BusinessWeek’s Arik Hesseldahl, in an open letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, says that Microsoft’s unsolicited offer for Yahoo! is “a profoundly bad idea” and that Ballmer has no focus:
So who has focus? That other Steve. You know, the turtle-necked guy in California who keeps annoying you by selling iPods and computers that typically don’t run on Windows. You could learn a lot from him. Focus saved his company from oblivion. Apple (AAPL) does what it’s good at, and it expands into new areas carefully. (Examples: iPod, iTunes music store, Apple retail store, iPhone.) Consider this: With sales data showing that Mac computers are growing more popular than ever among consumers, you might think it’s a perfect time for Apple to ride that momentum and go after corporate computing. But it won’t. Why? Apple knows it wouldn’t work because you have the corporate market all tied up with your pals Dell (DELL) and HP.
And why is the Mac growing more popular among consumers? Well, let’s be honest. Windows Vista isn’t exactly winning you many friends despite all the extra time you took to “perfect” it. (How many deadlines did you miss again?) At the same time, Apple’s cleaning your clock in the smartphone business—the iPhone is now the second most popular smartphone in the U.S., behind the BlackBerry (RIMM). I haven’t heard anyone talk enthusiastically about Windows Mobile, since…well, since there’s been a Windows Mobile.
You know what would be a bold move, Steve? Admitting that Microsoft doesn’t belong in the music player business, or the search business, or the advertising business, or the automotive entertainment business. The Zune? It’s a joke. Kill it before you embarrass yourself further. And are the combined forces of Yahoo and Microsoft really going to make a dent in the Google search advertising juggernaut? That’s like asking two fifth-graders to play Kobe Bryant in a game of two-on-one. The results will speak for themselves.
Much more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
Ballmer is a clown. He is nothing more than an example of what you get when you appoint a CEO based upon a fortuitous dorm assignment instead of upon actual ability and talent. May Ballmer remain Microsoft CEO for as long as it takes.
“That’s what happens when you rule with an iron tongue.”
Ellen DeGeneres will be knocking on your door soon to see just who this person with the iron tongue is.
Ellen’s at the rug doctor today getting her oil changed and a quick lube.
@Mac+,
Sorry you are an idiot – because to say that people here ‘fear’ MS makes you look ridiculous…
If I fear anything it is that twats like yourself continue telling people that MS is good for them. Bit like the old person that got sold an Acer when they wanted a Mac, being told it was MS’s ‘better’ version!!
Oh God, why can’t Microsoft just die? Also, why the hell can’t they release a decent operating system? They have tens of billions of dollars to spend on this kind of stuff.
First!!!
On the second page.
🙁
Zune Tang is currently on a very very intensive WoW raid. He’s still down in the basement. We are expecting him up for dinner later, so, I’ll let him know that he needs to check out MDNews.
Exactly – Let Ballmer do his thing for as long as it takes to get MS in some sort of proportional market position – In other words, 50% or less.
“Ellen DeGeneres will be knocking on your door . . . “
I think she’s too busy driving her Portia. (Too obscure?)
Yeah, but is Kobe *smarter* than two 5th graders?
@Big Al
“Who here thinks Billy was Balmer’s bum boy in college
I didn’t think it was just me who thought that way. How else would an incompetent salesman get to be the CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations?”
and Balmer has the pictures of Billy on his knees
Hesseldahl believes M$ could put together a top rate operating system if they really put their mind to it. They have not done it so far. I suppose they could buy one.
…once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
Winning entry #8:
Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit, and the person who doesn’t get it.
I have no sympathy at all for Yahoo. They got in bed with MS some time ago. Think about it. Many of their services just didn’t work with and still don’t work with Safari. Yahoo Messenger for the Mac is substandard in terms of a feature comparison with the Windows version. I get the sense their programmers only know how to work with Explorer. So, you get in bed with MS, expect to be screwed. I have no sympathy for them.
Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Ampar, you must be a writer for a living. What are your credits? (Incidentally, you rule, which is almost enough to make me suspect you as an MDN employee just to keep hits up and people entertained.)
To Shogun: Thanks! Yes, I write for a living. It’s mostly marketing stuff for a range of businesses from small to huge. I may start a blog one day before it becomes federally mandated. And no, I don’t work for MDN! I don’t like snow. This place keeps me entertained in between writing bursts.
Actually, Bill Gates created the monster out of thin air, where it’s been ever since. Microsoft never valued excellence except in Machiavellian business tactics. That was Gates’s forte – not software. Unfortunately for his company, technology has advanced to the point where crappy can-do [barely] software won’t cut it anymore.
Nevertheless his company grew into a giant – partly due to Apple’s early missteps – and still has enough deluded users to keep feeding it the cash it needs to find another successful business. The problem is that one thing keeps getting in the way: the Machiavellian tactics that require its new businesses to support its key OS and Office products, perpetuating the rot.
Great article. Ballmer should listen:
> Put all those things that Microsoft isn’t very good at, put them in a box with Yahoo and cut the apron strings. Sure, keep an equity stake, even a majority. But this formidable new entity would function best outside the Windows-centric reservation. If this new company’s plans don’t coincide perfectly with some future set of features coming to Windows, so be it.
That’s a great business article.
Well, it’s great having you around… All the Best!
MW: “best” sweartogod!
(Maybe they can change the magic word to a series of 7 numbers between one and forty-seven randomly selected?)
OMG! They’re reviewing a computer I bought 9 months ago!
Mine’s hooked to the AV receiver – what a great audio component. iTunes visuals in 1080 are pretty cool too.
Now if we could just get Apple to include visuals in Front Row…
Just tell me one thing pls; McCain was joking when he said he would offer Balmer a position, right?
This is one of the greatest pieces of work on Ballmer and Microshit that has ever been written. This guy deserves a Pulitzer for this. Everything he says is dead on. I have never seen a more accurate portrayal of the situation at MS than this one.
Ballmer is going to be out of job soon. He can take that brown tongue of his and lick someone else’s ass for attention. I hope MS goes through with this deal – it will be their demise.
“X is for XBox
Y is for Yahoo!
Z is for Zune…..”
I want to play!
A is for Apple -the thorn in your side
B is for Balmer, the dult in your heart
C is for Command the key that used to have an Apple on it
D is for DOS, the your first rip-off of Apple
E is for
F is for Fortunes slipping way at record pace
G is for Google, which will be the new MS in 2 Years
Help me finish this guys.
H is for Hell, where all Windows users find themselves
I is for Ive, the design genius that gave us so much cool stuff
J is for Jerk, what Ballmer and his tongue are
K is for Krapware, i.e. Vista
L is for Losers, i.e. Gates and Ballmer
M is of course for Macintosh
etc
Buy Steve Ballmer his own private jet.
Make it a “Dreamliner” 787. It’d be fitting for Ballmer to taste the other side of empty promises and slip dates….
MS should borrow a shipload of cash and buy Boeing as well.
N is for Notebooks, the kind Dell etc. could never make.
O is for Opportunity, so squandered at MS.
P is for Patience, needed whenever MS announces a release date.
Q is for Quality, which speaks for itself.
S is for Sales guys, who you don’t want running a company.
T is for Tongue, are Ballmer and Gene Simmons lovechildren?