Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Microsoft's marriage to surface computing: Risking redundancy?

U.S. Patent No. 7,479,950 was awarded to Microsoft for a application which tracks position of gadgets and applications on the screen of a computer.

Incidentally, this patent was Microsoft's 10000th. So far, so good. However, it increasingly begins to look like Microsoft is obtaining and getting patents in a territories which will not find much takers. Surface computing. With the trend moving to the clouds, OSs diminishing, Browsers and web apps getting more potent , Microsoft is increasingly finding its users vacating their seats. Even if nothing, the browsers are migrating to "available for free" instead of a Microsoft License. The Web 2.0 with its freetardonomics principles is something that Microsoft will have to figure out!

So long for Patents!

Interestingly, earlier patents were used a legal aids with which a corporation would defend its turf. Lately however, the trend has changed and Patents are being used as bridges to collaborate with others in developmental stages of new products/technologies! Microsoft has been at this. However, the cloud and the web 2.0 seem to make the software gaint redundant faster than Microsoft would like it!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I am confident that Microsoft surface will redefine the collaborative way of working ...think of possibilities of me and you sitting and working on a design or powerpoint where we have the flexibility to move data and objects across the 30 inch tabletop...