“On Tuesday, September 13, 2005, Microsoft announced to its employees and that it was reorganizing the company into a simpler organization in which executives much further down the chain would have direct decision-making capabilities, allowing the company to move more quickly in this ever-changing market and compete better with companies such as Google and Apple. The reorg was announced publicly a week later, with Microsoft also announcing that group vice president Jim Allchin would retire once Windows Vista ships in late 2006. Succeeding Allchin is Kevin Johnson, who will oversee the new Platform Products & Services division. Jeff Raikes, the head honcho of the unit previous responsible for Microsoft Office, was named president of the Microsoft Business Division. And Xbox’s Robbie Bach was named president of Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division, which will combine the Xbox with Microsoft’s other hardware products,” Paul Thurrott reports for Internet-Nexus.
“To explain this change to employees, Microsoft hosted an internal event with CEO Steve Ballmer, chairman Bill Gates, Johnson, Allchin, Raikes, and Bach. Most of the discussion and Q & A that happened that day is largely irrelevant to Nexus readers, but the company did take one impromptu question about competition with Apple Computer that I thought you’d enjoy. Here’s a transcript of that portion of the session, and some photos taken from a video of the event,” Thurrott reports.
Q: Everyone wants to talk today about Google as a competitor, but Apple is resurgent as well and is doing some interesting new things, and moving over to the Intel platform. I’m curious about your perspective on Apple as a competitor, and also our Macintosh Business Unit is squirreled away in our games division, and, uh…
[Laughter from both the executive panel and the audience]
Q: … And I’m interested in that as an architecture. So what’s your perspective on Apple as a competitor and on our Macintosh business?
Steve Ballmer: [looking sideways down the panel and laughing]: Who wants to go first?
[Hearty laughter as everyone on the panel basically points at each other, offering choices other than themselves.]
Steve Ballmer: We’ll let Jim talk about Apple in general as a competitor, and then we’ll go from there.
The full spectacle, complete with the guy they’re firing forced to answer “the Apple question” first, and pictures that prove conclusively that we thought wrong: Uncle Fester actually can continue to get balder and fatter here.
Nervous laughter, condescending laughter, or just silly laughter? You decide. Does one part of Ballmer’s answers foretell a Microsoft ‘iPod?’ According to Thurrott, Ballmer said, “…obviously one of the keys for us in music and video is to make sure we have an integrated and strong portable device … [shrugs] business.”
After reading the whole exchange, it just never seems to end: Microsoft still wants to “deliver the same kind of end-to-end experience that Apple is able to deliver by being so vertically integrated,” but they never do. You can’t deliver a seamless user experience when you have too many cooks in the kitchen and you care more about controlling “ecosystems” that line your company’s pockets than you care about your customers’ user experience.
It’s too bad they weren’t asked about key employee defections, China, Microsoft’s flatlined stock price, and the company towel service. We’d have loved to see Balmer’s already-abused chair go sailing and the f bombs they’d drop en masse like a bunch of drunken sailors.
Related articles:
Microsoft’s Ballmer: It’s true, some of Windows Vista’s features are ‘kissing cousins’ to Mac OS X – September 19, 2005
Microsoft suffers from malaise, key defections, Windows Vista struggles, lack of towels – September 16, 2005
Microsoft’s Bill Gates’ prediction of Apple iPod market share decline fails to materialize – September 18, 2005
PC World: Microsoft innovation – an oxymoron – September 15, 2005
Microsoft debuts Dashboard Widgets, er, ‘Microsoft Gadgets’ – September 13, 2005
Microsoft appropriates Apple’s ‘brushed metal’ look for Office 12 for Windows – September 13, 2005
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: Apple’s moved to Intel? Ho hum – June 07, 2005
Bill Gates: ‘I don’t believe the success of the Apple iPod is sustainable in the long run’ – May 12, 2005
Bill Gates jokes about Mac OS X ‘Tiger’ and calls Apple ‘the super-small market share guy’ – May 03, 2005
Windows czar Allchin says Apple copying Microsoft’s Windows Longhorn – April 27, 2005
Microsoft employees leaving due to (and blogging about) malaise smothering company – April 25, 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
Microsoft CEO Ballmer: ‘Apple iPod users are music thieves’ – October 04, 2004
Microsoft CEO Ballmer on the digital home: ‘There is no way that you can get there with Apple’ – October 04, 2004
Bill Gates’ sarcasm regarding Apple iPod: ‘Oh, wow, I don’t think we can do that’ – September 07, 2004
Silicon Valley: Apple CEO Steve Jobs previews ‘Longhorn’ – June 29, 2004
Apple CEO Steve Jobs: Mac OS X Tiger ‘is going to drive the copycats crazy – June 28, 2004
Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs previews Mac OS X 10.4 ‘Tiger’ to ship in the first half of 2005 – June 28, 2004
Apple takes dead aim at Microsoft, ‘Longhorn’ with WWDC Mac OS X 10.4 ‘Tiger’ ads – June 28, 2004
PC Magazine: Microsoft ‘Longhorn’ preview shows ‘an Apple look’ – May 06, 2004
Microsoft concerned that Longhorn’s look and feel will be copied if revealed too soon – August 25, 2003
Windows ‘Longhorn’ to add translucent windows that ripple and shrink by 2005 – May 19, 2003
Apple leads; Wintel follows as usual – November 11, 2002
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“Bill, is that an iPod in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?”
