The era of 2006 to 2010 was a prolific and arguably bizarre time for Microsoft. As the iPhone emerged as a new platform alongside Android, and the iPod reached worldwide dominance, Microsoft was struggling to find the right recipe to capture a newfound explosion in the consumer device market.
For years Microsoft had focused their energies on RIM Blackberry, Palm Treo and other “business power user” platforms, but they now saw a much larger and impactful market in the consumer space, and frankly were caught flat footed. Join us as we dig in deep into that era, specifically the Zune and KIN platforms and devices – with a review of gear from the Mobile Phone Museum and an extended interview with J Allard, the “godfather” of the Xbox and the driving force behind the Zune and KIN efforts.
He discusses his origin story as the writer of a pivotal memo in the early 1900s that sounded the alarm to Bill Gates and others about the impending Internet wave, championed the Xbox and Xbox Live community platforms, and then brought that hardware, software and services community philosophy to the music and communication space with Zune and KIN. We will also play never before seen videos from the KIN effort and discuss the important and challenging role of intrapreneurs and “corporate heretics.” The epic saga continues!
Discover more from Rob Tiffany
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
