Baseball Assuages Ray Ozzie's Bicoastal LifeBaseball Assuages Ray Ozzie's Bicoastal Life

Assigned the tough task of recharging Microsoft's technology, chief technical officer Ray Ozzie, must lead the effort in Seattle, but he seems to have an acute case of separation anxiety about leaving his longtime headquarters in Massachusetts.

"Lately, I've been living a bicoastal life," Ozzie wrote in Boston newspaper ads this week. "As a longtime Massachusetts resident who has benefited greatly from the incredible talent in this region, I'm excited that my new, bicoastal way of life allows me to continue collaborating and contributing to the Bay State's future prosperity."

Ozzie, of course, isn't the first Microsoft software genius to leave Massachusetts for Seattle. Microsoft's co-founders, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, wrote the first BASIC software program for Microsoft decades ago while Gates was a student at Harvard University and Allen worked at Honeywell, then known as "The Other Computer Company."

Now, Ozzie is making the same move West after his Groove Networks was acquired by Microsoft last year. But he can't quite seem to part with his longtime home in posh Manchester-by-the Sea.

Ozzie cited one advantage of his new bicoastal life: he can root for the Boston Red Sox both at Boston's Fenway Park and at Safeco Field near Ozzie's Seattle home, when the Red Sox travel to meet the Mariners.

Ozzie, who has been called one of the world's greatest programmers by Bill Gates, used his newspaper message to trumpet Microsoft's contribution to Massachusetts. Noting that Microsoft directly employs about 500 in the Bay State, he said, "its partner ecosystem includes thousands of companies that provide 40 percent of the state's IT-related tax revenue. For every $1 of revenue that Microsoft generates here, another $9.91 in related revenue is earned by partners in Massachusetts."

As the creator of Lotus Notes, Ozzie helped drive the Lotus Development Corp. to its position as the fastest-growing company ever in Massachusetts before it was acquired by IBM. (Lotus founder Mitch Kapor, too, has left Massachusetts for the West Coast where he is still involved in software projects.)

The big question now is whether Ozzie and Microsoft have big plans for Groove Networks, his latest company that to date has been something of a disappointment. More than $150 million of venture money was pumped into Groove and some stakeholders are still grumbling that Microsoft's $120 acquisition price was too low.

For a hint on Groove Networks future, watch Ozzie.