“The holiday season hasn’t gone exactly as Microsoft had hoped,” Mike Ricciuti reports for CNET News.
“The much-anticipated Zune, Microsoft’s portable music player entry, has received mixed reviews, and demand has been tepid. Sure, Vista made its debut, finally, last week–but only for business customers. The Windows XP successor, more than five years in the making, didn’t make it into consumers’ hands for the all-important holiday sales season. Ditto for Office 2007, the flagship of the company’s second most-profitable product line,” Ricciuti reports.
Ricciuti reports, “CEO Steve Ballmer says he isn’t worried. Like Chairman Bill Gates, he says Zune will, over time, gain ground on Apple Computer’s iPod… Ballmer sat down with CNET News.com here to discuss life after Vista, battling the iPod, and the rising importance of mobile devices.”
Now that Vista work is more or less wrapped up–or will be soon–have resources been freed up within Microsoft (to work on things like Longhorn Server)? Ballmer: Well, we’re going to do a next version of Windows, and so one of the questions is whether we’re going to have the same number of people, fewer people, (or) whether we need more people. We’re going to have a very large team continuing to work on Windows innovation.
What happens when Apple produces a smart phone, which they probably will at some point? How does that change the equation? Ballmer: Well, their business model will look a lot more like the business model of the Trio and BlackBerry, than it does (that of) us and Nokia. Nokia is sort of having their cake and eating it, too, a little bit, with Symbian. Hey, in no business that we’re in, can we expect that other people aren’t going to enter and bring some creative ideas. We will see what Apple does.
The thing that is going to drive Apple, you know, people talk about the iPod halo. At some point, do you hope for a Zune halo effect that would help with Vista? Ballmer: Well, sure. I can’t say there is, yet. Eventually, there needs to be, will be. But we’ve got to get out and establish Zune. We think we have a great initial proposition, and we’re happy with the initial response. But we don’t fool ourselves. There’s a guy who’s got a lot of share, and we’re coming later in the day. Things boomed on the back of the iPod, so we have our work cut out.
Are you happy with the response to Zune so far? Ballmer: So far, so good. But we’re (in the) early stages.
Full article here.
Ballmer remains as delusional as ever; even more so, if that’s possible. The Zune is quickly becoming synonymous with “failure,” among other words that are not mentioned in polite company. This “Zune halo effect” business is a ridiculous as saying the Sony Bean (remember those?) will sell more Vaio laptops.
Zune has no halo. Zune leaves a stain.
Zune’s failure may in fact open a few more eyes that can see Microsoft for what it really is: a derivative company, a conniving dinosaur. Zune will help drive people to iPod and Mac OS X more than it will drive any Windows Vista adoption.
And, wow, that Ballmer can say the words “Windows innovation” with a straight face gives us the creeps.
Related articles:
Microsoft Zune plummets to 5th place in U.S. digital media player market share with 2.1 percent – December 04, 2006
Microsoft’s Zune incompatible with Windows Vista – November 14, 2006
InformationWeek: Now that Vista is the past, let’s look at the future: Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard – December 02, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Office 2007 releases generate yawns – December 02, 2006
Dave Winer: ‘Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up’ – December 01, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista vulnerable to malware from 2004 – November 30, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista developers used Apple Macs for inspiration – November 27, 2006
Microsoft’s Windows Vista is basically Microsoft’s version of Mac OS 9.3 – October 11, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Ballmer: I’m Microsoft’s ‘primary champion of innovation’ – July 27, 2006
Microsoft botches another copy job: Windows Vista Flip3D vs. Apple Mac OS X Exposé – June 26, 2006
Windows Vista rips-off Mac OS X at great hardware cost (and Apple gains in the end) – June 13, 2006
Computerworld: Microsoft Windows Vista a distant second-best to Apple Mac OS X – June 02, 2006
Thurrott: Microsoft going to get eaten alive over Windows Vista’s resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – March 09, 2006
