“Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday that Wall Street’s current expectations for revenue from its newest operating system may be too ‘optimistic,'” The Associated Press reports. “‘I’m really excited about how enthusiastic people are about Vista, but I think some of the revenue forecasts for Vista in 2008 are overly aggressive,’ Ballmer said in a meeting for financial analysts. ‘(Vista) is primarily a chance to sustain what (Windows) revenue we have — not every release is a revenue growing opportunity.'”
AP reports, “Ballmer also responded to a question about a series of commercials made by smaller computer maker Apple Inc. The ads poke fun at Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, through a geeky character who calls himself a ‘PC.'”
‘I’ll give Apple credit for what it’s done,’ Ballmer said. ‘It’s not like they’ve really grown a lot of market share (through the commercials). Remember, when you’re the little tiny niche guy who owns about 2 percent of the worldwide (computer) market, you can be cute one time and it helps you grow,'” AP reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: First Gates loses his mind and now this from Ballmer. Those ads have really gotten under their skin. Jobs should triple the “Get a Mac” campaign’s budget.
Related articles:
Microsoft’s Ballmer warns on Vista, says revenue forecasts too aggressive; shares drop – February 15, 2007
Microsoft’s Gates tries FUD to keep people from switching to Apple’s secure Mac – February 12, 2007
Bill Gates unhinged with Apple envy; Microsoft on path to become high profile casualty – February 06, 2007
Bill Gates has lost his mind: calls Apple liars, copiers; slams Mac OS X security vs. Windows – February 02, 2007
Bill Gates lists Microsoft ‘innovations’ that Apple has offered Mac users for years – January 30, 2007
Gates bristles over Vista, Mac OS X comparisons – January 29, 2007
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone – January 17, 2007
Bill Gates confronted by glowing Apple logos as every single blogger at meeting uses Macs – December 15, 2006
Ballmer: ‘Zune halo effect’ will help Windows Vista – December 06, 2006
Windows Vista’s DRM is bad news – February 14, 2007
Mac OS X Tiger vs. Windows Vista: Mac’s migration a breeze, Vista’s migration a headache – February 12, 2007
Forbes: ‘Windows Vista utterly unimaginative, internally discordant and woefully out of tune’ – February 09, 2007
Computerworld: Windows expert dumps Windows, switches to Apple’s Mac OS X – February 08, 2007
Windows sufferer spends six hours trying to ‘upgrade’ to Vista, says: ‘I should’ve bought a Mac’ – February 07, 2007
Windows Vista woes push BBC News editor to regret never having ‘defected’ to Apple Mac – February 06, 2007
Digit: Don’t buy Vista; Microsoft may be driving millions to stick with XP or move to Apple Mac – February 05, 2007
TIME Magazine: Microsoft’s Windows Vista ‘an embarassment to the good name of American innovation’ – February 02, 2007
Microsoft’s Windows Vista: Five years for a chrome-plated turd – January 30, 2007
Digit: ‘Microsoft’s Windows Vista may be the best reason yet to buy an Apple Mac’ – January 29, 2007
Pioneer Press: Windows Vista shows ‘Apple is an innovation engine; Microsoft, not so much’ – January 29, 2007
Windows Vista disappoints, so get a Mac – January 29, 2007
Analyst: Microsoft’s Windows Vista could be an opportunity for Apple – January 26, 2007
CNET Reviews Windows Vista: Is that all? Clunky and not very intuitive vs. Mac OS X; warmed-over XP – January 24, 2007
Mossberg: Microsoft’s Windows Vista offers lesser imitations of Apple’s Mac OS X features – January 18, 2007
Windows Vista disappointment drives longtime ‘Microsoft apologist’ to Apple’s Mac OS X – January 17, 2007
InformationWeek Review: Apple’s Mac OS X shines in comparison with Microsoft’s Windows Vista – January 06, 2007
NY Times’ Pogue reviews Microsoft’s Windows Vista: ‘Looks, Locks, Lacks’ – December 14, 2006
15-year Windows vet tries Apple Mac: ‘My God! This is amazing!’ – December 04, 2006
Dave Winer: ‘Microsoft isn’t an innovator, and never was – they are always playing catch-up’ – December 01, 2006
