At the Microsoft’s recent “the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Global Summit,” a gathering of the company’s top software developers, Microsoft repeatedly proclaimed to their MVPs that they would “win” in search and other aspects of their Windows Live thingamabob.
“‘We’re a two-trick pony, and that’s rare in the history of business. Desktop software was a trick. Server was a trick. Our third trick is trying to do online, and our fourth trick is trying to do consumer electronics,’ Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during a wide-ranging question-and-answer session with Joss and about 200 Stanford Graduate School of Business students Thursday,” Ryan Blitstein reports for The Mercury News. “‘Google built one very good business. They only have one thing they do. Everything else is sort of cute,’ Ballmer said.” Full article here.
On Friday, former Microsoft technical evangelist and prominent blogger Robert Scoble weighed in, “Microsoft executives are bragging to MVPs that ‘we’re in it to win.’ I don’t think Microsoft is. The words are empty. Microsoft’s Internet execution sucks (on whole). Its search sucks. Its advertising sucks… If that’s ‘in it to win’ then I don’t get it.”
Scoble writes, “Microsoft isn’t going away. Don’t get me wrong. They have record profits, record sales, all that. But on the Internet? Come on. This isn’t winning. Microsoft: stop the talk. Ship a better search, a better advertising system than Google, a better hosting service than Amazon, a better cross-platform Web development ecosystem than Adobe, and get some services out there that are innovative…”
“Oh, and Ballmer, if I ran Google your speech at Stanford yesterday would be plastered on every door on every campus Google has. Why? It’ll motivate Google employees the same way a coach will motivate an opposing team during the Superbowl by taking trash in the press. You’re up against a formidable competitor and one you’ve never seen before that has some real, significant weapons that you can’t deal with,” Scoble writes.
Scoble writes, “This isn’t Netscape you’re talking trash to, Steve. Have you really studied Google? It doesn’t sound like you have. Again, Microsofties, you’d be better served not to talk trash until you have something YOU CAN SHIP!”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “pogo” for the heads up.]
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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
Engadget: Microsoft’s Zune software: ‘It sucks’ – November 13, 2006
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Top Windows developer dumps Microsoft’s ‘pile of crap’ for Apple’s Mac OS X – September 12, 2006
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“craptastic blunders”
I’m sure Frankensteve will squirt some more craptastic blunders very soon.
Get rid of Ballmer?
NOOOOOO.
They have to keep him. And Gates. These buffoons are the only thing that will guarantee the death of MS Market share.
I am sure M$ has some brilliant developers but they can’t inovate if Fester ans Gates tell them that their ideas are “bad for M$ strategy”.
Keep them there please M$.
With Apple’s great current reputation for innovation in all areas they work in and Fester and uncle Bill lying about stuff and acting like idiots, OS X and other OS’s like Linux can grab a chunk of Market share and the real innovation can begin.
Only with vigorous competition can we see true innovation.
This is my favorite line, “Our third trick is trying to do online”.
MS wants to be Apple ………….MS wants to be the Mac OS
MS wants to be Netscape ……..MS wants to be Quicktime
MS wants to be Java ………. …..MS wants to be Google
MS wants to be The Gateway to the internet, DRM and everything
MS wants to be the iPod ………MS wants to be iTunes
Gates wants to be Jobs ………..Ballmer wants to be right
My first trick is trying to have a pillow fight with a mountain lion.
My second trick, if I survive, is to be a total asswipe vacuum and I want to be all the shiny things that I see …and to be them I must destroy them. I will admire them …then love them …I reach out my arms and they will love me …and then I’ll crush them with all my might …and then …….I will be a reasonable facsimile.
Yo, Petey, did you realize that you can actually buy yourself a Sense of Humor? There’s a special on them at K-Mart this week…
Better stock up!
I must say, EVERY time Ballmer opens his yap, he ends up sounding like a utter fool! He really can’t be the complete idiot that he appears to be.
Is he THAT clueless, that INSULATED from the rest of the industry… oh, wait, in his mind Microsoft IS the industry!
Maybe that’s why it took 5 billion dollars and 6 years to release a compromised product like Vista.
>Apple’s a 4 trick pony – computers, iPods, Apple TV, iPhone.>
OSX, makes it a five trick pony. Oh! And Steve makes it six.
