Michael Gartenberg, late of Jupiter Research, was a voice of reason in the numbing hive mind of the analyst community. We lauded the man for taking a calm, measured approach in those heady days of iPhone rumors, where men were men and fanboys were foaming at the mouth. He wasn’t a perfect analyst, but gosh darn it, he was among the best. We’ll miss him.
Wait, what? He’s not dead? He’s just taking a job with Microsoft? As an evangelist? Well then, he’s dead to us. What does he have to say for himself?
Why Microsoft? There’s a revolution going on. A battle for the hearts and minds of consumers in terms of their digital lives. I firmly believe that Microsoft is the only company that will enable the seamless transition for users to move in and out of the different aspects of their lives. In short, no one else comes close to presenting a complete, unified and integrated view of the digital home of the 21st century.The only company? Really?
Gartenberg, together with former Infoworld writer Jon Udell, seem to be filling the void left by the departure last year of Microsoft uber-blogger Robert Scoble. We honestly like Mike, and wish him the best of luck at his new job; we hope that despite the Microsoft paycheck and pom-poms he’ll be as even-handed as he was at Jupiter. And if he’s not, well, that’s where we come in.