Harvard Medical School CIO picks Mac OS X over Linux and Windows – November 30, 2006
Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
$399 for Windows Vista Ultimate?! (Hint: Get a Mac) – August 29, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
Microsoft Windows Vista: If you can’t innovate… try to impersonate Apple’s Mac OS X – August 10, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 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
Net Applications: Apple’s Mac market share continues rise, hits 6.22% in January 2007 – February 01, 2007
Gartner: Apple’s U.S. Mac shipments up 30.6% year over year – January 18, 2007
Net Applications: Apple’s Mac market share continues rise, now at 5.39%, up 31% year-over-year – December 01, 2006
Apple’s Mac market share surges, up 35-percent year-over-year as growth accelerates – November 01, 2006
Analyst: Apple has ‘real shot at dramatically expanding Macintosh market share’ – October 31, 2006
Analyst: Apple Mac gains market share, the reason why is significant – October 26, 2006
IDC: Apple Mac attained 5.8% of U.S. market share in Q3 06 – October 18, 2006
Gartner: Apple Mac grabbed 6.1% of U.S. market share in Q3 06 – October 18, 2006
Gartner: Apple Mac grabbed 4.6% U.S. market share in Q2 06 – July 19, 2006
IDC: Apple Mac attained 4.8% U.S. market share in Q2 06 – July 19, 2006
Apple larger than Microsoft by 2010? – January 29, 2007
Galling.
Why cant they just contribute something honest and insightful rather than smearing FUD?
Geese it would make a refreshing change
mw: indeed
because its their job to create FUD
its all they can really do
As a shareholder, I’d be much happier if they took the Apple threat more seriously. It might prompt them to make better products, too.
Ballmer can kiss my cracker white ass!!
Squirt.
Poor stupid Ballmer, way more tongue than brains.
And those stains on his shirt in the fabled Monkey Boy video aren’t perspiration – he licks his armpits. Why? Because he can.
Oh yeah, it’s on. It’s a war. They’re starting to get an inkling that Apple is about 7 chess moves ahead and they’ve already lost. Trying to hold out to the bitter end, while losing pieces…
And God said “Let there be a CEO named Ballmer that offers no inspiration to his staff, no corporate direction, and is devoid of intelligence.”
And it came to pass.
And God said “Let there be a CEO named Jobs that can create things of beauty, divine new products, and cast a spell on his followers.”
And it came to pass.
And God said “Let the masses have the wisdom to purchase the things of beauty and live free of pain and suffering, least they become infected with viruses.”
Well, two out of three ain’t so bad.
marketshare hasn’t gone up? LMAO… that’s hilarious…
The best thing about these kind of statements is that most people can sense the fear behind their attempts to belittle. Many will then at least be curious of what it is about Apple products that causes them to respond in such a manner.
Compared to Ballmer, anything looks cute
If Apple were indeed so “cute and tiny” Ballmer and Gates wouldn’t be commenting on them non-stop like they have been lately. Apple is starting to cut into M$’ bottom line and it’s really pissing those two fools off.
The rook is advancing, a knight is on the flank, the queen has been taken, and the king in a corner with only a couple of pawns as protection…
Mate in 5 moves…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Apple may not have as much market share as MS, but their market value is a pretty healthy 25% of MS’s. In many ways Monkey Boy is a complete retard, but I’d confidently bet that he’s extremely aware of how big Apple really is.
MMW: it’s best to ignore what the simian simpleton SAYS
Translation: “only OEMs are buying <strike>crap</strike> Vista…
…but consumers will follow after our next <strike>fatal flaw</strike> Service Pack Upgrade for XP…
Rudolf: “I’m cute! I’m cuuuute!”
If Apple is so small and insignificant, why does almost all media coverage of Vista compare it to OSX? Why have the media been badgering Gates & Ballmer with questions about Apple? And why can’t Microsoft seem to touch them in the Mp3 player market?
