Panos (Premium)

When Terry Myerson left Microsoft five years ago, I lost a trusted source, a confidant, and a person I really trusted, though I later came to understand that his time at Microsoft was, to put it kindly, a bit more nuanced. But Terry also valued my feedback, which he often sought privately. And he continued a long tradition at Microsoft of understanding that my criticisms were constructive and always came from the right place.

Panos Panay was different.

First, let’s acknowledge that he was polarizing, both as a speaker and as a leader at Surface and then Windows. Some loved his style, others found it fake and forced. I always fell into the latter camp, but there are people at Microsoft I very much respect---including Ralf Groene and Stevie Bathiche---who clearly love the guy and perhaps owe him for a big chunk of their careers. And now I’m curious what they and others at Microsoft really thought of this guy.

Second, it is worth noting that Panay was literally the last surviving member of the bad old Microsoft from the pre-Nadella years. I have no idea how he survived the pogroms that swept through Microsoft in the wake of Steven Sinofsky’s firing, let alone Steve Ballmer’s exit. But he did, and he thrived at Microsoft. After assuming control of Windows, a product group for which he has no relevant experience or expertise, he then entered the mystical realm of made-up titles as Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer (CPO).

And though I like Surface products overall, I’ve long argued that this product line should not have ever happened and feel that it should not exist today. That’s not Panay’s fault, of course: Over a decade ago, Sinofsky feared Apple would kill the PC and he somehow convinced Ballmer to back what most others saw as a mistake. And then Surface stumbled drunkenly along over the years in a haphazard fashion, with no real point in being. That lack of focus, at least, is on Panay.

He and Microsoft often talked of inventing new product categories, but they created none. And only one of their hardware designs, the Surface Pro tablet PC, has ever been in any way successful, albeit it as a niche form factor few want or buy. (Surface fans have also incorrectly alleged that Surface somehow inspired PC makers to up their game, when in fact Dell, HP, Lenovo, and others have always offered superior premium PC designs that customers want and buy in volume.)

There were so many mistakes that it’s hard to keep track. Among them the years-long effort to pretend that USB-C wasn’t a thing, the expansion of Surface into too many models, some premium, some inexplicable, and many tired retreads of other Surface products, and the almost insidious adoption of previous-generation chipsets just as new ones were coming to the market. Surface, above all, has been nothing but frustrating.

And not to get too personal, it feels unfair. But Panay always seemed a bit off to me, and his weirdness was always on display. He w...