We're Microsoft, we know everything

No we don't.  But that doesn't stop people thinking we are the guys who control the Internet and can bend the IT time and space.  Always a pleasure to chat with Jason earlier today as I waited to do my presentation on Office futures.  It can be hard to present on the future of technology not just because we are talking about closely guarded secrets and its not because we can't plan, we do - no it's mainly just made harder because we don't actually own a frickin crystal ball.

Jason's story about the customer who lost it with him because he didn't have a 10 year plan for the future of the mobile industry amused me today.  As I said to him, you know its bad enough that anyone should get cross when we can't deliver beyond impossible, but maybe it's consoling to think that people's confidence in us is so high that intelligent execs believe we do know the future of the universe and are just being mean about sharing it.

My own anecdote was about when a precocious high school student guessed my alias (rather than search for it on the web) and started IM'ing me.  Now, being the affable chap I am (after my morning latte - don't try before) I do tend to happily chat to strangers who IM me out of the blue.  However, I do have work to do so after a few days the stalker behavior was getting slightly annoying.  So during yet another slightly banal convo I did some research.  An unusual surname of the stalker gave me where he lives, his school and his last terms results in maths and english.  Revealing this knowledge freaked out the stalker a bit, "how do you know that?" he says.  "Well, we're Microsoft, we know everything" I said.  No more was ever heard from him.. If only it was true :-)