Bach wants to ”dedicate more time” to his family and non-profit duties. Allard says it’s time to leave and ”explore new territory” - he wasn’t pushed.
It was rumoured that J Allard may have been forcibly booted from his position at E&D, but that’s not the case at all says the man himself. ”In response to the curiosity, no chairs were thrown, no ultimatums served, I am not moving to Cupertino or Mountain View, I did not take a courier job and I require no assistance finding the door,” said Allard.
”If you’ve been following along, you probably understand just how difficult it was for me to decide to leave the tribe and explore new territory, but the time has come,” wrote the visionary man of technology.
”My passion for our cause combined with my obsessive nature has put many of my other interests on hold for a long time. I don’t know exactly what tomorrow looks like - but if my focus has been 95 per cent MSFT, 5 per cent life until now, I know that the first step is to flip that ratio around.”
For his replacement, Allard wants some college student who thinks Microsoft are a tired, lumbering old dinosaur who wouldn’t know innovation if it slapped them in the chops.
”Please, put my headcount and that cardkey ‘invitation’ to good use. Find a college student that claims we don’t get it and blogs tirelessly about our lack of agility.”
”Track down an EE that has been focusing on fuel cells and has radical thoughts about power management. Or a social networking whiz who is tired of building little islands that go hot and cold and can’t break the mainstream.”
”Hire a designer who’s given shape to two decades of beautiful automobiles and thinks we can sculpt technology to better connect to users. Infuse them with our purpose. Give them the tools. Give them lots of rope. Learn from them. Support where they take you. Invite them to redefine The Tribe,” implored J Allard.
What does all this mean for that little box called Xbox? Not sure and Microsoft is reportedly shaking up management at E&D, with president Bach’s retirement this autumn certainly a step in that direction. Who will reinvent the digital wheel now?!
Source: Eurogamer