NY Times’ Pogue on Gates’ CES demo: Most of Vista features unadulterated ripoffs from Apple Mac OS X – January 05, 2006
Analyst: Windows Vista may still impress many consumers because they have not seen Apple’s Mac OS X – January 05, 2006
Apple’s talent and innovation vs. Microsoft’s hype – October 25, 2005
Microsoft’s Windows Vista strives to deliver what Apple’s Mac OS X already offers – October 10, 2005
Thurrott: many of Windows Vista’s upcoming features appeared first in Apple’s Mac OS X – September 26, 2005
Microsoft’s Ballmer: It’s true, some of Windows Vista’s features are ‘kissing cousins’ to Mac OS X – September 18, 2005
PC World: Microsoft innovation – an oxymoron – September 14, 2005
As usual, Apple leads, Microsoft tries to follow – June 02, 2005
eWEEK Editor Coursey: Longhorn so far ‘looks shockingly like a Macintosh’ – April 25, 2005
Due in late 2006, many of Windows Longhorn’s features have been in Mac OS X since 2001 – April 25, 2005
Microsoft’s new mantra: ‘It Just Works’ ripped straight from Apple’s ‘Switch’ campaign – April 22, 2005
Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Microsoft’s Longhorn: ‘They are shamelessly copying us’ – April 21, 2005
Microsoft’s Windows Longhorn will bear more than just a passing resemblance to Apple’s Mac OS X – April 15, 2005
Steve Jobs: Microsoft copied original Apple Mac with Windows 95, now they’re copying us again – February 08, 2005
Where Apple leads, Wintel follows years later – January 31, 2005
Novell CEO: ‘Microsoft sucked $60 billion out of IT industry that could have used for innovation’ – September 13, 2004
Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Mac OS X Tiger ‘is going to drive the copycats crazy – June 28, 2004
PC Magazine: Microsoft ‘Longhorn’ preview shows ‘an Apple look’ – May 06, 2004
Charles Arthur: Microsoft’s definition of ‘innovation’ different from everyone else’s – April 27, 2004
Windows ‘Longhorn’ to add translucent windows that ripple and shrink by 2005 – May 19, 2003
Ring around the bowl= halo?
“…a Zune halo effect that would help with Vista”.
In your dreams!
Man, Ballmer is becomming a characture of himself…
Word of the day: progress
Well said “R”
Vista = matter
Zune = anti-matter
Vista + Zune = Microsoft vanishes
The man has lost touch with reality.
…otherwise known as “ring around the halo”!
My responses to Ballmer’s responses: Yeah right.
How will the Zune help Vista? The Zune doesn’t even SUPPORT Vista yet.
Baldmer: “We will see what Apple does.”
AND THEN COPY IT!
Steve Ballmer: “But we don’t fool ourselves.”
Frickin’ hilarious!
How is the Zune going to help spread Vista, since doesn’t even work on Vista?
He sounds as delusional as Bush saying we are winning the War on Iraq(TM)…
I’d like to have some of what this guy’s smoking!
Not so much a halo as a ‘Soweto Necklace’.
Zune’s halo is round and brown. It’s also known as an asshole.
Unfortunately, Windows Vista will be a success. There are simply too many Windows users that are going to go out, buy a new PC, and come home with a shiny Vista interface. That can’t be helped.
Zune will ultimately fail, and that’s simply because it’s an obvious iPod imitator. Parents that buy Zunes for their kids are going to be returning them the day after Christmas so they can go get an iPod for the same price. Kids don’t want a blatant imitation, they want the real thing that all of their friends have.
My prediction is that the Zune will only be marginally more successful than Amazon’s Unbox, which we have all forgotten about by now. The only reason it has stuck around in the limelight for this long is because it’s a Microsoft product, and that captures people’s interest, sad as that may be.
If people own a zune then they already have a windows pc, even if the zune was great I can see no reason why that would help Vista.
The whole point of the iPod halo is that it shows people what Apple can do as opposed to Microsoft who they currently have experience. Unless people think XP is shit, buy a zune then think that it’s great and maybe Vista will be as well. Which isn’t going to happen.
“Ballmer remains as delusional as ever”? I believe it’s MDN that’s delusional. Go back and read the part about Windows innovation. Read it and weep. Apple hasn’t created anything new—ever! God forbid Microsoft cease to exist, because if MS disappeared, Apple wouldn’t have any idea what to do. Ballmer remains as thought-provoking, dynamic and charming as ever. Your “MDN Take” isn’t fooling anyone.
