Another gem from the always spot-on Dave Winer. Microsoft could have owned netbooks.
The pathological need for large companies to focus on the wrong, to their own demise never ceases to amaze me. Why do dominant players lose out? Is it the incompetence of people in these companies? Is it the inability to articulate, convince, and move the masses within these companies?
Most often, it is the later. Perhaps, the collective, is bound to make safer choices and very often, the simple or obvious option is not the safe one.
It always comes down to doing the simple vs the easy. Simple is hard!
P.S: I work for a large company. It is a daily struggle, irrespective of the domain of the choice – design, code or cultural.