone would have a computer in their homes. Microsoft’s sole aim apparently was to provide basic to pro computing at personal level. But there does not seem an apparent strategy present for the period, when everyone has at least one computer in their home.
People now have enough computers laying around. They do not need computer any more. Or for that matter, they do not need an ordinary computer any more. The technical level of computer users generally has increased. Even my Dad now uses Youtube for uploading his personal videos. (in Pakistan, a 3rd World). This is just a simplest example to give an idea, how computer users worldwide have become tech-savvier.
And this is the sole point of post, Microsoft apparently did not have intelligent strategy for the tech-savvy PC era, or when computer users are no longer, just sending emails via Outlook, composing letters using Word, and preparing spreadsheets using Excel.
The above period is over. You can no longer sell your product based on above, there are millions of tools available even for free, (OpenOffice). Moreover, users simply do not want products that merely feature what they do. They want smart products, that assist them and are based on user-experience and as well as look neat. I know Microsoft is catching up, however in the same fashion they catched up with gmail after 10 years. (ref: new outlook.com, it took them 10 years to make it somewhat at part with Gmail.)
I won’t name the company which has filled above gap and went from $3 Billion to all the way to $500 Billion surpassing every and each one.