I can tell you that the Zune halo effect is very real. The magic Microsoft has created with Zune has cemented my decision to camp out at my local CompUSA to be one of the first consumers to get Vista. If you need to get a hold of me call me on my Palm running Windows Mobile. Maybe we can open a chat session using MSN Messenger or while we’re in line we can squirt each other. Redmond has it together. Once you get a taste of Zune, you’re gonna want more…
Welcome to the Social.
Zune has a halo???
That’s not really a halo…. more like a brown haze…. kind of like a smokey fog….
Oh yeah!! That’s it!!!
Its not a halo at all… It is a Zune Brown Smog.
Words not used in polite company?
Like Kaka? It’s the right color!
Bozos
Well said M.X.N.T.4.1 !
I didn’t even read past the headline. I just searched for ‘delusional’. I wasn’t disappointed.
Halo from Zune? More like Halotosis.
BBC have an interview with Monkey boy, well worth a watch!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6198076.stm
What a tool!!!!
The only Halo effect MS have experienced was with XBox. And it had to ‘leverage its market position with the synergy of creative funding’* in order to do that.
* i.e. buy a game that was meant for the open market and stifle competition, running roughshod over the competition and abusing their monopoly yet again.
A man with an incredible ability to lie through his teeth. Much like the UK Chancellor, Gordon Brown.
The British Government has take many lessons from Microsoft:
– ‘Tax’ everything,no matter how bad the product is
– Control, control, control
– Extinguish, extinguish extinguish
– Spin, delude, lie
God help us.
Maybe it will suffer from the ‘hollow’ effect. i.e. the hollow promise of playsforsure.
Gonna be awfully hard to spot a halo that’s surrounded by a big juicy bunch of inflamed hemorrhoids.
If Ballmer gets any dumber, he’s gonna need a helmet.
Maybe they’re confusing it with the popular game Halo? Or maybe they’re admitting that it’s dead and has a Halo?
Has anyone told him that Zune doesn’t even WORK with Vista yet? So, if you’ve got a Zune, if anything, you’re upgrading to XP!
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ZUNE=EDSEL For those old enough to remember another failure
It’s interesting how Apple is mentioned almost as much as Microsoft in this interview. That must make Ballmer’s thong itch.
Perhaps Zune Tang takes things a bit too far, but if MS takes the long-term view, Zune will certainly grow in market share, and perhaps even eat into iPod’s market share. It is inevitable. There are many examples of companies that introduce a poor product into a mature marketplace, but continue to refine the product until it is competitive. Sure, Zune sucks now, but it will get better and better and better until it is just slightly worse that iPod. I am confident that Apple will continue to innovate, but to blindly say Zune will be a complete failure is short sighted.
“We will see what Apple does and copy it.”
FTFY Stevie-boy
Wow, is it April fool’s day already?
GreatCaffeine said “Unfortunately, Windows Vista will be a success. There are simply too many Windows users that are going to go out, buy a new PC, and come home with a shiny Vista interface. That can’t be helped.”
I disagree. I do think MS will sell a many, many copies of Vista – as you said, there are a LOT of Windoz users out there – but I think it will be sheer inertia that sells Vista. I see signs of people everywhere looking for a better alternative to Windoz and its horrible user experience. Many people I know are either considering or have recently purchased a Mac. These are folks who have never used or considered a Mac in the past.
Yesterday I was in a room of corporate IT and Legal professionals discussing data security and liability for businesses who’s systems are used to propagate malware leading to data theft, denial of service attacks etc. The subject turned to the native insecurity of MS/Windows systems and whether the fact that a business chooses MS/Windows systems will eventually be considered negligent in and of itself. While it was intended, I think, to be somewhat of a joke, there was a degree of seriousness to the question and those in the room were quite interested. One of the moderators mentioned he had a Mac and didn’t feel he should comment (laughter), another said it felt like the Mac commercials (more laughter). Make no doubt about it – Corporate America is waking up to the risks inherit by choosing to run MS/Windows systems, and Vista is not going to change that risk.
