I was interested to read an interview with Intel CEO Bob Swan in which he describes how important it is for his firm to move past its previous PC-centric strategy to become a more diverse company. But Intel’s evolution---whether it’s ultimately successful or not---is about much more than diversification. It’s about becoming a smaller player in a much bigger market. And, in doing so, making far more profits and revenues than were possible when all it really focused on were PCs.

If this sounds familiar, you’ve been paying attention: Microsoft is well on its way to making a similar transformation, in its case away from Windows. And the arguments for doing so were---still are---exactly the same.