MDN MW: Find, as in “Ballmer is just trying to find the last reason MS can claim to be superior.” They have no features to brag about, so they either make up fictional advantages (“Vista is more secure” “Vista is the first OS to have parental controls”) or just reiterate that they have more marketshare. It’s like Ford or GM saying to BMW “Our cars are obviously much higher quality because we have a marketshare.”
Jesus H. Christ, you brought a smile to my face, thanks.
It’s looking like a long and prosperous harvest season for Apple, Inc. the fruit of their labor is just now becoming ripe for the picking.
if only I had more $ & faith in the stock market.
Ballmer’s going to be bawling, instead of boasting without backup.
Back in the early 1980’s, Apple’s cash cow was the Apple II line. Then IBM released the “PC” with PCDOS (MSDOS) from Microsoft. Apple publically made light of the situation, saying it was not concerned. Look what happened. About fifteen years later, Apple was near backruptcy and actively seeking a buyer.
Microsoft will once again “copy” Apple, but it may not take Microsoft fifteen years to self-destruct.
FUD is Ballmer Viagra. Let him have his wood. It won’t matter.
How many days until Gates is gone?
How many days until the board at M$ says that Ballmer is gone?
How many days until the market really tanks over the crap that is called VISTA (Virus – Infection-Spyware-TroganHorse-Adware) and how bad it really is?
Wouldn’t that make a great widget for your desktop?
F-12 it’s there and then a “mouse click” and it is gone!
MDN: gone
I bet Gates and Ballmer are SO SICK of hearing, “What about Apple?”, “What do you think of Apple’s ________?”, etc.
I’m sure they’re thinking in their annoyed heads, “We’re flipping Microsoft! King of the world! Let’s talk about us!” all the while knowing full well Apple poses a big threat.
The whole situation must really get to them…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> It should.
Over the time from the Apple/NeXT merger to the present, AAPL’s market capitalization has risen from about 1% to 25% of MSFTs. If that’s a “niche”, it’s a very big niche.
-jcr
I know what fud means but what does it stand for??? please someone tell me!!!!
“not every release is a revenue growing opportunity.”
That line just cracks me up. MSFT’s shareholders should be screaming for blood.
-jcr
Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FUD>
Good job Steve!!
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I bet that really hit hard, didn’t it you Apple fanboys???
Your Potential, Our Passion
@ FUD????? >
Fear, uncertainty and doubt.
The term FUD is thought to originate from when IBM’s mainframe business started to be eroded by so-called plug-compatible manufacturers, like Amdahl.
Big Blue’s salesmen would wander the corporate world spreading FUD-thinking including such gems as…
“IBM will always be around. If you buy an S/390-compatible from (Amdahl, Hitachi, etc.), how can you be sure that they will still be there when you have a problem?”
“We’re probably going to sue them for infringing our IP, you don’t want to get caught up in that”
and, last – but by no means least…
“Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.”
Doesn’t the fact that Apple questions bother them make it all the more fun to ask about Apple comercials and iPods?
YES!
I hope Ballmer stays with M$ until he retires! He’s the best friend Apple has.
I really wish he’d do another Monkey Boy Scream’n’Dance video. We need new fodder for the parody mill.
It’s funny how Apple market share just jumps around willy nilly depending on which MS nerd or MS slaveboy is talking. One time it’s 5%, another time it’s 3%, now it’s 2%. Next week Bill Gates will say that it’s -17% if he wants, and NO ONE in the mainstream media will call him on it, just like they didn’t call him on his latest rash of baldface lies.
And they never talk about the INSTALLED USER BASE, or the fact that Apple’s market share of actual COMPUTER SALES is actually very good. It’s always OS market share that they focus on.
Ballmer is a tool if there ever was one. Someone cue the dancing monkey boy video.
and this is why he sucks at what he does.. he will be the downfall of that company.