Windows originally succeeded because they forced it down everyone’s throats. They don’t have the opportunity to do the same with Zune.
You cannot create a “halo effect” just because you want to. The halo effect is created by the buzz around one successful product fueling the success of others. Zune has been emballmered. It’s days are numbered.
The interview is bizarre, but the photo is … crack-a-lackin’!
Halo really means “Hell-No”….
Cue Ricky Ricardo laugh.
The Zune will surely have a “Halo Effect” just like the iPod.
People will buy a Zune and then consider buying a Macintosh for their next computer.
Wow, he must stick his tongue out a lot!
The only halo around the Zune is the halo of flies, and we all know what they’re attracted to…
When I read the headline, I thought he was delusional, but when I read the interview, well… what could he say? A CEO is not going to say, “No, our product blows such chunks that it actually hurts our other products.” Or even “No, Windows is a license to print money, and we can only hope that our other products don’t dilute our profitability too badly.”
Now if “Zune halo effect” wasn’t in the QUESTION, I’d think he was insane. But honestly, I think he’s just a CEO.
Zune is disappointing me though as it stubbornly hangs on to a place in Amazon’s electronics 100. The irony of people who dislike ipods buying a product trying SO hard to BE an ipod continues. But, happily, not THAT many people.
Balmer must have some HD movies with surround sound of Bill Gates doing disgusting things with barnyard animals in order to be able to keep his job with Microsoft.
Only a shareholder revolt will save Microsoft from a very slow, very painful death.
Don’t you just love it.
Did Ballmer pose for this 1971 New York Rock Ensemble album cover?
Oh Zune Thang you are soooo right about innovation with your revisionistic history.
There was no halo effect until the Zune.
And what about the word of the year last year, “podcasting”…where is Microsoft there?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
Nope the innovation doesn’t come from Apple, they just build a better product. A superior copy.
Laughs.
Mr Ballmer, your Zune Halo smells like a fart.
Mr. Reeee,
‘Ballmer’s thong’
Thanks for that mental picture, you bastard.
“we’re happy with the initial response.” HAHAHAHAHAHA
Geez Ballmer craxcks me up.
Q: Why doesn’t Ballmer have any hemorrhoids?
A: Cause he’s the perfect asshole.
MDN is really going to pot. Either that or they’re on crack.
The headline for this “article” is deeply misleading. If you read the interview text it was the interviewer that asked about a “Zune halo effect”, and Ballmer rightly said that there wasn’t one yet, but it would be nice to have one.
MDN’s spin on this was their typical “we hate Microsoft they’re rubbish” rant with, as usual, little thought. How old are the editors of this site? 13? 14?
Ballmer is doing damage control, no doubt about it. Microsoft is out of touch with reality, almost as much as idiots who read the mainstream press and think that they’re getting the truth.
Reuters Photoshops pictures. The AP makes up stories, sourcing them to Iraqi policemen that don’t exist. CNN broadcasts terrorist recruiting videos. Yeah, if I was stupid enough to swallow all that and think that it was indicative of the reality on the ground, I too would be forced to conclude that America was losing. Of course, I would really have to be lazy and self-blinded, given that a milblog is a click or two away.
“whoa, this Zune’s pretty cool! hey honey, the next PC we’ll get for the family should have VISTA on it!” um sure whatever.
there’s no “halo” here. new PCs WILL come with Vista. kinda goes without saying. oh but wait, it’ll most likely be the BARE-BONES, minimally-enhanced “Home Basic” version of Vista on that $500 PC. now with MORE DRM!
sure, people will leave their Macs in droves when they try the new Zune. oh yeah. and Ballmer will get a clue.
oh, and Zune Tang can bite me.
Xan,
You must have missed the part where Ballmer said of the proposed Zune halo effect, “Eventually, there needs to be, will be.”
Reading comprehension is your friend. Don’t fight it.
I’ve finally got it! Why didn’t I see it before!? Zune Tang IS the disfigured spawn…literal spawn…of Steve Balmer. The resemblence is uncanny. The same dilusional stupidity. The same rants repeating the same stupid things “again and again and again and again and again and again” as though the “bone doesn’t fall from [their] mouths easily.” Heck, he’s probably got the same shiny top and ugly mug too. Now the real question. If Zune Tang is the spawn of Steve Balmer…who helped in the conception…and what orifice did he originate from??? Hmmm……Zune……squirt…..hmmm indeed.
