“When Microsoft launched its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets last year, it went down a path the company had not yet taken. Here was Microsoft – which historically made software that ran on other manufacturers’ PCs – designing, building and selling its very own personal computer,” Dwight Silverman writes for The Houston Chronicle. “Of course, if its hardware partners had done a decent job, this move would be unnecessary. Microsoft wanted to show how Windows 8 should be done, even if it risked its relationship with manufacturers.”
“Indeed, at the opening keynote for Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference in Houston, the announcement that sales of Surface tablets would begin soon in 28 more countries brought stony silence from the 14,000+ gathered in the Toyota Center,” Silverman writes. “Ballmer has made it clear that Microsoft would be building more hardware. He has repeatedly said Microsoft would become a ‘devices and services’ company. On Thursday, Microsoft announced a sweeping reorganization of its structure aimed at doing just that. The company, which famously had been fractured into many business units, will consolidate into a much more horizontal structure aimed at ending the notorious infighting that has plagued it for years.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft is the new Apple (if Apple made half-assed, ill-conceived, non-selling crap under the auspices of an increasingly delusional clown).
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
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Blasphemy! I didn’t read the article but Blasphemy nonetheless!
Before I even read the comments”.. BLASPHEMY was the first to come to mind! Rediculous was second.
Rediculous, as in being diculous again??
Sacrilegious.
Not blasphemy. Just presumptuous, if not outright delusional.
Microsoft will be the new Apple right after Sharknado wins Best Picture.
MSFT is the Apple of the John Scully era.
Good observation.
So the headline should read
Microsoft is the OLD Apple
Even that is overly generous.
That’ll be the day…
Microsoft should do so well as becoming the Apple of the John Scully era.
Actually, Microsoft was doing pretty well during that time… And Apple was the one with a creaky patched-up OS, with poor multi-tasking and memory management. And Apple was the one copying Microsoft by trying to license the Mac OS (System 7.x). And Apple was the one trying to be like HP and Dell, by producing “dozens” of numbered beige box variations of the desktop Mac (some different only in name).
Those were the sad times for Apple (before 1997).
Just to toss in some technical correctness: The John Sculley era left Apple in the state just before what you describe ken1w. It occurred during the desperation years of Splindler, then Amelio as CEOs. That would be 1993 – 1997.
I guess I consider 1993-1997 part of the “John Scully era,” because he was responsible for it as much as the Spindler (who tried to oversee an external takeover of Apple) and Amelio (who didn’t have time to do much of anything except bring Steve Jobs back to Apple).
I have to agree.
However, Amelio did do some writhing around before he got Apple to buy NeXT, then finally get fired so Steve Jobs could take over. The worst of his writhing was probably allowing 3rd party companies to install Mac OS onto their Mac clones. Amelio didn’t understand Apple and used a blunderbuss in an attempt to hit some sort of target. Thankfully, he did hit NeXT and NOT Be (of Louis Gassee & BeOS fame). What a mess that would have been.
Dwight Silverman is the new Town Idiot.
no small feat in a town the size of Houston.
Nah, Ballmer will never give that seat up.
I agree, Ballmer is too into power and ego, and he’d never step down on his own.
From the Board of Director’s POV: Apparently they want to hang onto what vestige they can of the Gates administration, despite the fact that Ballmer was NEVER CEO material.
So, let’s thank the Board of Microsoft for their lack of insight into how to run the company. In the end, THEY are responsible for BALLMER and his mismanagement catastrophes. Well done gentlemen! 😀
We need to keep Ballmer right where he is. Do not call for his job. He is doing great. Just great. Could there be a better competitor??
Pundit –
a person who speaks with the tone of authority but is often found out to be just a big gasbag handing you a lot of stuff.
-Urban Dictionary
Better title – “Microsoft tries for the umpteenth time to rip off Apple’s ideas”.
As in “Microsoft is the new Samsung”
so sad and pathetic you almost have to feel sorry for them. but like many i’m sure most here hate google more than m$ i know i do.
lets smoke a blunt to celebrate 10 more years of ballmer’s reign
Sack everyone including Mr Balmer to save Microsoft.
