BERKELEY, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Everyone knew the day would come when the fortunes of Microsoft Corp. would reverse. The company might now be in actual decline.

If it's true, it brought it on itself by ignoring its core competencies, because it exhibits signs of what can only be described as Corporate Attention Deficit Disorder -- CADD.

Try to remember all the crazy directions Microsoft has gone in over the past few years. Note the dizzy remarks by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, who recently insisted that online advertising would soon account for the majority of Microsoft's income. This is a software company making these comments.

CEO Steve Ballmer Reuters

This was most recently re-emphasized in Ballmer's speech at Cannes, France last month and in Moscow the month before.

Let me restate it. Microsoft is a software company. It has been distracted too easily by the success of others in essentially unrelated fields. Here are but a few examples (and there are dozens more):

Years ago in the pre-Internet era, AOL was the talk of the town, so Microsoft had to copy it with MSN. No money was made; no strategic advantage was gained.

Netscape was the rage for a while, so Microsoft threw together a browser and got in that business. The browser was given away for free. No money was made; the strategy got the company in trouble with government trustbusters.

During the early days of the Internet, new online publications appeared. Microsoft decided to become a publisher too, rolling out a slew of online properties including a computer magazine and a women's magazine. They were all folded.

Computer books became popular; Microsoft began Microsoft Press. After an early splash and success, the company soon lost interest and the division now languishes.

Teddy Ruxpin became a hot toy. Microsoft rolled out a couple of robotic plush toys, including the creepy Barney the Dinosaur who sang "I love you and you love me." The company soon lost interest and dropped the whole thing.

AOL-TV appeared, along with other device-centric TV-delivery mechanisms in the 1990s. Microsoft created a Microsoft-TV division as well as a device. It soon lost interest.

Adobe Photoshop became a huge success, so Microsoft hired Alvy Ray Smith to develop photo-editing software. Smith quit when the company lost interest in the idea.

Yahoo and Google showed that a search engine could be a money maker, so Microsoft copied that idea; it now has Bing.

Cloud applications are currently trendy, along with notions about software as a service. Microsoft decides to go into that business.

The Apple rolled out a MP3 player, the iPod. Microsoft came up with its own MP3 player, the Zune. The company also says it wants to stream music.

This is a company that began making development tools for programmers, beginning with a programming language. Does anyone see a pattern here?

I could go on with home-automation initiatives, phone operating systems, pen computers (two shots at that market), page-layout programs, Web-design tools and on and on -- all shiny objects for a company that doesn't want to actually fill a need, but jump from one idea to the next.

“ Now Microsoft wants to open retail stores, all of them next to or near an Apple store. ”

What's shocking is that the cash cows, specifically the Windows operating system and the Office suite, have managed to finance all these idiotic efforts for so many years. While Microsoft's profits and sales were way down this last quarter, it is only a matter of time before losses begin. Read more about the disappointing earnings.

The cash cows are dying of neglect. This company cannot keep its eye on the ball because there are too many shiny objects to distract it.

Now comes the latest fiasco: Microsoft wants to open retail stores, all of them next to or near an Apple store.

This strategy is reminiscent of the defunct hamburger chain from the 1970s that was a McDonald's copycat. McDonald's would do all the research, and then the chain would open a location around the corner. It did no other real advertising or marketing. (At least Microsoft is trying to advertise with its "buy a cheap laptop" ads on TV. Too bad the company doesn't really sell laptops.)

Maybe Microsoft cannot come to grips with the reason for its success. After all, Ballmer is not a computer programmer, and has never been too interested in software or computers and seems to want to run a media company.

Ballmer may get his wish by turning Microsoft into one, but I don't think he'll like it.