The abrupt retirement/resignation/deck chair shifting of Google CEO Eric Schmidt couldn’t have been timed better — if you were Facebook. As dissected by the Gillmor Gang, the news of Larry Page’s reascension to the throne seemed just one more shoe dropping in the wake of Steve Ballmer’s axing of Bob Muglia, Steve Jobs’ step back to focus on his health, and other reboots from companies including HP, SAP, and I forget. Actually, mentioning HP and SAP served to bore me into stopping the last sentence.
The one connective tissue is the tectonic shift in technology caused by the iPad, or as @Scobleizer pointed out, the iPhone. Though @DannySUllivan and @KevinMarks insisted on extolling the virtues of the free and open Web, there’s no doubt in my mind that Apple’s (and particularly Steve Jobs’) combination of design, control of a hungry niche marketplace, and political savvy adds up to a defining moment that rolls up media, technology, consumers, and the enterprise. → Read More
On Tuesday Steve Ballmer fired Bob Muglia, and Google fired H.264 from Chrome. The tubes are heated up with analysis of these two seemingly unassociated events, and I figure I’ll mash them together into a counter-intuitive scenario. The unifying driver: Tuesday’s new iPhone 4 announcement from Verizon.
We hear lots about Android these days as a million tablets bloom at CES. But the world we’re hearing about is the one where Apple lives in a one-carrier model. It’s a Model T world where you can have any color as long as it’s AT&T. Every day people walk into any other carrier store and walk out with Android, because they don’t know the difference. Contrary to the pr, the Android sell to the broad market is not about Open v. Closed, or store v. market, or any of the direct feature comparisons. → Read More
And lo, from the Ballmer came the words, and the words were about the Xbox, and they did ponder the words as to what they meant. And then the idle speculation started, and people started posting stuff on the internet, and it just got silly. But judging from (and speculating from) some comments that Ballmer said at a recent UW speech, there’s a pretty good chance that there may be some new kinds of Xboxen coming to your television. → Read More
Straight from the horse’s mouth. As the Xbox team stated at E3 two weeks ago, we are not even halfway through the current console generation lifecycle and believe Xbox 360 will be the entertainment center in the home for long into the next decade. Project Natal will be an important part of this platform, but we have not confirmed a launch date at this time. → Read More
“Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction,” Ballmer said, via webcast. “The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.” via TechFlash And now, the end is near; And so Apple faces the final curtain. My friend, I’ll say it clear, I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain. → Read More
Steve Ballmer, in a move not exactly challenging Microsoft’s unfortunate reputation as a bloated, last-generation software developer paralyzed by inertia, criticized Intel for focusing on multiple cores — a strategy Ballmer says “mandates and necessitates ongoing OS innovation.” Oh, no! Oh good heavens! What will we do? Design our OS that reflects (or influences!) the general trend of hardware and technology? Or… make the OS reflect the hardware and technology of a decade ago? Microsoft is ceding a huge lead to OS X in this area, as Cupertino works to accommodate multiple cores in Snow Leopard, the first OS X release I’m excited about in years. Seriously, Ballmer — Intel is too big to bully, even for you. Adapt or die. → Read More
Microsoft CEO Steve “Sweat” Ballmer said that the financial crisis will “sap consumer and business spending,” leading to a downturn in Microsoft’s revenue. He explained that no company will be immune to the crisis although analysts predict an 8 percent rise in revenue this quarter. Get the Microsoft Stock Quote widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! He explained that none of the business units within MS will go to “0″ but that companies holding down spending while the crisis blows over will definitely not be buying Windows Vista Ultimate. This goes double, obviously, for consumers. “On the other hand, when businesses have less money — they can borrow less money, they can spend less money — that can’t be good. When consumers feel the economic pinch, house prices come down. That can’t be good,” Ballmer said. → Read More
For all the — ahem — gentle, good-natured ribbing that we give Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer here, I don’t know if he deserves to have eggs thrown at him. With this latest incident and the Bill Gates pie-in-the-face incident, are any top-level Microsoft executives really, truly safe from the onslaught of surprise food-based attacks? The Hungarian man in the video “accused Microsoft of stealing millions from the country’s taxpayers,” referring to a recent software agreement between Hungary and Microsoft, according to InformationWeek. After his verbal tirade, he threw three eggs at Ballmer, missing each time. After the man left, Ballmer seemed good-natured about the incident, commenting that the man “broke his train of thought.” → Read More
Just wanted to update everyone on the awkward slow-dance going on between Yahoo! and Microsoft. According to the New York Times, Microsoft apparently upped its offer to buy Yahoo! from the initial $31 per share to an undisclosed amount. Yahoo! believes itself to be worth at least $37 per share and The Times is reporting that “Microsoft suggested it was willing to pay more than $33 a share,” according to sources involved with the negotiations. Yahoo! has been repeatedly declining offers from Microsoft, although co-founder and CEO Jerry Yang has said that it’s not because Yahoo! doesn’t want to strike a deal, it’s because Yahoo! feels that Microsoft’s initial bid “substantially undervalued the company.” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told his employees last Thursday, “I know exactly what I think Yahoo is worth to me. I won’t go a dime above, and I will go to what I think it’s worth if that gets the deal done.” → Read More
