Microsoft is NOT "Visionary", they're "Reactionary" (that may not be a proper term, but it's close enough)
and slow too...
It's definitely an appropriate term.
Microsoft is not without vision or visionary people. The problem is in execution.
I once read an excellent article about how things work in the auto industry; The designers would come up with a cool visionary design for the next model of a car, then the industrial designers would compromise that vision with a whole bunch of adjustments to fit within the ISO specs, then the engineering team would further compromise the original vision by adapting it to the limitations of the existing fabrication, then the business people would compromise it even further to make sure there is spare parts compatibility and align with the sales targets.
In the end what ends up rolling off the production line is a far cry from what the visionary design intended. In many companies, including Microsoft, this same process occurs and affects delivery.
A truly innovative company challenges standards and industry norms, invents new fabrication systems, and puts the consumer first. And they do all this in concert with operational realities. Nokia is not one of these companies, well it hasn't been for a very long time. Apologies to the Finnish folk, but Nokia may as well be Microsoft.