That Cat needs a screw down hairdo, lord knows, he could lick ’em by smiling,
Billions of dollars in R&D only to maintain the revenue they currently have!!!!
WTF – and this is what they teach at Harvard about business???
R&D is supposed to generate MANY multiples of GROWTH revenue.
Coke don’t spend on R&D, they spend on marketing to maintain (or incremntally grow) their market share.
Now Windows fan boys will say, this is technology, not sugared water (mmm why is that familiar…
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” /> ) and so you have to keep investing to maintain your current position, like ummm….. cars???
Then we get back to the fact that if the PC industry is like cars, then Windows is teh sheap generic piece of shit that gets you from A to B, but not comfortably, dynamically or in style. Sure they are in business, but who cares.
This leave the Apple/BMW analogy alive. Apple/BMW create products within tehir respective industries that are stylish, high performance, comfortable, leading/bleeding edge, and yet only hold a small % of the total market. Both however are considered leader of their industry, and both are highly profitable and growing.
I know which I’d prefer to be working for – GM or BMW??? Apple or Microsoft????
My 2 cents,
Luke
“Then IBM released the “PC” with PCDOS (MSDOS) from Microsoft. Apple publically made light of the situation, saying it was not concerned. Look what happened”
Bad example.
The Apple II? They were developing Lisa, Mac, etc…
Apple was pretty sure they had the GUI thing to themselves, to be fair.
Even if the courts didn’t got that way.
>> Steve Ballmer said Thursday that Wall Street’s current expectations for revenue from its newest operating system may be too “optimistic.”
That’s why Microsoft has been such a dud lately. They don’t make products that people can get optimistic about.
I’m amazed their CEO publicly stated people shouldn’t be that optimistic about Vista!
How can their “WOW” ads be effective if even their top dog isn’t himself a believer?!
Ballmer is Microsoft’s cancer.
They say Apple has 2% market share, implying that they have the other 98%.
What a laugh. Apple’s pushing 3% world wide. Linux has about 3%. Bootleg Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, and XP has about 20%.
That leaves Microsoft with less than 75%.
Isn’t it amazing that no one will buy bootleg Vista Ultimate at $3 to $5 a copy.
Maybe that’s what Balmer heard when he decided to warn the markets. No lineups to buy Vista in America and in Asia and Russia the bootleggers can’t give it away.
The reporter also shows their true colors by saying
“Ballmer also responded to a question about a series of commercials made by smaller computer maker Apple Inc.”
Err what? Microsoft doesn’t make computers…
M$ have plenty of time to make a lot of money, but that’s all they can do. They’ll abuse their monopoly until it’s gone. But it will take at least 5 years for that to happen.
The scary thing is that Apple is destined to make way more money than M$ because they sell hardware and software. Most, if not all, of M$’s hardware loses them money. Apple make money on both the hardware and software. Since they probably account for the R&D costs of a lot of the software in their hardware sales, they probably reap a lot of cash from upgrades to the OS and iLife.
M$ profits last quarter – 2.63B. Apple’s – 1B and their profitability will increase as their shipments do.
Steve Bawlmore
HAH! That “cute little niche guy” is whooping your ass, Stevie Baby!
Smaller computer computer maker?
Microsoft doesn’t make compuers, and Apple sold 1.6 million of them last quarter.
I would think it is Microsoft who is the smaller computer maker, if we call XBox a “computer.”
That condescending bastard is about to have his hubris shoved up his zune.
What is so sad is regardless of what you think of Microsoft, the behavior of both Gates and Ballmer has been atrocious.
These are the guys that crafted a globe spanning empire. They have a hammerlock on several key industries and their decisions steer corporate flagships of all shapes and sizes.
Yet here they are, clearly flustered and seemingly obsessed with a competitor they claim they don’t consider to be such. Any CEO worth his exorbitant salary is fully and completely cognizant of his industry, his competitors and their place in it. A reputable CEO wouldn’t be caught dead looking as childish or as uninformed as both Gates and Ballmer have looked since the revelation of the iPhone and the release of Vista.
