The looming irrelevance of Microsoft

Is the former tech colossus just giving up on consumers?

An old Microsoft keyboard key.

In the decades of its existence, Microsoft has always appeared to have a clear goal: Appeal to as many as people as possible. In fact, founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen used to say their aim was to have a PC on every desk — and it's a desire they ostensibly achieved. PCs may now be overshadowed by smartphones in importance, but it was the Windows computer that first propagated the ubiquity of digital technology that is so commonplace today.

Now that we are well into the 21st century, however, it seems Microsoft no longer sees itself as a company meant to appeal to everyone. The company is undoubtedly doing well, seeing its stock price triple over the past few years and general sentiment around its business improve. Yet this success has come at a loss of focus on the end user. As one product after another gets discontinued, or canceled before it even launches, the tech world faces a new phase — one in which Microsoft abandons the consumer market almost entirely.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Navneet Alang

Navneet Alang is a technology and culture writer based out of Toronto. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, New Republic, Globe and Mail, and Hazlitt.