I’ve finally got it! Why didn’t I see it before!? Zune Tang IS the disfigured spawn…literal spawn…of Steve Balmer. The resemblence is uncanny. The same dilusional stupidity. The same rants repeating the same stupid things “again and again and again and again and again and again” as though the “bone doesn’t fall from [their] mouths easily.” Heck, he’s probably got the same shiny top and ugly mug too. Now the real question. If Zune Tang is the spawn of Steve Balmer…who helped in the conception…and what orifice did he originate from??? Hmmm……Zune……squirt…..hmmm indeed.
I’ve finally got it! Why didn’t I see it before!? Zune Tang IS the disfigured spawn…literal spawn…of Steve Balmer. The resemblence is uncanny. The same dilusional stupidity. The same rants repeating the same stupid things “again and again and again and again and again and again” as though the “bone doesn’t fall from [their] mouths easily.” Heck, he’s probably got the same shiny top and ugly mug too. Now the real question. If Zune Tang is the spawn of Steve Balmer…who helped in the conception…and what orifice did he originate from??? Hmmm……Zune……squirt…..hmmm indeed.
BustingTheSkullsOfIdiots:
Good points. People bend “the truth” to make their points. It happens in business, in media, from liberals, from conservatives. It happens from the president and from his Democratic rivals. However, if you don’t think we’re losing in Iraq, you need to be more open to news that doesn’t agree with you.
Take a look at what the bipartisan commission on the war in Iraq says. We are losing. We are in an unwinnable war that needs diplomacy, not 10 more years of fighting. Were we wrong or right to attack them? That was not a question for the commission. Their goal and purpose was to determine if we can win and what we should do next. I don’t know your qualifications, but I doubt that you are as experienced as the commission to make that determination.
BTW, milblogs are great to see the military personnel’s take on the war efforts. But isolated ground troops have a skewed view of what is going on. They see the individual battles, but are not involved in the master plan. Also, if they were to suddenly go negative on the war efforts, I’m sure you’d see them pulled quickly and without comment.
Here’s the story about the commission’s findings: http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20061206/D8LRDNPG0.html
Love the photo! I think every family has a brother-in-law, uncle, or cousin who looks like that in all of the family photos.
“Ma, I found Uncle Pete….”
What is the difference between Ballmer and Zune Tang?
Nothing, they are both tiresome as hell.
Zune, Steve Ballmer, and me. What a team!
You guys are way too hard on Ballmer. He is very high functioning. I am sure he is the best retarded CEO in the US if not the world.
Zune / Windows halo = ring around the toilet.
Hi-dee-ho! Merry Christmas!
MDN word – “run.” as in got to…
And Ballmer saying the words “Windows innovation” with a straight face doesn’t give me the creeps; it gives me the craps.
Ughhh! Please remove that extemely gross picture from your artcle. Everytime I see a photo of Ballmer, I must want to throw up. He i so f***ing ugly! It is most certainly the face of stupidity.
Zune “Halo Effect” ??? Doesn’t he mean “Toilet Bowl Ring?”
Nice Ballmer pic MDN! Glad I have a keyboard protector. *Snort*
….”Porky” and I are on the same thought train this a.m.
Buster gets it.
Love your insightful post. Good stuff. Really got me thinking.
Keep up the good work and I look forward to more from you in the future!
Your potential. Our passion.
With Zune MS will fail for the same reasons other iPod/iTMS wannabes have failed. They keep trying to take marketshare from Apple, rather than trying to expand the download music sales marketplace.
Existing download music sales are still only a fraction of total music sales and the only way anyone is going to beat Apple is by converting the remaining, much larger precentage of retail music sales to download music sales.
And they will have to have a much simpler, easier-to-use player also.
Of course, the digital music landscape could undergo a significant change without another player entering the market. All that’s needed is for the labels to get a clue. Open their own online stores and sell their music in a non-proprietary, DRM-less file type for somewhere between 50¢ to 75¢ a song.
