Bingo.

And how many people, later in life, are going to go "damn, I really wish I had finished the Schiller report on time" as opposed to "damn, I wish I had worked harder on my relationship with Jill".

To you, Microsoft is selling the concept of the "freedom" to attend to minor work-related tasks without having to go into the office. But to management, Microsoft is selling the concept of being able to reach out and task their people for more hours during the day, to improve productivity.

This is a mess, and anybody who thinks that Office 365 is going to improve the "life" side of "work-life balance" needs to put down the Kool-aid. Bad bosses -- and they are legion -- will take advantage of this capability.

David is right to call this out.

I think no matter what MS will do David won't be happy.

Example:

MS creates online-powered tools: David is not happy because it means MS is advocating ignoring everything around you while working.

MS does not create online-powered tools: David is not happy because MS does not create online-powered tools like, for example, google does.

To expand on Apocryphon's point, it's not the product, it's the dystopian advertising around it. I don't look at those ads and go "oh goody", instead I go "oh God!".

Getting work done away from the office? Beautiful. Great. Love it. I'd love to be able to get some work done on the train, or waiting for a plane. I'd love to be able to shoot a quick reply to my boss while waiting to check out at the grocery store. That's empowerment, and I'm all for it. They could have created ads about this. They let me turn down time into productivity. Awesome.

But instead they created ads about how instead of doing things I enjoy doing, I can work instead. Missing your child's big moment because your nose is buried in work? Check. Ignoring your friends/date at dinner time because your nose is buried in work? Check check.

I want tools that let me more more efficiently from more places. I want tools that enable me to go to dinner with my friends and not have to look at my phone.

It's not the product, it's the pitch.

As I noted in another comment[1], Google's pitch is this:

>For your business, this means every employee and everyone you work with can be productive from anywhere, using any device with an Internet connection.

>Free your team from cubicles

>Access your work from any device with a web browser – your computer, phone or tablet – and stay productive even when you’re away from the office.

>Need to attend a meeting from your kid’s soccer game?

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6740512

The ads with the silhouettes are a lot more in-your-face about fostering a lack of work/life balance, though. I wouldn't characterize it dystopian so much as it is tone-deaf, out-of-touch, and heavy-handed. Which is par for the course for Microsoft marketing. To me, it's less egregiously disagreeable than it is benignly mediocre. Oh MS, you're so corporate.

Somebody don't likey teh David much?

I'd rather have my wife ignore me for a few minutes to deal with a work e-mail than not go out to dinner with me at all because she has to stay late to make sure the boss is fully prepared for the big meeting tomorrow. Because that, realistically, is the alternative.

Is that realistic state of affairs something you love, and should be encouraged, or would you rather have clearer work life boundaries so your wife could also choose to spend time with you without worrying about work?

I do love it, because its the same blurred boundaries that let me take a long lunch, leave at 3pm, or just spend an hour doing personal stuff during the day.

I don't see why those things require blurred boundaries.