A report from Microsoft's 'Board of the Future'

One important litmus test is the types of technologies that the former Board of the Future members are using now in their jobs and personal lives. After all, they were immersed in Microsoft technology during their 2004 visit, even receiving Tablet PCs to take home with them.

In many cases, they’re still using Microsoft technologies, but that usage is often happening primarily at work, with other technology companies and services filling the needs of their personal lives. This is a key issue to watch, more broadly, because of the trend called the “consumerization of IT,” in which personal tech usage ultimately influences corporate tech buying decisions.

Tina T.H. Lee

Tina T.H. Lee, now 28, a native of Taiwan who grew up in Canada, uses a notebook computer with programs such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Office 2007. At the same time, she’s a big Google Docs user, having introduced the tool to co-workers in at least two of her workplaces.

"I find that I get a lot of my work done in my browser,” explains Lee, who helps to run a dental clinic in Montreal and consults on digital business projects as an independent contractor. She says she’s intrigued by some of the collaboration features in Microsoft Office 2010 and is “open to experimenting with it along with the Office Web Apps.”

James Kay, 29, a native of Beachwood, N.J., who represented the United States on the board, is now immersed in technology as a senior technical writer for a defense contractor on a project converting Army Technical Manuals to an XML file format.

Despite Microsoft's push into XML in recent years, he says the company hasn't kept pace with the needs of the project.

"Our final product is a PDF," he explains. "To create the PDF, we use Apache's FOP.  However, the Apache FOP depends on XML source files.  For editing and authoring the XML files, we use XMetaL (but I get to use ArborText instead of XMetaL).  We've found that MS Word is great for doing a memo, or even a short training document, but it's not the future of enterprise publishing." 

James Kay

At home, "I don't really use MS Office that often," he says. "Typically I will use Google docs since my documents will be available anyplace where Google is available. Don't forget, Google does this all for free!"

Others are more enthusiastic users of Microsoft software.

“I think Windows 7 is innovative and well constructed,” says Anesu Mhlanga Machaba, now 26, a native of Zimbabwe who is currently living in Johannesburg, South Africa. She’s a user of Microsoft Office, as well, but like many others in the world, she turns to one of Microsoft’s biggest rivals for searching the Internet.

“Google, as any best friend, always tells you what you need to know,” she says.

Her personal story exemplifies the extraordinary qualities of the Board of the Future members, underscoring why they were picked to advise the company. Before attending Microsoft Board of the Future, she had been studying law at the University of Cape Town — despite having essentially no access to textbooks -- but she later left school due to tough financial circumstances amid the turmoil in her home country.

In 2006, she founded a construction supplies company with her father and husband, and she has more recently begun studying law again by taking correspondence classes, and she hopes to graduate with her law degree next year.

During the Board of the Future sessions, Mhlanga was one of the students who advocated more cultural customization from Microsoft, suggesting that the company develop an “African Tablet PC” specifically tailored to the people of the continent.

Anesu Mhlanga Machaba

She remains a big believer in the concept.

“I'm still waiting in anticipation for the ‘African Tablet PC’ I proposed,” she says. “I don’t think the tablet has done all it could in changing the lives of the majority of Africans who would use technology as a tool out of poverty. It would, in my opinion be a waste if this technology if it was not explored further in this way. The tablet did not do very well because it targeted the wrong segment, in my opinion.”

On the subject of Tablet PCs, board member Ainsley Gilkes (who uses both a Lenovo ThinkPad and a MacBook) says she would switch entirely to Apple products for her personal life if the company were to release a tablet MacBook Pro.

What about an iPad? "An iPad would be awesome and will likely get one," she writes in response. "But it ain't no computer."

Special Report: Microsoft and its 'Board of the Future' in 2010
Intro: Imagining the future: Microsoft's international advisory board
Part 1: A social movement for technology in the workplace
Part 2: Making Office more usable: What has worked, and what hasn't
Part 3: The technology they use: Office at work, alternatives at home
Part 4: Long-term impact: What the board meant for its members

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