Microsoft is the General Motors of the IT world.
They gobbled up their competition for years and are now so bloated that they can't respond to the market quickly enough.
They do everything, but they are the best at nothing.
Between RIM, Apple, Open Source, Google and who knows what will come up in the near future MS is on the ropes. Not yet down for the count, but definately on the ropes.

rexplex

Poor Microsoft. They used to be the big bully on the playground that could force those naughty little hardware vendors to do whatever they want. Now, they are the pathetic overweight kid in the corner that everyone makes fun of. I never thought I could feel sorry for a bully, but I feel kind of sad for them.

Oh well. Back to browsing the web on my BlackBerry.

Monty

Aha. I see from the picture that Blackberry is going to give a right coronary artery catheterization to Microsoft. Which means you are saying Microsoft has heart disease? Well if you look at Ballmer, he's a guy I'd definitely recommend start taking a baby aspirin a day.

scarbrtj

Ironically, this might actually be more than what Microsoft itself is doing for poor old Hotmail.

werk

It's still called the bold.

Darrone

Hotmail? Who uses Hotmail? What Blackberry serious Blackberry user would use Hotmail? Is RIM aiming the "Bold" towards 16 year old girls?

Just some thoughts...

TC2COOL

this would be good for me.

maybe I'm the only one...

...the world's largest web-based email service handles 100 million emails each day, for 230 million active users worldwide2.

poor Microsft.

flyboy

@OMG! Ponies!: Not falling behind is just another way of not being ahead. Lead, follow or die in the tech market.

DaOtter

since no-one said it. . . this is so_ehem . . . HOT!

OG512

Hotmail works with the BIS right now. I'm not seeing what the big deal here is??

stopsucking

millions of people use hotmailbecause they are not computer literate enough to know better choices are available, and the trojan horse in the MSN messenger, that while most nerds think it's obsolete, regular people still find it amazing how IM is like that in person... I like pidgin but everyone around me uses messenger, and rarely do I find someone using firefox, no matter how slow it is. I fix a girlfriend's pc and she had 8 toolbars on it, almost taking half the screen, and she was ok with it...

VakeroRokero

@TC2COOL: I swore off Hotmail when my inbox was filled everyday with 20 messages that were clearly spam. If MS couldn't bother to either use filters or keep filters up to date, I can't be bothered to use Hotmail.

This is a problem endemic to all industry - the resting on one's own laurels. In the tech industry, AOL/Netscape managed to kill its own megabrand to the point that people chose 4.7 over versions 6 and 7. Real could have had a lock on internet audio but decided to stick with trying to con its customers. Yahoo saw Google coming and didn't do anything about it. Palm kept shipping stale PDAs. And every computer manufacturer except Apple kept shipping beige boxes. Sony let its portable audio division rot while Creative and Apple ate its lunch.

Microsoft has by its size happened to have more instances of allowing itself to become irrelevant - including pulling a Netscape by not doing anything with IE while Firefox gained massive footholds.

It's not just about innovation. It's about adaptation. It's about staying hungry.

OMG! Ponies!

@TC2COOL:
@VakeroRokero:
Actually I use hotmail for my trashmail accounts. If I have to register with a site, business, forum...but don't want to deal with them on a daily basis I simply give them the trashmail ... er hotmail .... version of my email address.

DCGaymer

i think that heart is signifying a coronary for someone!

OG512

@rexplex:

One of the most succinct summaries of MS I've read in a while. Nice, rexplex. I'm gonna use that in my myriad conversations with Softies.

keerock

@stopsucking: I've had my various hotmail accounts on my blackberry for a long time. I think the only reason I could do it is because my accounts were really old (like 1997 old). I also think the age has something to do with why I can get email via Outlook Express & Entourage, too. Apparently new accounts don't support email clients.

nobodygrrl

@Darrone: It should now be called the Bald - after Ballmer.

flyboy

@nobodygrrl:

my Hotmail is old too - one of the few things still working from the web over the years. Geocities anyone? Compuserve?

I don't get the Spam either and the 100GB is OK.

It doesn't sync as well with my Pearl - but heck its not that bad.

flyboy

i still have my hot mail. in fact it's my primary email along with my .edu email. I found the new yahoo interface to be too slow and unresponsive, google mail is my trash email.

dhlt25