Exit Interview with Scoble 97
capt turnpike writes "It's no secret that Windows technology evangelist Robert Scoble (of Scobelizer blogging fame) is leaving Microsoft for a startup, but Microsoft Watch's Mary Jo Foley has the first exit interview with Scoble. Topics range from what Microsoft could have done to keep him spreading the word and building out MS's Channel 9 community site, where he sees MS going and more. From the article: 'There were times when I knew I was taking risks. I didn't know what would happen when I told Steve Ballmer that his leadership on the gay rights bill wasn't good.'"
That's easy.... (Score:5, Funny)
Not what I expected (Score:2)
Re:That's easy.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Article text (Score:2, Informative)
By Mary Jo Foley
Microsoft tech evangelist and alpha blogger Robert Scoble talks about everything from his tensest moments at Microsoft, to what Microsoft could have done to keep him, as he prepares to leave the Redmond software maker and join startup PodTech.Net.
The Scobleizer hasn't yet left the building. But he will be doing so soon.
On June 10, word began to leak across the blogosphere that Robert Scoble, Windows technology evangelist and well-known Microsoft blogger, had decided
This is all the evidence that Darl McBride needs.. (Score:5, Funny)
ROBert SCOble
Darl has already seen straight through that obviously made up Microsoft project name.
Re:This is all the evidence that Darl McBride need (Score:1)
So in other words (Score:2, Insightful)
So in other words, this guy is rich and he can afford to work on a startup and that work is probably more exciting the working for Microsoft.
Re:So in other words (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:So in other words (Score:5, Insightful)
I detect negative connotations there, but why? What's wrong with taking a job that's fun over one that's safe but boring?
Re:So in other words (Score:5, Funny)
Re:So in other words (Score:1)
Re:So in other words (Score:2)
and evil?
Re:So in other words (Score:2)
Should I start my own business? Should I feed the poor? Should I start a non profit? Should I donate time to a worthy cause?
Naah. Screw that. I will be a paid shill for the richest man in the world!
Re:So in other words (Score:3, Insightful)
And what's wrong with that? After all, if it hadn't been for some "rich guy's experiment" we wouldn't have had Ubuntu Linux. Fact is, if you're independently wealthy, you have a lot more time (because time == money) to sit around and try stuff, even when there's not a huge chance of financial success.
Re:So in other words (Score:4, Insightful)
So was DOS, most pre-1996 PC video games like Wolfenstein 3D and SimCity, and lots of other successful software (let alone everything outside of the software domain that was originally an "experiment").
Not being rich doesn't mean you can't experiment; it just means you have to figure out how to experiment with someone else's money, or carry out your experiment over a longer time. Both of which can lead to getting rich.
Re:So in other words (Score:1)
What? Can't blame me for trying...
Re:So in other words (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:So in other words (Score:5, Insightful)
The main problem I had with him was that he put a kinder face on Microsoft than it deserved. He was a shill, knowingly or not. What he will be doing next is a lot more honest, whether it succeeds or not. I personally think that blogging, including the audio and video forms has peaked (thank God!) but I'm sure there is still money to be had from it if you have the right product.
Re:So in other words (Score:3, Insightful)
Why would I believe a regular Slashdot poster about what kind of company Microsoft is over someone who 1) interviewed many high and mid level managers 2) had a job that involved walking the halls of Microsoft to try and figure out what was going on 3) challenged his audience daily with his findings 4) thought daily about techonology and Microsoft's role in it's future 4) publicly spo
Re:So in other words (Score:1)
In Soviet Russia... (Score:3, Insightful)
1) interviewed many high high and middle level party officials
2) had a job involving walking the halls of various official institutions to try to figure out what was going on
3) challenged their audience daily with their findings
4) thought daily about politics and the Soviet Union's role in the future
5) publically spoke out against (mild and pre-approved) var
Re:In Soviet Russia... (Score:2)
As opposed to... ? (Score:2)
Did you even bother checking that I'm actually fairly pro-MS before writing that idiocy? Nah, you just assumed that anyone who even dares be skeptical about one particular PR voice _must_ be some sworn
Re:As opposed to... ? (Score:2)
I don't have any obligation to research your opinions other than the one I'm responding to. Each post has to stand on it's own.
You accused somebody of lying or being a shill without any evidence to back it up. Then you prattle on and on about Soviet Russia as if this proves something.