MDN readers think Microsoft is bad? Apple is worse. Literally thousands of people had a problem with the 10.4.9 update in that their computer wouldn’t boot after install of the update. It was plastered all over Apple’s forum in two threads. Apple, to save face and prevent this “bad publicity” from getting out to the general public, DELETED BOTH THE THREADS!
Apple’s proprietary lock-in system is the worst I’ve ever witnessed. They’re so concerned about their “image” (what they are is dead scared of Windows Vista) that they can’t even leave technical information on the internet forums where other people can find it to fix their computers. It might tarnish Lord Jobs’ polished Apple if anybody found out Mac OS X actually has FREAKING PROBLEMS THAT CAUSE IT NOT TO BOOT AFTER AN UPDATE!
That’s about as LAME as it gets and we’re going to make sure the truth about Apple is known.
Never underestimate the power of the internet…..
Whatever. I have personally updated 5 Macs to 10.4.9 this past week and absolutely NONE of them had a single problem. There are always a few that have problems with these updates, most of which are users that don’t properly maintain their systems or know how to RTFM. They are the ones that are vocal on the message boards while the overwhelming majority don’t have any problems at all and you aren’t hearing from them…
I love how Ballmer blusters around like the Microsoft still means something. The Microsoft brand is $#!+. It is synonymous with mediocrity and failure.
Microsoft coasts along on Windows and Office revenues, losing bundles of cash on everything else. Eventually, businesses will find some alternative to Windows, and the whole house of cards will collapse.
Mr. PC Guy,
Choice? I give you choice. You want to run WIndows? Run any version of Windows on a Mac. Natively. Run OS/2. Run UNIX, Solaris, Linux – all at the same time with OSX. You want choice? Macs give you the biggest choice of software on the planet, running on the best hardware on the planet.
Do drink your Kook Aid somewhere else loser. Your Ballmeresque trash-talking here (that is, meaningless thrashing about – like Shakespear wrote, “full of noise and fury, signifying nothing.”) don’t fly.
DJ,
Apple is a five-trick pony. Personal computers, the Mac (gui), iPods, iPhones and iTV.
S.
And in other breaking news:
Dog trapped in sewer out but still missing.
Film at eleven.
Thank you and good night.
hey macheads. get a life.
apple is just a corp.(very good one) and Jobs puts his pants on just like the rest of us.
i’d gladly trade places with ballmer or his wife, and i’m not gay.
he’s worth billions, a wife, kids.
ballmer is living the american dream
Where’s ChissyOne’s saracasm when we need it the most! How about another Michael Dell type rant?
@Apple Sucks,
If a moron like you were standing on the corner of a major city shouting that the sky is falling just because it was–in truth–raining at the time, would you listen to him?
Computer users of ALL shapes and sizes have troubles following directions and RTFM when it comes to installing new software, updating their OS’s, and maintaining their hard drives in general. YOU KNOW THAT . . . or SHOULD.
The horror stories found all over the web about XP –> VISTA upgraders are legion AND ALL TRUE. Why do you so conveniently ignore them in your post?
I, too, just upgraded seven Macs of all ages and configurations in my office, and everything went smooth as glass. Disconnecting all external peripherals first, quitting all open applications, running Disk Utility, OnyX/Disk Warrior, and using the Combo updater was–as expected–completely successful in this procedure. Those who are having problems with 10.4.9 had problems with their drives BEFORE they applied the update. THAT is a fact.
In truth, the fault with the people you mention in your post lies not in their stars, but in themselves. Just like you.
@ Apple Sucks
Maybe I’m just delusional. Maybe I did too much acid as a teenager. Maybe I ate too many Big Macs and my brain is just clogged with too much grease, but do you seriously expect me to believe this conspiracy theory-like drivel that is oozing out of your message boards? Yeah, I know, Apple does do this, does do that, but you make Apple sound like Fred Sanford’s junk yard. And I know better.
To mis-quote someone who has never posted on these boards before in any real capacity: I know the history of Apple. Do you know the history of Apple? I studied Apple and I know the history of Apple.
And to believe one-tenth of the vitriolic bile vomiting from that site, I’d have to scoop out about 2 cups of my own brain matter with a teaspoon AND remove my r-complex with a straw.
In other words, go tell someone who cares.
s/he-
always nice to meet someone who whould be willing to sell their body and soul for a few bucks
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“‘Microsoft sucks’”
Well thank you Captain Obvious!
Petey –
I’m curious to know if you are either from upstate NY region, or near St. Louis….
