Smart speakers also are a gateway to control of the smart home, and revenue-generating opportunities like voice search and shopping. Amazon and Alphabet have made a significant push into this space, with the former selling tens of millions of Echo smart speakers last year alone.Ĭonsumers spent $2.8 billion on smart speakers in 2018 and that number is expected to grow to $11.79 billion by 2023. Smart speakers are one of the hottest technologies on the market right now. Bill Gates’ future wife, Melinda, was Bob’s marketing manager. Each time, Microsoft has ended up the butt of a few jokes.īut Microsoft Bob did provide one tangible victory. Microsoft has taken other cracks at animated guides over the years, notably Clippy the Office Assistant.
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Bob also had hefty (for the time) PC requirements, and most personal computers lacked the power to run the software. The Bob logo itself was a smiley face in glasses that resembled Bill Gates.īob was introduced in 1995, and dead by 1996 in what has been labeled a “mercy killing.” Most users weren’t enamored with trying to navigate a virtual living room looking for their files while a digital dog encouraged them. The Bob interface included characters such as Rover, a cartoon dog that provided guidance, and Scuzz the mouse.
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This graphical user interface ran on top of Windows 3.1 and Windows 95, replacing the whole office metaphor (file folders, trash can) with a house. Instead of reaping the rewards of the wearable market, Microsoft threw in the towel and discontinued the Band in 2016.īob was Microsoft’s attempt to make Windows easier to use for PC newbies. However, users found the design awkward and uncomfortable to use – issues that a second-generation version did nothing to fix. It supported apps such as Facebook ( FB), and it had smartphone notifications. It was compatible with Windows Phone, iOS and eventually Android, had a color display and cost $199. Microsoft Band was a fitness wristband with some smartwatch features that was launched in time for the 2014 holiday season. Research firm IDC says 113.2 million wearables shipped in 2017, and it expects that number to nearly double to 222.3 million by 2021.Īpple and Fitbit ( FIT) lead this market, but many people forget that Microsoft actually beat the Apple Watch to the market and took on Fitbit at the height of its fitness-tracker domination. Wearables continue to be one of the hottest tech product categories, and experts say they’ll only get bigger. Here’s a look at 15 of Microsoft’s most notable flops, and what they have meant to the company over the years: Some of those flops were inconsequential and even comical, while other larger missteps were so significant, they likely helped bolster the fortunes of companies such as Apple and Alphabet. Innovation, after all, often means learning from your mistakes – and the king of PCS has had more than its share of mistakes. Since its founding in 1975, Microsoft has accumulated a pile of failures to go along with its list of smash hits. Not everything Microsoft touches turns to gold, however. But the Microsoft empire is built on many other successes, new and old, from its Windows operating system to its Office productivity suite to the Xbox gaming-system franchise. Those analysts are particularly optimistic because of Microsoft’s increasing position in cloud computing, with its Azure web services gobbling up a large share of the public cloud market. But Microsoft remains a juggernaut in its own right – at more than $700 billion in market value – and Morgan Stanley analysts believe it eventually could become a $1 trillion company in the next decade. When most people think of tech, their minds float to the likes of Google search parent Alphabet ( GOOGL), iPhone maker Apple ( AAPL) and e-commerce giant Amazon ( AMZN). Microsoft ( MSFT, $93.78) isn’t exactly the flashiest name in the technology space.
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