kinect was the one of the first device to sucessfully use natural language processing for controllerless entertainment which already works pretty well in the context but MS never thought of probably extending and integrating the tech with other products.
Strong point of MS was integration of different technologies but ever since Gates stopped taking interest in MS they have lost it.
Now they have uncapitalized half assed implementation of technology laying around in silos.
Note: I am well aware of when Gates stopped working with MS. Even before stopping to work, he stopped taking interest in MS's future vision atleast years before that.
nerds haven't been all-about-the-Windows-ecosystem for a decade or more, if indeed they ever were.
Microsoft has had dominance over personal computing for so long because people aren't by and large nerds, and computers weren't fashion statements until recently.
and Microsoft's still trying to catch up with "computer fashion."
Do you seriously think the issue is that "MS never thought of integrating the tech with other products" and not that there's a huge difference (and inevitable time lag) between having the abstract idea of "integration" and working out concrete, compelling use cases, a concrete design, a concrete business model, and implementing a concrete product plan?
Also, Gates hasn't been working at Microsoft full-time since 2008.