They truly did not expect to have Vista compared to Mac OS X. It’s obvious by their reactions and the off the cuff garbage they (especially Gates) babble when Apples OS is mentioned. And we all know for a fact that people like Gates and Ballmer and even Jobs are surrounded by people whose job it is to make sure that the Boss never looks stupid.
Either Microsoft’s people are completely incompetent, or irrational arrogance permeates Microsoft to a heretofore unrealized degree.
I feel sorry for Ballmer because he is in denial. That explains why he can minimize microsoft’s dire situation. People are actually starting to question the validity and usability of windows for the first time in history. The media has responded the way Apple wanted them to with Apple television ads. That is why media coverage is making Gates and Ballmer so very uncomfortable during interviews.
Just my observation.
since when has market share really mattered ?
it’s profit
and mind share that REALLY matters
apple are held in the very highest esteem aboot the globe
while ms are a universal pariah
The irrevocably fatal decision in business is to underestimate the threat of your competition. The corollary to this is to overestimate your inherent ability to maintain success.
Ballmer: 0 of 2.
FUD Clothing:
http://www.spreadshirt.net/shop.php?op=article&article_id=1012322
fear. I smell blood.
“And God said “Let there be a CEO named Ballmer that offers no inspiration to his staff, no corporate direction, and is devoid of intelligence.””
He may offer no inspiration, but he sure can offer perspiration.
MDN MW: ‘shall’ as in ‘thou shalt not spread FUD’.
This just in – a truckload of chairs overturned on the interstate outside of Redmond, Washington early this morning. Sources say they chairs were headed for Microsoft headquarters and the office of Steve Ballmer. Ballmer was unavailable for comment as he was having a camera duct-taped to his head. An emergency order has gone out from Microsoft for all available chairs in the Redmond area to be delivered to Microsoft headquarters post-haste. More later.
Just in case someone hasn´t seen this assholes “dancing monkey” video ;
He´s so repulsive that Uncle Fester seems charming
MDN word ; “public” as in everytime Ballmer says something in public it´s a disgrace…
Little niche guy my a$$.
Apple should set up a PC Unit and develop an OS to take on these morons. Just imagine the possibilities. They could call it “ClearView” and ship it to every PC hardware maker out there at a price lower than MicroSh$t.
Microsoft is lucky that Apple wants to control the hardware, otherwise they would have to compete with a REAL OS!!!
Vista = Mirage
Microsoft does understand the threat from Apple, but has only its limited set of skills to fight that threat. M$ has its minions distributed around the globe, bribing and influencing law makers, bureaucrats, media and all manner of corrupt and corruptible people — like the BBC and the Norwegian socialist tyrants making sweetheart deals with the evil empire.
But what Microsoft can not do is innovate. Their whole corporate culture mitigates against it. Apple has taken much of the best open source code under commercial friendly licenses and polished off the user experience and interface that squabbling open source groups have not been able to do. It started with NeXTSTEP over a decade ago, infused into Apple – along with the return of Steve Jobs – as OS X. Along with the operating system itself, the corporate culture at Apple has grown into an innovation generator. Apple now has such a deep superiority over Microsoft that the latter simply can not catch up in time to avoid its own marginalization. As the line from the movie “Aliens” goes, it’s “Game over, man. Game over.”
I’d rather be a cute, little niche guy than a sweating, big, noisy moron.
Apple’s niche is otherwise known as the only profitable part of the PC industry. Apple’s customers are willing to spend more for a superior product, and it’s a market Dull et al would kill for. Alas they don’t have the superior product to offer.
Remember, when you’re the fat, bald guy who runs a dysfunctional multinational corporation, you can blatantly copy your cute, tiny competitor and call it innovation to make yourself feel better about your lack of wit.
apparently even microsoft are starting to believe that Apple is finaly going to win the OS battle.
