Compelling reads over the last couple weeks

* Tim on limits – “The most important is that the less you can put into a solution or system, the less risk there is to it failing to provide a return on the investment of time and resources. Conversely, it provides the potential for a higher margin if it is indeed successful.” * Ballmer on being first – “When Ballmer gets talking about how Microsoft must be first with technology innovations ? which, so far in Microsoft’s history, has not often happened…” – amazing how critics continue to miss the obvious areas where Microsoft was first. The refactoring of the PC industry from vertical all-in-one boxes to today’s horizontal build-your-own didn’t just happen by accident, there is a ton of software innovation that occurred to support and motivate that shift. * Mini-Microsoft pulls no punches – “Is something rotten in Redmond? Yes! It’s the rotting, fleshy mass of way too many misdirected, underutilized, and unneeded Microsofties.” And on a more prescriptive note: “My humble suggestion: flatten the Microsoft product team management chain.” * Which ties nicely to some good stuff Tom Evslin has been writing – the flattening of organizations, the flattening of information retrieval.