J Allard
Encyclopedia
J Allard was "Chief Experience Officer" and Chief Technology Officer for the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft
. He also oversaw Microsoft's first foray into the video game industry, the Xbox
, and he is also known to have contributed to the first edition of the specification for the Windows Sockets API, with assistance from many others.
. Allard is a 1991 Boston University
graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science
, and he received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from Boston University at the 2009 Boston University Commencement Ceremony. Allard has also been known to play The Game
as part of Team Pink. He was also later found to have gotten 3rd place.
rival. Allard has notably signed several artists as part of a broad Zune marketing campaign by Microsoft, which included heavy promotion during Seattle's Bumbershoot
festival in 2006.
Zune is also available on Xbox 360 xbox live for video and movie streaming.
on product incubation and User Experience design.
Upon announcing his retirement, Allard wrote an internal email named "Decide. Change. Reinvent." to Microsoft employees discussing his career history at Microsoft and attempting to instill inspiration to a group of employees at Microsoft named "The Tribe." According to Allard, "The Tribe" is "a group of people diverse in perspective, similar in skills and completely, totally galvanized around one central purpose. Change."
Before leaving Microsoft, Allard became a director of The Clymb, a flash sale site featuring outdoor products. In June 2011, The Clymb raised $2 million from a handful of angel investors, including Allard.
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. He also oversaw Microsoft's first foray into the video game industry, the Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
, and he is also known to have contributed to the first edition of the specification for the Windows Sockets API, with assistance from many others.
Microsoft
The former Chief Experience Officer is known for his historic 1994 memo, "Windows: The Next Killer Application on the Internet", about the coming rise of the Internet. The memo, distributed to Microsoft leaders, reshaped the company's direction. According to an internal email, Allard was a network engineer responsible for convincing Microsoft to ship TCP/IP in Windows 95Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented graphical user interface-based operating system. It was released on August 24, 1995 by Microsoft, and was a significant progression from the company's previous Windows products...
. Allard is a 1991 Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
graduate with a bachelor's degree in computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, and he received an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Letters) from Boston University at the 2009 Boston University Commencement Ceremony. Allard has also been known to play The Game
The Game (treasure hunt)
The Game is a non-stop 24–48 hour treasure hunt, puzzlehunt or road rally that has run in the San Francisco Bay and Seattle areas since 1973. Its teams use vans rigged with power and Internet access and drive hundreds of miles from puzzle site to puzzle site, overcoming often outrageous physical...
as part of Team Pink. He was also later found to have gotten 3rd place.
Zune
When Bryan Lee stepped down in 2007 from his post as Zune Executive in charge of business development, Allard took over as the new executive. Allard oversaw development of the Microsoft Zune, a handheld portable media device, initially seen by some media as a potential iPodIPod
iPod is a line of portable media players created and marketed by Apple Inc. The product line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the compact iPod Nano, and the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle...
rival. Allard has notably signed several artists as part of a broad Zune marketing campaign by Microsoft, which included heavy promotion during Seattle's Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...
festival in 2006.
Zune is also available on Xbox 360 xbox live for video and movie streaming.
Courier
Allard headed up the team at Microsoft that created the two-screen tablet prototype called Courier. His vision for Microsoft's tablet future lost out to Steven Sinofsky's Windows 8-on-a-tablet vision. Shortly after Steve Ballmer's decision to cancel development of the Courier, Allard and his boss Robbie Bach (then President of Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division) left Microsoft, though both said their decisions to leave were unrelated to to the Courier cancellation.Retirement
Reported on May 25, 2010, Allard, along with Robbie Bach will be leaving Microsoft. Allard will remain a direct advisor to Steve BallmerSteve Ballmer
Steven Anthony "Steve" Ballmer is an American business magnate. He is the chief executive officer of Microsoft, having held that post since January 2000. , his personal wealth is estimated at US$13.9 billion, ranking number 19 on the Forbes 400.-Early life:Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan to...
on product incubation and User Experience design.
Upon announcing his retirement, Allard wrote an internal email named "Decide. Change. Reinvent." to Microsoft employees discussing his career history at Microsoft and attempting to instill inspiration to a group of employees at Microsoft named "The Tribe." According to Allard, "The Tribe" is "a group of people diverse in perspective, similar in skills and completely, totally galvanized around one central purpose. Change."
Before leaving Microsoft, Allard became a director of The Clymb, a flash sale site featuring outdoor products. In June 2011, The Clymb raised $2 million from a handful of angel investors, including Allard.
External links
- Xbox Live Gamercard (login required)
- E3 2005 speech
- Interview about Zune
- Halo 3 game history