Well, it’s finally happened. Microsoft’s Board of Directors finally awoke from their collective coma.
Microsoft’s press release, verbatim:
Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most.
“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”
The Board of Directors has appointed a special committee to direct the process. This committee is chaired by John Thompson, the board’s lead independent director, and includes Chairman of the Board Bill Gates, Chairman of the Audit Committee Chuck Noski and Chairman of the Compensation Committee Steve Luczo. The special committee is working with Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., a leading executive recruiting firm, and will consider both external and internal candidates.
“The board is committed to the effective transformation of Microsoft to a successful devices and services company,” Thompson said. “As this work continues, we are focused on selecting a new CEO to work with the company’s senior leadership team to chart the company’s course and execute on it in a highly competitive industry.”
“As a member of the succession planning committee, I’ll work closely with the other members of the board to identify a great new CEO,” said Gates. “We’re fortunate to have Steve in his role until the new CEO assumes these duties.”
Source: Microsoft Corp.
MacDailyNews Take:
Yeah, Monkey Boy “decided” to leave. Riiight. “To spend more time with his family,” surely.
Today we begin the hopefully long – as long as it takes™ – goodbye to the king of tech comedy fodder.
Ballmer T. Clown’s “original thoughts on timing” were to ride the Windows/Office monopolies for as long as he possibly could, until everyone realized he had no earthly idea what to do besides be repeatedly, unmercifully steamrolled by Steve Jobs’ Apple.
Mission accomplished, Uncle Fester!
The luckiest dorm assignment in the history of the universe has finally run out of luck.
So, in a nutshell: Ballmer plowed the S.S. Microtanic straight into the iceberg and then the BoD finally woke up long enough to decide to plop him into the nearest lifeboat. Bravo! The perfect ending to big dummy’s reign of incompetence. Of course, he’d never go down with the ship.
For as long as it took – and then some. A moment of silence, please.
(Psst: Hire Forstall. He can put curtains in the Windows.)
Related articles:
The irrelevance of beleaguered Microsoft – July 26, 2013
Former Xbox manager: To save Microsoft, Ballmer and thousands of others must go – June 15, 2013
Microsoft CEO Ballmer crashes and burns in final CES keynote – January 10, 2012
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone – January 17, 2007
Steve Jobs: Apple almost ruined by ‘sales guys’ in mid-90’s – January 25, 2004
Nooooooooooooooo! Come back, Shane, come back!
OH NO!!!!
(insert face of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” here.)
They were “fortunate” to have Steve like Germany was “fortunate” to have Adolf. “Never have so many been so “indebted” on the road to ruin to one so untalented & technologically clueless.”
It’s because:
Ballmer would put the light bulb in his mouth, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never get it to light up. 😛
The difference is his Fester mouth’s lightbulb cast darkness instead of light.
Actually his skull would light up. Like a neon sign “STUPID”
I cried! I panicked! Then I felt a little better since he has 12 months to screw up some more. Hopefully he will train the new person coming in on how to be a BALLMSMEAR!
That’s “within” 12 months… If it take Microsoft a full year to appoint a new CEO, purge the existing “leadership team,” and change direction, they are dead. That would mean Windows 8 continues on (and continues to hinder PC sales), with no replacement in the works. That would mean a round of planned updates for Surface and Surface Pro, and even more losses from unsold inventory.
Here’s my guess for what happens next…
* The urgency of the situation requires Ballmer be removed sooner, rather than later.
* While the search for a new CEO continues, Bill Gates steps in as the interim CEO (the “iCEO”).
* Gates later announces that the search for a new CEO has failed to find a suitable candidate, and he will take over as the permanent CEO, to save the company he founded.
Microsoft, copying Apple to the very end… 🙂
I was actually thinking Bill Gates might try to pull a Steve Jobs and come back and take over Microsoft, but then again, I don’t think Bill Gates did that much for Microsoft the first time around, so the board might not be as willing to take him back. 😉
The “board might not be as willing to take him back”? He’s the CHAIRMAN of that board! 🙂
Ah, yes. That changes things. Still, he’s no Steve Jobs. 😉
I agree. And most of the time, when Microsoft copies Apple, it’s too little too late…
Ballmer stepping down is an admission Bill Gates was wrong from day-one.
I could care less if Bill Gates invented the computer, he will forever be Paul Allen’s dumbest choice to run Microsoft and Mrs. Gate’s little boy Billy chose Steve Ballmer as the best man to lead Microsoft into the 21st Century.
