Reading this history it's striking about how Bill managed to keep so many strategically valuable product lines producing real, highly lucrative, but also *new* products, without going down more of the highly ambitious dead-ends like Cairo. That said, I recall at the time that Cairo seemed like a pipe-dream, even from my perspective as an avid (and long-time) industry-watcher who was also not yet an actual industry participant. So much so that I vividly remember how Longhorn was supposed avoid all of Cairo's mistakes, skip the over-ambitious and unachievable expectations, and *ship*. And yet...
I was completely unaware of the existence of Tiger before I read this post, it was an enlightening read, especially seeing how well it reflects today's streaming landscape.
Out of curiosity, what was your reaction when you heard of this project?
I had the luck to work with/within MSR during my PhD years. I distinctly remember flying to Redmond to give a quick presentation to Craig Mundie of our prototype software for biological systems - the hype on everything bio/heatlh/pharma related in 2000-2010 was higher than it is now. As often happens with research, it might have be too haed of its time, or simply not relevant; as far as I know MS did not pursue that road.
Anyway, I always admired how MS dealt with MSR; having a separate, academic like division running "wild", but with frequent contacts to see what could become a product. Sometimes research will not produce a viable product, sometimes it will, but too early (as with Tiger), sometimes it will.
I appreciate your appreciation for Bill attracting and hiring some of the most influential people in the industry into MSR and ACT. For me, Jim Blinn was one such luminary.
I remember climbing the StairMaster at the PROClub once and up walks Jim Blinn to grab the machine next to me. I couldn’t believe it. Of course, he devoured an issue of some SIGGRAPH publication while my eyes were glued to a Sonics game.
Reading this history it's striking about how Bill managed to keep so many strategically valuable product lines producing real, highly lucrative, but also *new* products, without going down more of the highly ambitious dead-ends like Cairo. That said, I recall at the time that Cairo seemed like a pipe-dream, even from my perspective as an avid (and long-time) industry-watcher who was also not yet an actual industry participant. So much so that I vividly remember how Longhorn was supposed avoid all of Cairo's mistakes, skip the over-ambitious and unachievable expectations, and *ship*. And yet...
I was completely unaware of the existence of Tiger before I read this post, it was an enlightening read, especially seeing how well it reflects today's streaming landscape.
Out of curiosity, what was your reaction when you heard of this project?
I had the luck to work with/within MSR during my PhD years. I distinctly remember flying to Redmond to give a quick presentation to Craig Mundie of our prototype software for biological systems - the hype on everything bio/heatlh/pharma related in 2000-2010 was higher than it is now. As often happens with research, it might have be too haed of its time, or simply not relevant; as far as I know MS did not pursue that road.
Anyway, I always admired how MS dealt with MSR; having a separate, academic like division running "wild", but with frequent contacts to see what could become a product. Sometimes research will not produce a viable product, sometimes it will, but too early (as with Tiger), sometimes it will.
I appreciate your appreciation for Bill attracting and hiring some of the most influential people in the industry into MSR and ACT. For me, Jim Blinn was one such luminary.
I remember climbing the StairMaster at the PROClub once and up walks Jim Blinn to grab the machine next to me. I couldn’t believe it. Of course, he devoured an issue of some SIGGRAPH publication while my eyes were glued to a Sonics game.