If I'm wrong about you being anti-MS than I'm sorry, but when I saw that you felt the need to call somebody a liar just because they said
Re:As opposed to... ? (Score:2)
This has nothing to do with whether I like or dislike MS, or with whether I aggree or not with his views. It is strictly about exercising some healthy skepticism when your source of information isn't an independent unbiased source. That's all.
Yes, it's pretty stupid to assume that he must be lying, but here's the catch: it's equally stupid to assume that he must be saying the untainted truth just because he seems cool, hip, intelligent and inde
Arrg! (Score:2)
Re:As opposed to... ? (Score:2)
He was busy running away, his tail between his legs.
good post.
Regards.
Re:As opposed to... ? (Score:2)
No. Every post must stand on its own.
You accused someone of being a liar or a shill without a shred of evidence simply because you disagreed with what they said. That sounds like zealot behavior to me.
If you disagree with him, fine. Can't he just be mistaken then? Why does he have to be a liar or a shill?
Apology (Score:2)
Re:As opposed to... ? (Score:1)
Scoble was paid to evangelise Microsoft Windows Technology. He was open about it, so he's not a shill, and he may have been honest, so he's not a liar. But he's still not a trustworthy source, because "Scoble was paid to evangelise Microsoft Windows Technology". People working in PR are mainly honest, but I still don't trust what they say, because they're being paid to say it.
Re:So in other words (Score:1)
One who absolutely believes in something, and will stop at nothing to spread the Good News. Sorry, I don't go to the Pope for impartial news on Catholicism, and I don't go to the White House Press Secretary for impartial news on the Bush Administration. Why should I go to an self-described "Microsoft Evangelist" for impartial news on Microsoft.
Normally, of course, evangelists aren't swayed solely by the big paycheck but by a core belief an
Do you know what 'shill' means? (Score:5, Insightful)
As far as I can tell, Scoble did no misleading. He made no attempts to hide the fact that he worked for MS, and he did nothing that made his blogs or videos appear untrustworthy. For example, it is painfully obvious that his videos have no PR person directing them or even editing them. He just walked into peoples' offices with a video camera, hit REC, and started talking.
He may have put a human face on MS by letting us all see inside the belly of the beast, but I don't understand what's wrong with that. What's wrong with giving some insight into how things work and why certain decisions were made? Transparency is supposed to be one of the great things about Open Source, so what's wrong when it applies to MS?
dom
Nice to see (Score:1)
Re:Nice to see (Score:1)
I think that he's smart enough not to burn bridges.
Re:Nice to see (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Nice to see (Score:2)
Re:Gay Rights? (Score:3, Funny)
SlashKoz - News for liberals, tempests in teapots.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Gay Rights? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not really... (Score:2)
Re:Gay Rights? (Score:1)
Re:Gay Rights? (Score:2)
Re:Gay Rights? (Score:1)
read it carefully (Score:4, Funny)
Wow, it takes on a whole new meaning when you add some punctuation and capitalize Bill:
I didn't know what would happen when I told Steve Ballmer that his leadership on the gay rights: Bill, wasn't good.'
To those confused. (Score:1)
Should actually read something like:
"Topics range from what Microsoft could have done to keep him, to spreading the word.."
It takes on another meaning without the punctuation. At first I thought they were trying to suppress him from spreading the word about the channel 9 site or something. editors?
Re:To those confused. (Score:1)
I think the punctuation was entirely intention, and correct. Scoble's position at Microsoft was largely "spreading the word" aka evangelizing. One topic, phrased as an extent of the set, was what Microsoft could have done to keep him doing this -- What Microsoft could have done to keep him spreading the w
Scoble Who? (Score:5, Insightful)
Isn't this guy only famous because he was hired by Microsoft to blog?
Now he is just a nobody again, right?
Re:Scoble Who? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Scoble Who? (Score:1)
From "Corporate Brown-Nosing for Dummies" comes.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Another surprise? That every bad decision that I thought was bad had a logical explanation behind it. I didn't always agree with the decisions but there was always a decent thought process behind every decision and, most of the time, after hearing the circumstances behind a decision I usually came to the same conclusion that they did. It's not easy building software that hundreds of millions of people use.
Someone put too much XAML in his Cool-Aid...
Re:From "Corporate Brown-Nosing for Dummies" comes (Score:1)
Re:From "Corporate Brown-Nosing for Dummies" comes (Score:1)
Re:From "Corporate Brown-Nosing for Dummies" comes (Score:2)
That's pretty much what I thought when I read the article.