(some analysts predict a market share of 40% for Mac OS by 2010, in the USA + Europe)
others say that Apple will be a larger company than microsoft in less than 3 years, that’s very likely, especialy with the new iPhone + game console (oops i meann apple tv)
Yeah, it’s a chess match. Apple is 7 moves ahead and Microsoft is watching piece by piece disappear. However, right before the final checkmate, Microsoft will pull out a gun a blow Apple’s head off.
They cheat, you know.
Doofus,
nice one; it made me laugh.
His Shadow,
good intelligent post. It reflects my thoughts entirely.
Doofus,
nice one; it made me laugh.
His Shadow,
your post reflects my thoughts entirely.
TO the real Zune Tang,
haven’t you caught on yet? We’re ignoring him! Every reaction to his drivel, gives him what he wants.
The Apple is like BMW (or insert your favorite high end car manufacturer here) while Microsoft is like Yugo, Ford (or insert your least favorite, low end car manufacturer here) is interesting and accurate BUT ONLY TO A POINT:
Where the analogy breaks down is that Apple, unlike BMW is NOT more expensive than its competition, as a matter of course.
We need to be careful about repeating the Apple is BMW analogy – it plays into the no-longer-true statement that Macs are more expensive, assuming you equip the machines comparably, and accept that Apple doesn’t play in the e-waste, entry level market (the one where nobody makes any money).
Sorry about the double post!
Ballmer calls Apple ‘cute, little tiny niche guy’
So, Ballmer is a ‘ugly, big fat rich guy’ then?
MW: Thinking, as in, Ballmer is thinking about his next meal
Tigers and Leopards are ‘cute’ as kittens, just don’t be around when they are all grown up.
MDN says: “Those ads have really gotten under their skin. Jobs should triple the “Get a Mac” campaign’s budget.”
Yes Jobs should triple the the ad budget, but now the ad budget needs to be spread to ads that indentify specific areas where the Mac can excel, which is basically everywhere Windows does, including enterprise. I’d love to start seeing some slick ads for Apple’s server solutions. They’re used in some of the most critical server environments where speed and continuous reliability are vital, but you’d never know it cause you never even see this fact in printed ads, much less on television. I’d love to see an ad where one of the many 3rd party software developers for OS X is featured using the Macinitosh as a business solution.
Personally I’m tired of Apple always advertising on Microsoft’s lack of merit – The Mac stands just fine on it’s own, thank you. Let’s see ads, both serious and humorous, showing the Mac getting the proverbial “it” done.
Last time I looked Baldy Apple’s marketshare has grown substantially so I wouldn’t be so smug about anything. Your marketshare on the other hand has been falling of late. And if the rumors are true about Apple coming out with a full blown exchange type server system you better pay attention.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”wink” style=”border:0;” />
Unlike most here, I like Steve Ballmer. look what he gives us:
1) A never-ending series of laughs (e.g. throwing chairs, etc)
2) Poor leasdership of MS unless you think leading them into the fliusher is good.
3) Lots of perspiration
C’mon. he is the best thing that has ever happened to Apple.
Ballmer looks like a retard in that picture. Sorry for the political incorrectness.
Batten down the hatches for battened man.
Target: Dell
Mission: Destroy (accomplished)
Target: M$
Mission: Destroy (on its way)
Cute and nichey is better than large, loud, hot and sweaty.
On the bright side, Vista is expected to sell at least as well as MS’s incredible and innovative Zune music player.
-c
MW: ‘hotel’ (on Aurora where Ballmer will soon be living)
*sigh*
Sadly, FUD has become a typical strategy in MS arsenal of tools to deal with competition. It’s too bad, because with all that money, intellect and influence at their disposal, the best they can do is try to dissuade people from trying the competition’s products? Why not attempt to create a viable alternative? Everything they’ve put out since snookering DOS has been snake oil.
Truly pathetic, and we all suffer from it.
he [baldmer] looks more like “young frankenstein”
I’m not sure if this is what they teach em at business school but I’m suprised by the amount of harsh words on both sides of the fence at the moment. I thought it was the done thing not to openly criticise ones competitors. The situation is that microsoft lost the battle with windows media player, and is slowly losing the grasp on the internet browser and eventually os. I doubt all of this market will go to Apple, but frankly i dont care, I look forward to a time when MS the dinosaur of a company doesn’t dictate the market.