Barge Pole as a coloquial expression is very telling and I figure you must be from a region where Barges were a modality of transportation.
This is pretty good too…
Upward and onward, Microsoft!
Pssssttt . . . s/he . . .
You’re profoundly wrong if you think that Ballmer bashers are all just jealous, or if not that they should be. I do not, in any way, shape, or form — envy Steve, the Balmy, Ballmer. I don’t hate him, but nor do I want to be him. Nor do I respect him just because he’s rich and successful.
In fact, I don’t respect him. I used to live in various greater Seattle locations, and was a network admin & systems analyst. I can tell you, with reasonable confidence that Steve, beyond all the internet anecdotal evidence that backs up my claim (i.e. blogs by current and former Microsofties) is, indeed, what they say. Not you’re average happy billionaire, to put it mildly.
So be careful what you wish for.
The fact is that wealthy Americans are more depressed than citizens in other Information Societies; and throw in most Industrial Societies, as well. It is our folly to believe that American billionaires like Bill Gates — like themselves, and don’t suffer from the kind of competition anxiety that results in some pretty manic symptomology. Isolated instances of throwing chairs is nothing compared to the cumulative effect that Ballmer’s very personality constantly has upon those around him. Clammy shoulders and shit-smelling air.
People like Gates & Ballmer, even though they’re “rich” and “successful” can also suffer some pretty severe, and pretty deep, personal insecurity — along with the resulting (compensatory) arrogance, or in some cases egotism and/or narcissism. Don’t want to feel like shit? Rely on all the trappings of money and success to convince yourself that you’re “the shit” instead. And not to single out Ballmer, this phenom is quite prevalent. Ballmer’s personality, to begin with + lifestyles of the rich and famous = relative unhappiness more often than you’d think. Would they be even LESS happy if they were barely getting by, same family, etc. just a different income? I certainly wouldn’t bet my savings on it. God, I’d be very nervous betting my savings on it. How about less happy if they lived in poverty? Yes. So life is much more complicated than most pop-culturized Post-Modern Americans give it credit for.
And, by the way, I’d have to think long and hard about whether or not I’d want to be the manic pressure cooker that is Steve Jobs, however enlightened he may be. Just because he’s a progressive, eats organic, uses recyclables, etc. doesn’t mean he’s the happy camper like the rest of those in Carmel Valley (statistically less suicidal than anywhere North of the Mexican border, and South of the Canadian).
Just give me a stable family, enough money to get by, and the kind of work I’m naturally wired to do and I’m happy. I know this now. And I just wish someone had told me at your age. Not just told. Convinced.
So don’t buy into it, s/he. Don’t conduct your life toward “success” or “reach for the (Balmy) sky” to be happy. Instead spend hours and hours and hours developing personally. Better at relationships, citizenry, parenthood, and personal enlightenment — not “New Age” bull or the like, just the kind of wisdom that leads to healthier thinking and living habits. You’ll thank me.
P.S. I have a life, thank you, don’t need to get one. Not anymore.
P.S.S. Ironic MDN Magic Word = MONEY
s/he:
So you would be Ballmer’s wife and and take it up the old wazoo just for all that money, would ya? I don’t know if you are gay or straight and I don’t really care. But one thing I do know is that you are most definitely sub-human. Having sex with monkeys just ain’t right, ya sicko.
I just upgraded to OSX.4.9 this morning. It worked perfectly.
Okay .. and another thing about you mac snobs …
You don’t know tongue in cheek or sarcasm when you read it ….
I’m going back to my towering inferno of a PC now and shut it down before it melts …. it usually keeps my home nice and warm what with all the CPU heat and all so I don’t have to use the furnace … but there’s some weird smoke coming out of it …
See ya mac fan boys ….
I prefer the humour of mr pcguy over zune tang anyday.
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So these non-search items are what Ballmer considers “sort of cute:”
Blogger
Calendar
Online Docs/Spreadsheets
Gmail
Google Maps
Froogle
Picasa
SketchUp
YouTube
Google Earth
Yeah those cute little items will never catch on.
Mr PC Guy wrote: I’m going back to my towering inferno of a PC now… it usually keeps my home nice and warm what with all the CPU heat and all so I don’t have to use the furnace…
For that, I recommend an older Mac. The Quad-Core G5 was the most efficient heater-and-computer-in-one appliance.
😀