In other words… for what it’s really worth. The labels could then try their multi-tier pricing schemes to see how well they work without having someone else (Apple) take a hit just to find out John Q aint buyin’ it.
iTMS would wither and die and Apple would lose any hold over the labels of course, but iPods would probably continue to dominate the player market.
MS has only gotten lucky with one product in the consumer space: the Xbox.
But with major help thru Halo from a prior Mac-only game developer: Bungie (anyone remember Marathon?).
the man is right… the zune WILL have a halo effect on windows… not a very positive effect though… it wil just drag their entire reputation (if they have any) down with it.
on the other hand…
how can the zune have a halo effect if microsoft hardly announces their name with the zune? most people will not even know it’s a m§ product.
apple branded the iPod as being form apple… including the apple-logo on the product.
MW: field… as in reality distortion?
MDN, where in the world do you get these funny Ballmer pictures? Hilarious. No wonder he’s not Marketwatch’s CEO of the year. He doesn’t look the part.
Puhleeze don’t show Ballmer with his tounge out like that.
EEWWWW!
I got flashbacks to Ballmer’s Zune “squirting” and “touching” quotes. Mental pictures I’ve tried to repress since reading THAT article.
Thank God I saw this pre-lunch—-I’d have lost mine.
When I read the headline, I squirted.
The ‘wicked witch of the North’ is wearing a tie.
“Honey, what do I put on this ‘Zune Halo’ to wash it out of the kids’ underwear? Oxy?”
WakingUp–you are right on the money. I remember people making similar jokes about sexual harrassment in the late 80’s.
If I’ve read correctly, the windows EULA specifically states not to use it in a mission critical application. Eventually some enterprising team of lawyers is going to sieze upon that. The plaintiff cannot claim ignorance as a defense.
Mr. Reece:
“Ballmer’s thong”
Damn you for using those two words together sir. Damn you straight to hell.
Magic Word: behind
@ HeWhoIsNotUgly
Steve Ballmer is an inspiration to us ugly men everywhere. He’s a triple threat: Ugly on the outside, ugly to listen to and behaves in an ugly manner.
MDN, I ask you to ignore the request to remove his picture. We can’t help it if we fell off the ugly truck.
Long live Steve Ballmer.
“Once you get a taste of Zune, you’re gonna want more…”
Oooh! Zune Tang eats poop!
I just figured out why the new keyboards have iPod docks on them.
It sounds like a stupid idea, unless… you’re typing something on your iPod, not your computer.
Apple mobile coming your way.
If not, well, then it’s a lame idea.
Come on guys, Ballmer is clearly comparing Zune to the other great product that gave MS a halo effect; the Origami. Check out from Amazon how high that baby ranks (=0)
“Zune has no halo. Zune leaves a stain.”
Isn’t it delicious?
The Zune “Hell No!” Effect
Oh sorry Zune Tang. I didn’t mean to get you thinking. Did it hurt?
…”MDN’s spin on this was their typical “we hate Microsoft they’re rubbish” rant with, as usual, little thought. How old are the editors of this site? 13? 14?…”
Yeah, but….
we DO hate Microsoft.
They ARE rubbish.
So, what’s your point?
“He sounds as delusional as Bush saying we are winning the War on Iraq(TM)…”
It’s funny. If Cheney had the “big one” (or , a hunting accident), wouldn’t be cool if Ballmer could be VP?
It’s PERFECT! Ballmer (Monkey Boy) and Bush (The Chimp)
bushorchimp.com
I believe the Zune halo effect will happen. Users will be running to buy Macs and iPods after using one of those turds.
always Right is a socialist puss.
Socialist, huh?
Thanks Jim for the link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6198076.stm
It is ridiculous what he says, except when you consider that, really, his job is to provide the highest ROI for shareholders.
So, does he really believe what he says?
Given the context I have provided, maybe not!
And I still wonder.
HAS ANYONE YET SEEN OR HEARD OF AN ACTUAL ZUNE on the street?
Even just 1?
Vista Halo????
How can that be? The Zune doesn’t even work with Vista yet.
MDN word: latter as in we are in the latter days of M$ as a viable company with any sort of integrity
Zune Tang – LOL
Apple never created ANYTHING ?