A “devices and services company” selling devices and services no one but the few technologically insane wants? That’s some trick! I love the “oh were just kidding before but look at us NOW!” smoke and mirrors. This really has to be EOL for the Monkey Boy King.
M$ is doooooooooomed… Definitely and no questions asked!
I agree, MS has had a least a decade to produce phones and tablets. The only difference now is that they think that by making the hardware they will overcome their problems. When in fact that is not the problem. The problem is their bloated software.
I hate to see this happen as it could affect Apple in a very negative way. This is probably Ballmer’s last chance and it is almost certain that his polices will fail on a grand scale and in full view by everyone. He will then be dismissed and Apple’s greatest asset at MS will no longer be able to run Microsoft into the ground. The good news for Apple is that he has done such a good job of Fu@k)^* up MS it is probably unfixable.
M$ going face down won’t help Apple as they have cross licensing agreements. Apples real threat is Samsung and Google.
You can now safely remove the dollar sign in “M$”.
I read the headline and checked my calendar to make sure it wasn’t April Fool’s day again so soon.
Did anybody actually read his announcement? I can’t seem to get past the first two lines…I get bored and keep nodding off!
I read where he said, “Today’s announcement will enable us to execute even better on our strategy to deliver a family of devices and services…”
The ANNOUNCEMENT does that???
I couldn’t believe he sent that message.
Hmmm it sure sounds like the same BS he talks about every year. LOL
Microsoft is the new DELL, not ‘the new’ or any kind of Apple. What MSFT completely misses is that Apple spent years and years quietly evolving its products–avoiding the vapourware route of its competitors. Apple blindsided the smartphone industry because Nokia et al. were blindly sucking on a ‘cash cow’. That the iPhone popped onto the scene belied the depth of development Apple put into it.
Apple has proved the value of deep development because every quick respone (every) from Samsung, Nokia, RIM, etc. has failed. In spite of this lesson–which none of Apple’s competitors seem to have grasped–Ballmer thinks he can turn around MSFT with a 2,700 word memo that says nothing. MSFT cannot succeed with Ballmer in charge–he is the poison. Blinded by hubris, he cannot see this. If any company is doomed, it is MSFT. It won’t be tomorrow but MSFT has clearly entered the ‘living-dead’ category; they are no longer in control of their markets, their product development is response driven, “how did they do that and can we copy it?”, they are flailing out into areas where they lack expertise (hardware) instead of accepting the reality that their products suck, their user base is eroding and they need retrench.
The lesson that Ballmer SHOULD have learned from Apple is that the first step to a turnaround is to clean house the way Steve Jobs did when he returned to Apple. Of course, Ballmer is no Steve Jobs…
Microsoft is the new Microsoft
Apple is the new apple. This articles treats apple as if they have fallen off the stage of the whole scene.
You guys need to look at the “Joy of Tech” cartoon for today. It is priceless!
It will be fun to watch Microsoft’s going forward from here. The position they have won themselves over the past two-three decades was made possible by all the OEM partners they have developed during all that time. The best way to quickly ruin a relationship with a reliable partner is to begin competing with their core business.
I should get me some popcorn…
In the past Microsoft just copied Apple’s products, now they’re copying Apple’s structure. That’s all they’re saying.
Yeah sure. MS is the new Apple …Apple from the mid-90s
Apple mus have done something good for MS to copy Apple’s strutures, Why MS does not want to copy Google or Samsung?. We must be happy for Apple that MS wanted to copy Apple successes
Which apple? Crab-apple. Only good for pickling. Definitely not for enjoyable eating. Microsoft is indeed, “pickled”.
Can anyone imagine if Ballmer hires a soda boss selling sugar water, and the board fires Ballmer? And then as anti/opposite apple as they are, they improve dramatically?
Microsoft face plants straight into their beige box of an OS.
Best of luck.
We need Microsoft to wake up to combat Goosung and Crapdroid.