Is Microsoft's Future Really About Building Technology or Socialization?

The conversation about Microsoft remains about technology vs socialization.  Facebook, Google+ and Twitter growth is about socialization i.e. easily making connections and interactions with people - the ones we know, the many that are just interesting as well as those interested in common subjects.  

Microsoft announced that Satya Nadella was its next leader, betting on a longtime engineering executive to help the company keep better pace with changes in technology.  What can we learn from his insights on focus, customer's unmet desires and approach to learning and growth?

In an email to Microsoft employees on Tuesday morning, he wrote that he is “defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning.”

“I buy more books than I can finish,” he wrote. “I sign up for more online courses than I can complete.  I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things.”

He said, "The most important factor in Microsoft’s ability to remain a growing business in the future was its ability to become a player in what he called new paradigms in computing, like cloud computing.

“That is, you could say, the existential issue for us,” Mr. Nadella said.

“I think that with any new paradigm there will always be a couple of new players who come at it,” he continued. “But to me the thing that is perhaps more interesting and challenging, and gets me excited, is, hey, how can we renew ourselves?”

In his statement Tuesday, Mr. Nadella said: “The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.”

The technology trends allows us to be digitized thus connected.  How will Nadella do that with Microsoft?