How does Microsoft return? Apart from arguing that Microsoft never really went away, I can see a clear strategy to return to prominence and influence in the connected world after its abortive attempts in the second era of smartphones. Curiously, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is using one of the techniques Apple used on Microsoft to return the favour.
At the start of the 21st century, when Microsoft was dominating the computing landscape, Apple's growth outside of the small brigade of Mac users required some careful thought. How would Steve Jobs bring over the Windows faithful to his platform?
The answer was iTunes. Apple took the key connection between the iPod and the desktop and ported it to Windows. This digital trojan horse was released in October 2003, and allowed Windows users to load up an iPhone with their own musical content. In the process Apple conveniently forgot many of the rules of a Windows-based UI to introduce concepts from its own UI. The effect was not immediate, but when the time came to upgrade a computer, iTunes for Windows had offered enough of a peek at Apple's ecosystem that a few more people were tempted over.
As the iPod grew in prominence (and both the iPod Mini and the iPod Nano brought the entry price down as the visibility of the brand was growing), so to did Apple's presence on Windows. When the iPhone arrived in 2007 the mental barriers to switching were dropping, and Apple was on its way to the mainstream success it enjoys today in laptops and desk-bound computers, as well as smartphones and tablets.
Now it's Microsoft's turn to play the part of the cuckoo while Tim Cook feathers the nest as the incumbent.
Microsoft isn't using a specific piece of hardware as the lure. Instead it's building out a new frontier to attract consumers and build a new revenue stream. Rather than the iPod and portable music, Microsoft is using the cloud. Specifically, it's using Outlook for iOS and Android as the wooden horse. The client is arguably one of the best email clients available for smartphones and tablets, and also offers a superb calendar client, address book, and access to cloud storage clients (including Microsoft's OneDrive, but also Google Drive, DropBox and Box).
It is a free download, it has picked up critical acclaim, and in day-to-day use it is a joy to use. If anyone asks me for a recommendation for a client other than the defaults, then I'm going to suggest Outlook.
Yes there are a few who have a knee-jerk reaction ('but it's Microsoft!') but Satya Nadella is leading the Redmond-based company on a charge of change. It is putting the focus onto the cloud, and the current strategy is a mix of promoting the benefits and getting people signed up. That's why the Outlook client can be found on iOS and Android as well as Windows 10. It's about getting people interested, getting them engaged, and then building a new relationship.
Microsoft may have its own hardware in the Surface range of devices, but unlike Apple in the previous decade the hardware is about demonstrating Microsoft's software and capabilities in the cloud. Once consumers are hooked into the cloud through the likes of Outlook, OneNote or OneDrive on their mobile devices, that's when Microsoft can monetize them. That may be through a sale of a Microsoft-built device, a sale of a Microsoft-powered device from another manufacturer, an ongoing subscription to Office 365, or a bump in online storage through OneDrive.
But the starting point for all of those options is a simple one. A quiet beach-head on somebody else's platform.
Well played, Microsoft. Well played.
