Top ten reasons why Steve Ballmer should be fired

“Microsoft has gone from being a feared technology powerhouse to being a mocked has-been and shell of its former self. The glory days of being able to run roughshod over competitors and instill a sense of terror in rivals have come to a screeching halt as competitors such as Google, Sony, and Apple have rolled out incredible products and services that put Microsoft’s own products to shame,” Jim Lynch writes for ExtremeTech.

MacDailyNews Take: Anyone that displays a totally disregard of ethics and the law should be feared. Microsoft was never feared for its quality or ability to innovate, because they never displayed either attribute. They were feared because they had a monopoly that they were quite fond of illegally abusing.

Lynch continues, “But why? What’s been happening inside of Microsoft that has resulted in the former software giant becoming a pale echo of its former self? Well they say that a fish rots from the head down and in Microsoft’s case the fish’s head has been rotting and stinking up the technology world for a long time and, frankly, it’s time for him to go.”

“Yup, it’s time for Steve Ballmer to be fired and for Microsoft to find new, fresh leadership while Ballmer is put out to pasture like an age-hobbled cow (or is it horses that get put out to pasture when they get older? Well whatever, I’ll just go with the cow thing). Well…actually…come to think of it…not all cows get put out to pasture, some get turned into hamburger. Give him his due, Ballmer would make one hell of a hamburger patty these days,” Lynch writes.

Lynch’s top ten reasons Steve Ballmer should be fired – plus a bonus reason, too:
10. Microsoft’s Stock Price
9. Overheating Xboxes
8. Nobody’s Scared of Microsoft
7. Incredibly lame and stupid attempt to take over Yahoo
6. The Google Obsession (while Apple lurks)
5. Web 2.0
4. Windows Mobile & the iPhone
3. The Zune: The only people who’ve bought Zunes are either anti-Apple ideologues or masochists who enjoy being abused by Microsoft.
2. Windows 7: Illustrates Microsoft’s penchant for stealing from Apple. Apparently Microsoft has already stolen…excuse me…incorporated “multi-touch” into a preliminary version of Windows 7. While they say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, I doubt Apple’s lawyers will see it that way and I suspect there will be a lawsuit if Windows 7 comes with anything resembling the multi-touch features already found on the iPhone.
1. Windows Vista
Bonus: Microsoft’s Big Ass Table: One of the stupidest and most useless things in the history of mankind.

Lynch writes, “Ballmer needs to be removed by Microsoft’s board and replaced by somebody who can give the aging and increasingly feeble company new life and a bold new direction.”

The full article describes and explains each point on the list in detail – recommended – here.

Lynch can write whatever he wants, but we fervently hope that Steve Ballmer continues to run Microsoft for as long as it takes.