Vista’s trasparency overkill is the ultimate “me too”
hey.. i think that’s called body language..
thinking about the iPod make you uncomfortable Bill?
thinking about Quicktime make you uncomfortable?
thinking about a Mac mini plugged into a TV = QT Movie Store make you uncomfortable?
Is it me, or does Monkey Boy’s tougue look like a miniature version of his GIANT ASS???? Ok, I feel better now.
As Thurrott reported:
“In the session wrap-up a few minutes later, Bill Gates decides to add some final words. He stretches back over the top of his chair while delivering this bit, which I found to be odd. His comments are not directed at Apple per se, but given the comments from Ballmer that he is following up on, it’s clear at Gates is addressing competitors such as Apple and Google here.”
From a body language point of view, people tend to break eye contact with whoever they are talking too when they are lying to that person – given a room full of people, maybe Bill thought the only way to look was up to the Heavens!
I wonder if he saw Steve Jobs looking down at him from God’s right hand?
Paul proves himself to be the ultimate moron..
a) agreeing with Enderle that the 2007 OS from MS that no business will touch until about 2009 should scare Apple.. (..as in.. Leopard)
b) arguing for a messy pricing scheme ( this one is disingenuous.. he wants Apple to try it, because it will be a disaster and the WMA stores might see some black ink)
c) saying Jobs is a hypocrite for.. get this.. arguing for affordable simply pricing on iTunes.
Why is Jobs a hypocrite you might ask?
Because Paul says that Macs and iPods are way overpriced..
He’s got rolodex FULL of MS Geeks and he has the audacity to say that Apple’s stuff is ‘way overpriced’ when MS has a MONOPOLY .. (no competition to drive prices down, etc)
Why are the Macs and iPods overpriced?
Because someone took them apart and concluded that the iPod had abotu $90 worth of gear in it, and the Mac mini.. $200.
No overhead? No R&D? No shipping? No Marketing?
Paul.. doesn’t know anything about business.. and thinks Apple is getting some kind of 45% profit margin
Friggin dolt.. pissed cuz Jobs is arguing for low prices…. insanity
Market share is a useless measuring tool of the effect M$ or Apple is having, especially on installed OS. iPods are what, 85% of the market, but those other 15% of players are sitting in desk drawers. OTOH, pretty much every ATM and cash register is running embedded M$ and they get to count that toward market share. (The reality of Windows running my bank account or a missle silo is another one of those things I shouldn’t think too hard about…)
Bottom line….Apple will NEVER win the OS market share war. Never, ever…so stop obsessing about it. What it will do once the MacTel switch is a couple of years past and Windows is allowed to run on Macs (Apple says no support….yeah, right…2010 will see 200 GB USB keychain drives partitioned with OSX 10.7 and Windows Vista 0.97b that also is an iPod) is ensure that people can choose Apple HARDWARE — the thing M$ can’t do, and the ultimate plan (MW). They say it is about the software, but if it was about the software, they wouldn’t be giving it away for free.
But what we have now is a rock solid user experience with stylish hardware and functioning software. Enjoy it.
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Ballmer: Oof … excuse me.
Gates: [faints].
microsoft, there so ugly im going to enjoy the savour the beautiful spectacle of seeing them rot down the drain pipe.
ahhhhhhhhh…pass me another beer….
Well, we got nano noir and nano blanc. MS must come up with a samo rouge to compete, I suppose.
What might very well come soon:
M$ Hardware.*
It’s not that big of a leap, and would continue M$ domination. It may even make a better product for them.
* I’d still buy a Mac
Microsoft considers Apple as competition ????