Why I would NEVER work for Microsoft.

When my friend recently asked me if I would work for M$, I told him no because they are a monopoly. After thinking about it some more, I've come up with the following detailed reasons never to work for M$:

1. The original mission of putting a PC in every living room is obsolete. Mobile/Web/Cloud are the new computing paradigms, not the living room PC. A company without a mission leaves its employees with no purpose. Thus, killing part of the motivating triad recently espoused for knowledge workers of autonomy, master, and purpose. Compare this to Google's purpose of giving better access to more useful information. This is always immediately relevant as well as long lasting in meaning.

2. Their head has been cut-off. Microsoft is a top down company. When Bill Gates left, it lost its driving force. DHH recently noted Ballmer's inadequacies. Plus the recent rearrangement at the top-most levels points to serious problems here.

3. They indeed are a monopoly, with over 90% lock-in in the OS market.

Anyway, to their credit, I think M$ probably has over 90k REALLY smart people working for them. And they make some really good products like C#, and VS. I just think there are some systematic problems stunting the efforts of those people that I'd rather not be subject to.