In related news, Apple calls Steve Ballmer ugly, fat, balding, behemoth guy.
[‘hotel’ (on Aurora where Ballmer will soon be living]
Aurora Avenue North? hehe.
Not an area for families. Unless you’re on your way Woodland Park.
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”big surprise” style=”border:0;” />
“Remember, when you’re the little tiny niche guy who owns 2 percent of the worldwide (computer) market, you can be cute one time and it helps you grow.” Well said, Mr. Ballmer. It’s these brilliant decisions that allow him to succeed me as the king of the world – or at least the world of those who have not fallen into the frightening abyss of Steve Jobs.
But usually, we call that place Hell. Therefore, Mr. Jobs (if he was ever a gentleman) can also be called the Devil.
OK, I admit that I watch a little television, and that I saw the dumbest commercial ever last night. No, it wasn’t about the Wii. It was one of the “Get a Mac” ads that Apple circulates on stupid channels like Cartoon Network and MSNBC. I was laughing through the whole thing for two reasons:
1. The previous commercial
2. How dumb could Apple be to lie on TV? We’re not stupid!
Enough with the chess match metaphor. The Devil sticks with tic-tac-toe. And I personally have bought IBM’s Deep Blue and reincarnated it. We can all agree that Deep Blue and Windows Vista will take us from ten moves ahead of Apple to being a thousand moves ahead, although Microsoft can create an unstoppable checkmate in about thirty moves. Twenty-eight. Whatever. It’s Hell’s turn right now, for the record. The Devil must be thinking hard; he usually doesn’t take longer than two minutes to make a goof.
Uh oh … I just got an e-mail saying that I need to rescue the REAL Zune Tang from Hell. He must feel like crap down there. The Devil sure owes all of us a big one, not only for kidnapping him, but for including imposters in the nefarious scheme.
And the Russian hackers have figured out how to create accounts on Windows 2000. Keep it up!
Your whining. Our wealth. Microsoft.
Sure Am Relieved writes:
“The Apple is like BMW (or insert your favorite high end car manufacturer here) while Microsoft is like Yugo, Ford (or insert your least favorite, low end car manufacturer here) is interesting and accurate BUT ONLY TO A POINT:
Where the analogy breaks down is that Apple, unlike BMW is NOT more expensive than its competition, as a matter of course.
We need to be careful about repeating the Apple is BMW analogy – it plays into the no-longer-true statement that Macs are more expensive, assuming you equip the machines comparably, and accept that Apple doesn’t play in the e-waste, entry level market (the one where nobody makes any money).”
Actually been to Germany recently?
BMW aren’t expensive when at similar specs.
As you state in your own post when comparing equally equiped products Apple Macs and other brand PCs are similarly priced.
BMW are a prestige car in a lot of countries due to a number of factors:
1) shipping costs
2) compared to the other rubbish built in that country
3) tarriffs and taxes imposed to protect the crap manufacturers, because if people could buy BMW’s and Mercs for the price of their General Motors or Ford product there would be no General Motors or Ford.
My point was never and would never be about price, as BMW, Audi, Volkswagen etc are “common” cars in their home land. Difference is that in Germany the “common car” has to be designed, engineered and built to a much higher standard than most other countries.
So the anology stands. At similar specs and build quality the BMW (excluding local taxes etc) is similarly priced than the low end car brand. Their product is better designed, better engineered and better built. Likewise Apple Macs are better designed, better engineered and better built. And for a similarly specs machine, a similar price, if not straight out better value! Oh and both companies are condsidered LEADERS in their industry (despite not having market leadership in share of sales), and both are EXTREMELY profitable relative to their industry counterparts.
my 2 cents,
Luke
“since when has market share really mattered ?”
In every market which features demand side increasing returns. Always. Forever.
“Where the analogy breaks down is that Apple, unlike BMW is NOT more expensive than its competition, as a matter of course.”
