SEATTLE, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Corp’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) departing software chief, has asked the company to move on from its roots as a computer-oriented company to imagine a ‘post-PC world’ that relies on wireless devices and the Internet to function.
The call from Ozzie, who announced his retirement from Microsoft last week, is meant to galvanize the company, which has fallen behind Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) in the rapidly growing phone and tablet computer sector that many now see as key to the future.
"Close our eyes and form a realistic picture of what a post-PC world might actually look like, if it were to ever truly occur," wrote Ozzie in a memo posted on his personal blog on Monday. "Those who can envision a plausible future that’s brighter than today will earn the opportunity to lead."
The message comes almost exactly five years after Ozzie made his initial mark on Microsoft with his ‘Internet Services Disruption’ memo, which is regarded as Microsoft’s manifesto for moving toward "cloud computing," where data and software are supplied over the Internet rather than installed on machines.
In Monday’s blog, Ozzie said some of the goals he envisioned five years ago "remain elusive and are yet to be realized."
He goes on to praise competitors for "seamless fusion of hardware and software and services," which appears to be a nod to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android phone system, which are proving more popular with consumers than Microsoft’s own offerings.
"Their execution has surpassed our own in mobile experiences," said Ozzie.