alt Hacker NewsLargely, because they want money from people. If you are in a business selling a product or service and you don't at least pay some attention to what customers are calling for, then you're likely to eventually fall flat no matter how big you are.
Of course IBM and Oracle still exist, so who knows.
An optimal business only cares about whether the invoices get paid and the shareholders are hyped. Everything else is noise they block out. Not saying Microsoft is optimal, but this is just a business doing business.