Every business decision has a reason. Always. The reason might not be obvious for someone outside the company, but it exists.
Sometimes, the reason is not even clear to the people inside the company. That usually indicates there is some personal conflict at work. Or it means that someone tries to advance a personal goal, not necessary in the interest of the whole compa
The corrolary being... (Score:2)
Frankly, I've seen lots of decisions that technicall
Re:From "Corporate Brown-Nosing for Dummies" comes (Score:1)
No, that's a fair assessment I think. Microsoft doesn't make all that many bad decisions. But when they do screw something up, they screw things up big time. My short list of things Microsoft did wrong.
1. The Registry. They really should have known that a huge, undocumentable data base with sloppy security was going to cause untold mischief. If they had called me in 1993 and asked, I'd have told them pretty mu
Re:From "Corporate Brown-Nosing for Dummies" comes (Score:1)
I've witnessed the use of the registry as an IPC mechanism, if you can believe that. That really creeped me out. But later, I worked with MS RPC (which actually used invisible windows to communicate), the use of shared DLL memory without OS mutex primitives, ATL - and learned to suspend the gag reflex.
There are things you wish you could un-s
What did one Borg say to the other Borg? (Score:2, Funny)
Q: What was your biggest surprise about being A Borg?
A: That they'd really just let me walk around with a camcorder without having a PR person or a lawyer along. Even after quitting I have the entire run of the place.
Re:What did one Borg say to the other Borg? (Score:1)
Re:What did one Borg say to the other Borg? (Score:1)
It's almost funny and it's definitely amusing, but I fail to see any insight provided.
oh neat (Score:5, Insightful)
Scoble was a good pickup for MSFT (Score:5, Interesting)
They must have figured out early on that he was only going to stay with them 2-3 years, and are relieved that he didn't move on to Google. I wonder if they'll replace him with another high profile type, or opt for the safer blog-by-committee.
Re:Scoble was a good pickup for MSFT (Score:1)
In the true Tom Wolfe sense of the phrase, he was flak catcher [amazon.com]. An employee whose job it is to deal with and assuage the complaints of customers/constituents (i.e. keep them away from the people who make the decision), whilst being wholly complicit in the fa
Who is this guy again ? (Score:1, Flamebait)
Oh, I see he was a an MS evangelist and he wrote blogs! Impressive.
Re:Who is this guy again ? (Score:2)
hehe, you ~!#$!\@!; blogger!
Don't.... (Score:3, Funny)
Don't let the chair hit you up the butt on your way out of Ballmer's office.
Lacking Challenge? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Lacking Challenge? (Score:1)
Security? (Score:1, Insightful)
Q: What was your biggest surprise about working at Microsoft?
A: That they'd really just let me walk around with a camcorder without having a PR person or a lawyer along. Even after quitting I have the entire run of the place. That's not typical even in the technology world. At Apple my brother-in-law's badge only works in his building.
Sooo... they're taking the same lax attitude about computing security and applying it to physical security as well?
Not everyone should have admin, and not everyone should
Re:Security? (Score:1)
True.
>not everyone should have all-building access
Also true.
However, those two items don't support your contention that MS is taking a lax attitude to physical security. Scoble didn't say that every employee has access to every server room. He didn't even say for certainty that he does. Allowing employees open access to all work spaces provides a much larger benefit to freedom of collaboration than the slight added risk inherent in letting people into office buildings
Re:Security? (Score:1)
Allowing employees open access to all work spaces provides a much larger benefit to freedom of collaboration than the slight added risk inherent in letting people into office buildings that they don't necessarily need to visit.
That must be why you can't talk to someone on another team without their manager's approval.
Re:Security? (Score:1)
No, I work at the other large tech company in Seattle. I do end up running into a lot of microsofties, though.
I, for one, welcome our new Scobleizing overloads (Score:1, Interesting)
These are incre
Windows is not the most imporant OS (Score:3, Funny)
>>I'd have to say Bill Hill (guy who runs the reading technology/font teams) He was a huge amount of luck cause he was the first interview Charles and I did but he was hilarious and had great insights. His personality is great, too.
Check this [msdn.com] out, the guy is great. (Don't know why but he just reminds me of Billy Connaly.
Channel 9? (Score:1)