Damned you’re funny
That man is such an monkey … Zuned by iTunes succes !
The Financial Times last week reported on the Zunes falling sales under the front page headline “Bad Nuze”. It certainly took more than two weeks for the iPod to become philologically productive.
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Ballmer: ‘Zune halo effect’ will help Windows Vista
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!
OMFG. MS is wandering further into the giggle weeds every day.
We’re going to have a very large team continuing to work on Windows innovation
Ballmy,
1. Very large teams can NOT innovate. Crazy loners & a few good assistants do that.
2. How many death marches can any team (large or small) survive? Is the real New Windows coming this time?
3. “Windows innovation” is an oxymoron.
4. Between the lines, you’ve admitted failure in weaning MS from its aging Windows-Office cash cow. You’re like an oil company: you know your resources are finite & the day of reckoning is coming, but the money is good today so why worry.
Apple: It’s time to polish iWork and position it against Office. The timing is perfect, as MS throws itself into another Windows black hole.
Why does Ballmer insist on doing that thing with his tongue ?? It never fails to ruin whichever meal I ate most recently.
I love it. Just love it. Mac Daily News pushes their tired old “Microsoft is derivative” schlock.
From a current iPod AND Zune owner, I can safely say that the Zune is the better overall player.
And as long as MDN is labeling the Zune as a failure, why don’t we go ahead and label MDN as a failure? Poor reporting, plainly stupid rhetoric, and ignorance does not a news site make. Actually, it makes the kid who runs this site look a fool.
MDN = OMGZZ11!!11! APPLE RULEZZZZ!
…why don’t we go ahead and label MDN as a failure?
Because we’d be wrong. It’s a busy, profitable website, thanks in part to you.
he wishes…
God, you Mac fanboys are so gullible. Can’t you see what the ‘writer’ has done here. Ballmer never mentions the Zune Halo Effect at all – he’s simply responding to a leading question, and replies as honestly as a CEO can – even implying that the Zune has been a disappointment. There’s so much anger on this page, it’s scary. And don’t you know that anger nearly always stems from insecurity?
What are you pissed off about, I mean, insecure about, John Fletcher?
I for one hope that there is a Zune halo effect, if of course that means the winblows market share will end up with proportionally the same market share as the Zune will.
It would appear that the reporter missed one very valid question in the interview w/ Mr. Ballmer…
He wasn’t asked if future Zunes would come pre-loaded w/ classic videos such as ‘Monkey Boy’, ‘Developers, developers, developers’ or the ever popular ‘Coming and coming and coming’
That is the one thing they could do that might actually sell a few Zunes… at least as gag gifts for Windoze fanboys….
Or how about including the new Podcasts, er, Zune-casts from Zune Tang?
The Zune has a halo?
Someone light a match.
Umm… you lemmings do realise, I hope, that Steve Ballmer did not anywhere in that link mention the words ‘halo effect’. This is a phrase that was pushed at him by the interviewer, and he basically just said ‘Uhh … sure … why not’ and then all you freaks jumped down his throat.
Can you say ‘ambush’?
You’re all making fools of yourselves.
Jedi I’m with you.
But this site is like a car wreck and I keep coming back to see what happening next, as childish as the MDN takes are.
The lame title of this article was created by the interviewer, not Ballmer. Journalists are lame and MDN is lower than a journalist. Maybe they can work their way up the social ladder to politician.
I didn’t know that Ballmer had such big words in his vocabulary such as “innovation.”
Anyone remember “origami”?
Yeah, what ever happened to Origami? Didn’t he surrender to the Chinese communists or something?
Does anybody know anybody who has bought a zune? I have a choice for a present this holiday season. A 30 gig Ipod with video that will work with both my imac and pc, along with the ipod shuffle that i have will work with both. Or do i buy a zune that will only work with my pc and won’t sinc with Itunes, heavier and no style. Don’t get me wrong, I am a avid fan of microsoft hardware (XBOX 360, Lifestyle cam, wireless mouse and ergomatic keyboard) but the zune is a pathetic piece of crap along with its bug filled software that the company produces. Its music store and windows media player is lame and unintresting and its software is frustrating and boring.