Will Microsoft extend the life of Windows XP after all? Steve Ballmer told reporters today that “If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter,” according to the Associated Press. He conceded that most of the customers who are still buying XP are IT departments but said that “most people who buy PCs today buy them with Vista. That’s the statistical truth.” Gee, thanks Steve. I’m not sure about the last time you were in a Best Buy store, but you may have noticed that XP isn’t an option on most new computers unless you order them online and/or customize them yourself. → Read More
Okay then. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently told a group of Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) that Vista is “a work in progress” and then asked, “Can we just sort of kiss that stone and move on? Because it turns out many things become problematic when you have those long release cycles.” → Read More
In honor of it being Friday, I believe it’s time for another top ten list. This one comes to us today from ValleyWag, who’s wisely compiled a list of the top ten videos of Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, losing his shit. If you’ve never seen it in person, you’re really missing out. Above is just one, but they’re all worth watching. And then think to yourself about Vista: Would you really trust your computer to this guy? Steve, we love you man, but take a Xanax. Ten best Ballmer-goes-nuts videos [ValleyWag] → Read More
I guess he’s a pretty realistic guy. He acknowledges that “the world moves on,” and of course so have the manufacturers and buyers. He says they’ve already been working on driver support and the like, and his comments put weight behind expectations that Microsoft will release a Blu-Ray peripheral for the 360. MS and Sony are already in talks, so it seems like a sure thing unless there is any unpleasantness. Ballmer: “We’ll support Blu-Ray” [GamesIndustry.biz] → Read More
Steve squeezes out a SBDlight. Steve Ballmer was surprisingly candid — yet still fairly quiet — about Microsoft’s plans to port Silverlight to the iPhone. He basically said “Yeah, maybe, if we want to.” As for ActiveSync, he also said “Yeah, maybe, if our partners want to.” As we all no, competitors rarely comment on others developments for fear of sounding like a whiner. Let’s just say that this is well in the realm of possibility and leave it at that. Ballmer on Apple’s iPhone announcement [News.com] TC Mix Coverage: Keynote 1, Keynote 2 → Read More
Peter and I got in too late to go to any of the first day stuff — we were stuck in a goddamn airplane the size of a raisin box — but it seems Steve “The Animal” Ballmer got up and whispered sweet nothings into Angela Merkel’s ear. He began by describing the next wave in computing involving wireless broadband everyway and natural user interfaces AKA not Windows. He then when on talk about social networking, education, and going green, a charming sentiment to be sure. He then strummed a lute and intoned: As computing continues to become more powerful, more affordable and more connected, it will not only enable those of us who live in places like Hannover and Seattle to lead better lives, it will give billions more people around the world a chance to take advantage of incredible new social and economic opportunities so they can lead better lives, too and that, will truly be revolutionary. Nice talk from a guy whose lunch is being eaten by Google. Opening Speech Steve Ballmer [CeBIT] → Read More
This is how you know you’ve made it. That tattoo of Clippy is pretty awesome, too. Zune Originals ‘Ballmer’ Frigtard [iPhone Savior] Thanks Rymon! → Read More
Okay, remember a little over a week ago when the CEO of Mandriva François Bancilhon sent an open j’accuse! letter to Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer saying that Microsoft convinced the Nigerian government to use Windows on its computers instead of Mandriva Linux even though Mandriva and Nigeria already had a deal? Well apparently "the government agency funding 11,000 of these schoolroom PCs wants them running Mandriva." I’d be interested to know whether or not this change of heart came about because of Bancilhon’s letter or if someone at the top of the food chain saw that the order was changed to Microsoft software and was like "what in the hell does the night shift team think they’re trying to pull here?" Ballmerized Nigerian PCs might run Mandriva after all [Register] → Read More
Man. Google can’t get a break. First Nokia and Symbian are all like “POOOP!” and then Steven F is like “Weener!” and then the WSJ is like “WOMP STUPID WOMP” and Peter Ha is all like “I need to go to the bathroom” and I’m all like “Post!” Anyway, Steve Ballmer says: “Well of course their efforts are just some words on paper right now, it’s hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile].” “Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they’re welcome in our world.” Which isn’t quite as sensational as saying: GOOGLE I WILL EAT YOUR BABIES AND YOUR MOTHER! I WILL TEAR OFF YOUR HEAD AND USE YOUR GUT AS A PIGGY BANK! GOOGLE EATS ROADKILL AND PUKES IT UP AND EATS IT AGAIN! I WILL DESTROY YOU! ANDROID IS A PRESS RELEASE AND YOUR BRAIN IS AS BIG AS A RAT TURD! So I’m not sure why the Slashdot folks made it sound like he said the bottom thing and not the top thing. Google’s Android just a press release, says Ballmer [ComputerWorld via Slashdot] → Read More
You don’t need me to tell you about how Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer hates, hates, hates Linux. His company’s actions, it could be said, speak louder than words. But that doesn’t stop François Bancilhon of Mandriva from laying it all on the table. It seems that after Mandriva completed a complex deal to deliver Linux PCs to school kids in Nigeria, MS went behind their backs and convinced the goverment to install Windows on the machines over the Mandriva Linux distro. François Bancilhon is angry at Steve Ballmer for Microsoft’s tactics. MS has never been one to play softball, but François Bancilhon is taking it public in this open letter that’s worth a read by everyone. An open letter to Steve Ballmer [Mandriva's blog] → Read More
