A Brand New Day for Microsoft
A new way of doing things
Flake sees the challenge of creating new technologies and businesses at Microsoft not as a function of inability or misguidedness， but as a failure of process. As director of Live labs， he's not only trying to innovate. He's trying to create the best methodology for innovation， which Microsoft's other labs can adopt.
Live Labs' " startup factory" consists of small teams of two or three researchers and engineers who apply for early， short-term funding to develop an idea， like a startup seeking seed noney. To avoid perpetuating subpar projects， the system is set up so that early finding doesn't guarantee further rounds.
Photosynth
To understand the challenges facing Flake and Live Labs， there's no better example than Photosynth. The project began after Flake acquired Seadragon， a web startup whose founder had spent years figuring out how to easily display and navigate huge amounts of visual information. Seadragon can show an aerial view of every page of a book on one screen， then zoom in as close as an individual letter in the text-all in high resolution.
Still， the question remains as to Live Labs' broader impact. Photosynth， like most new web services， is free； its business model a work in progress. "How does it make money？" Flake asks， "There are so many ways. You could link to stores that appear in photos， or individual products， and display an ad or turn it into a commerce event."
Even if Photosynth does take off， it' ll still deliver a pittance compared with Windows and office. But Flake is unconcerned. Live Labs， he insist， is about generating multiple projects and leaders that have a cumulative impact throughout the company， financially， technologically， and culturally. "Whenever you make an effort like this， of course you're going to encounter skepticism，" Fale says. "There's nothing I can do to convince peo；e to have a change of heart [but offer] good evidence."
Vocabulary Focus
Methodology （n）方法論；教學(xué)法
A system of ways of doing， teaching or studying something
Pittance （n）微薄的錢(qián)
A very small amount of money
Cumulative （adj）累積的，漸增的
Increasing by one addition after another
Specialized Terms
Seed money （n phr）種子基金
Money that is used to start a business or other activity
Subpar （adj）低于標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的；低于預(yù)期水平的
Below the usual or expected standard
A new way of doing things
Flake sees the challenge of creating new technologies and businesses at Microsoft not as a function of inability or misguidedness， but as a failure of process. As director of Live labs， he's not only trying to innovate. He's trying to create the best methodology for innovation， which Microsoft's other labs can adopt.
Live Labs' " startup factory" consists of small teams of two or three researchers and engineers who apply for early， short-term funding to develop an idea， like a startup seeking seed noney. To avoid perpetuating subpar projects， the system is set up so that early finding doesn't guarantee further rounds.
Photosynth
To understand the challenges facing Flake and Live Labs， there's no better example than Photosynth. The project began after Flake acquired Seadragon， a web startup whose founder had spent years figuring out how to easily display and navigate huge amounts of visual information. Seadragon can show an aerial view of every page of a book on one screen， then zoom in as close as an individual letter in the text-all in high resolution.
Still， the question remains as to Live Labs' broader impact. Photosynth， like most new web services， is free； its business model a work in progress. "How does it make money？" Flake asks， "There are so many ways. You could link to stores that appear in photos， or individual products， and display an ad or turn it into a commerce event."
Even if Photosynth does take off， it' ll still deliver a pittance compared with Windows and office. But Flake is unconcerned. Live Labs， he insist， is about generating multiple projects and leaders that have a cumulative impact throughout the company， financially， technologically， and culturally. "Whenever you make an effort like this， of course you're going to encounter skepticism，" Fale says. "There's nothing I can do to convince peo；e to have a change of heart [but offer] good evidence."
Vocabulary Focus
Methodology （n）方法論；教學(xué)法
A system of ways of doing， teaching or studying something
Pittance （n）微薄的錢(qián)
A very small amount of money
Cumulative （adj）累積的，漸增的
Increasing by one addition after another
Specialized Terms
Seed money （n phr）種子基金
Money that is used to start a business or other activity
Subpar （adj）低于標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的；低于預(yù)期水平的
Below the usual or expected standard