June 28 at 1:52 pm
- Link
"As an ex-MSFT employee ('91-97), I'm pretty biased, but I'm sooooo tired of that old canard that says Microsoft never innovates. It's such lazy journalism, and even lazier blogging and "digg"-ing. Does Microsoft build on the innovations of others? You bet. Does Apple? You bet. Does Linux? You bet. Here's a small list of innovations that no one seems to give Microsoft any credit for, but should: 1) XmlHttpRequest(): Without it, Web 2.0 wouldn't have AJAX, the ability to asynchronously send messages from a browser to a server and have them render without a postback. It's what gives Web 2.0 sites their fluid feel. Inventor: Microsoft, and it made its first appearance in 1995. 2) XBox Live: The very first high-speed gaming network for consoles. Tremendously innovative, with real-time voice chat, and now a full-blown marketplace that in some respects is even more innovative than the impressive iTunes/iPod combo. (Fair disclosure -- I ran the first Internet gaming group at Microsoft from..." - Steve Murch