Stop pushing that myth. On occasion it’s possible to find a Mac which is cheaper than the same PC, but never consistently across the product range or for any period of time.
“Target: Dell
Mission: Destroy (accomplished)”
Except that Dell still sells 10x the number of PCs Apple does. HP has taken more share from Dell than Apple has. Heck Acer has taken more share from Dell than Apple has. You might want to look up the word “Destroy” in a dictionary.
“Likewise Apple Macs are better designed, better engineered and better built.”
For the most part they look prettier, but use exactly the same components as any other PC, and are built by exactly the same contract manufacturers who build PCs for other vendors.
The difference is that they are marketed to the ignorant, who believe that they’re buying a BMW when they’re just buying the same old Ford or Yugo with different bodywork and a different badge.
moron, trying to fire up the posters heh?
“trying to fire up the posters heh?”
No, just educate the ignorant.
As a Mac user for many years I still think Bill Gates is demonstrating a lot of tolerance towards Apple in light of the ad’s that ridicule the Windows platform. Gates could do a lot of damage to Apple if they ceased to support (or license?) Word and Excel for the Mac. I for one would seriously consider switching to Windows if I could not use Word or Excel; iWork just wouldn’t cut it. I think Apple better be careful it doesn’t end up biting the hand that feeds it (or keeps it alive!), or just like the stupid comment Jobs made about teachers’ unions.
Sure wrote:
“For the most part they look prettier, but use exactly the same components as any other PC, and are built by exactly the same contract manufacturers who build PCs for other vendors.
The difference is that they are marketed to the ignorant, who believe that they’re buying a BMW when they’re just buying the same old Ford or Yugo with different bodywork and a different badge.”
TROLL!
The fact is the Mac is DESIGNED in the USA by Apple. They use logic boards and chipsets designed speciffically for their products, and yes they do use contract manufacturers, but NOT the same that make DELLS etc.
Aslo even if you use contract manufacturers doesn’t mena you get the SAME QUALITY product.
CISCO has used contract manufacturers for years, however they have a policy of QUALITY control for their products, and Apple has the same.
So whilst the PC manufacture may churn out PCs for other brands, they do not necessarily apply the same Quality Controls to every brand. If you do not understand this basic concept you do not understand the global economy.
The main issue is design anyway. A Ford MAY be built as well as a BMW, but it is the design and engineering that is the issue!
This is where you miuss the point.
And for clarification, as you seem incapable of comprehending this (as you fell into the trap already) DESIGN does NOT ONLY equal looks.
Design can be BENEATH the surface as well.
Get a clue – to be sure, to be sure…
Luke
“Get a clue – to be sure, to be sure…”
You overstate the value of American design. Most laptops today are designed by contract manufacturers. They have done so many designs for so many different people that they have much more experience in getting things right rather than having them whine, overheat, discolor and randomly shut down.
“Design can be BENEATH the surface as well.”
And if I had the choice of a machine designed by a company which does dozens of designs a year or one which does a few, I know which I’d take. Understand that in the global economy you talk about “American Designed” doesn’t always mean “Better Designed”
“Chipsets designed specifically for thier products”
Sure, they have Special Intel motherboard chipsets, Special Intel processors and Special ATI and Nvidia Graphics Chipsets. Sure. Thinking that just shows how deluded you are.
“yes they do use contract manufacturers, but NOT the same that make…”
Asus makes Macbooks, but no-body’s racing out to buy an Asus branded computer. But they do buy the HPs and Sonys and IBMs that Asus also made.
Quanta has made machines for Dell, Compaq, Gateway, Apple, HP, IBM, Sony, Sharp, Fujitsu and Siemens.
So Apple machines are truly made by the same people who make Dells and other PCs.
So your point about the same companies not making PCs is blatantly false.
And do you think Dell or HP, the world’s biggest PC companies demand less from their suppliers in terms of quality control than Apple? No Way.
Your statements contain enough inaccuracies to show that you’re just the kind of ignorant person I’m here to educate.