Microsoft and the new economy; Alaska Airlines check-in process

Two quick—and only tangentially related—reads for Wednesday morning:


On imagining Steve Ballmer embracing Firefox 3:

But it’s also a nice little “thought exercise.” It is impossible to imagine Ballmer acting with this kind of initiative, imaginative or vision. (I’m not suggesting that what Briggs proposes is a good idea. Only that it is hard to imagine Ballmer ever acting with this scale and dynamism.) It is impossible to imagine Ballmer advocating a position that would make consumers “the big winners.”

That Microsoft bull in the china shop (This Blog Sits at the)


I remember reading about Apple engaging in a similar process before they opened their first brick and mortar Apple store. I like competitive analyses that go outside the domain for inspiration:

The airline studied theme parks, hospitals, and retailers to see how they handled similar situations. Then, the team built mock-ups in a warehouse using cardboard boxes for podiums, kiosks, and belts in order to find ways to increase efficiency.

Alaska Airlines saves millions by rethinking check-in flow (37signals, makers of Packcamp)

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