Some specific answers to Marc:

Q: To do business in this industry you MUST understand that Microsoft will eventually copy what you're doing. If you prove it works.

Really? Microsoft recently acquired Placeware. We didn't copy what they did. We bought them. Dude, the company (Microsoft) has changed. It's not the same company it was five years ago. Five years ago, the execs were telling employees not to write anything on public forums. Today, they are encouraging the kind of open conversation I'm having with you.

Don't make the traditional Silicon Valley mistake of assuming you're competing against (or dealing with) the same company that existed five, 10, or 15 years ago. There's a reason Microsoft hired me. It's to try to figure out how to get a healthy farm system going again where it's safe to acquire companies and make developers rich. Right now, if you notice, no one is getting rich. Microsoft's stock isn't going up. New employees like me aren't getting rich. And, there's not a healthy way for Silicon Valley to grow developer-centric companies. [The Scobleizer Weblog]

Couple of interesting points here. I'll take the ones that stand out to me;

Y'know, I find it interesting that Scoble finds a differential between MS "copying" and "buying" a developer. In my mind, when I see that MS bought a developer, I just translate it to "destroyed". I understand that buying other companies is one of the (few) ways that a Corporation the size of MS can really grow. But not everyone dreams of being part of the Microsoft dream, and if you're a developer with a good programme, and faced with competing with MS, you're going to accept a buyout as a general alternative to a messy death.

A very good point he makes it the part about nat assuming the company you're dealing with being the same from days past. Consider Apple, 7 years ago, they were widely acknowledged to be on their way down. (yes, I know, Apple is always on it's way down. :)) But seriously, they didn't have the "buzz" any more. Here we are now an iPods and the ITMS are all over the place, as are Apple machines.

Microsoft may be changing. If so, I'd welcome it, since almost any change would be preferable to the company they've been for the past 10+ years. But lemme remind ya Scoble, they've got a lot of history to overcome.

And finally, how the hell does Scoble find time to post all this stuff?! :)

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