I think he ran it in the ground and Bill Gates now knows, Microsoft will have to limp into port for a major overhaul.
Imagine the massive bilge pumps needed to clear the excrement from the hull of that obese boat that has been adrift since 1995.
Remember Windows 95 and that whole billion-dollar campaign to celebrate what an amazing man Bill Gates was?
wow. Bill Gates. his name is appropriate isn’t it?
Got computer problems? Bill Gates, he always pays his debts.
Only one man has the vision for Microsoft…
Rob Enderle.
You laugh, but I believe Enderle could have done just as good a job as Steve Ballmer.
At least when Enderle lies, people listen.
Gates? LOL. That’s actually pretty funny!
Ray Ozzie is Microsoft’s best hope, IMO.
Gates returning to Microsoft makes about as much sense as Paula Dean chairing the NAACP; both are so out of touch with one another they can’t even communicate anymore. Ballmer, like Steve Jobs, was a salesman, but unlike Jobs, Ballmer lacked any imagination whatsoever. He was pig.
If Ozzie returns, he’ll build the first desktop computer bearing the Microsoft logo running Microsoft Windows and finally Enterprise will move off of XP Pro and Windows Sleven.
The Veterans Administration of our government runs on Windows XP Pro!!!
Like Alan Kay said, and Steve Jobs proved; hardware & software designed by the same company yields not only superior products, but is a much better business model for a consumer-centric company like Apple, Inc.
Microsoft needs a dramatic transformation and not a line of products that are redesigned failures of Ballmer’s past. Those products failed because the formula was Function Follows Form.
Anyway, any of the people making their exodus in the last five-years probably told Ballmer to his face, he was wrong. They’re gone, but now Steve is too, so why wouldn’t the BoD embrace that talent pool?
@Okie
Love the Shane reference! My favorite Western. Alan Ladd and the super evil Jack Palance at their finest.
Don’t come back! MSFT stock price is UP! First Project Ballmer in charge of that brought positive results!
Sure didn’t help Apple’s stock price today.
KEEPING THIS THE TOP STORY?
silly… MDN wanted Ballmer to remain CEO forever.
Plus, everyone knows Microsoft is doing really poorly on Surface and Windows 8
as the PC market falls another 6 feet under each year.
I expected nothing less from Steve Jack.
No profound comments about the future of Apple’s greatest nemesis, just more childish comments that do nothing to advance the topic at hand, but only serve to provide humor at the expense of yet another American company?
Bad for Apple, perhaps. But Microsoft is good for America, MDN. Let’s hope they appoint someone you can get behind, so we don’t have to participate in your Rush Limbaugh style of media service.
In other words, why don’t you stop the MDN Take altogether, if all you do with it is ridicule?
Without a change in the board this could take on shades of jcpenny.
Maybe he should receive a pension from Apple.
Where is the succession plan? When Steve jobs was ill all the pundits could bitch about was the lack of a public succession plan for Apple. The fact that Microsoft now has to begin a search for a CEO is appalling. Stupid is as stupid does. It doesn’t surprise me that this incompetent boob has failed in even the most basic function of a CEO.
Before getting notified about this post, here’s the CNN breaking news text message I got:
“Microsoft says CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within 12 months. No successor named. Stock surges.”
😀
CNBC headline “Stocks rise at open; MSFT surges on Ballmer retirement”
maybe Ballmer T Clown’s children can get an iPod now.
Yep. But he will be forced to leave it in the car when in Bill’s backyard for barbecue and ball games.
Last I saw Ballmer own 333M shares. So on this news he has increased his worth by $715M.
Ah, the reign of King Balmy the Turd ( oops, the third ) is almost over.
The cash induced coma of the Microsoft BOD has ended.
The question now – is it already too late? MS’s brand has been massively damaged under the Ballmer regime, and now they’re behind in pretty much every key market segment but XBox and Office.
Xbox was third this generation, behind Wii and PS3
Did the 360 really do that badly? I know the PS3 was kind of slow getting out of the gate, basically because their launch price was astronomical, and so the 360 was able to gain ground really quickly. Did the PS3 eventually make that up? I know I went with the 360 since it was less expensive. (plus I have an interest in game design, and let’s face it – as bad as Windows is, it’s easier to port from Windows into XBox SDK than into PS3. 😉 )
They didn’t do that bad, but even with a year head start PS3 now outsold it by a half million (vgchartz.com). However Apple is selling almost more iOS devices in a quarter than Xbox 360 in a lifetime, at a much higher price.
A little to late. Hestill going to milk another 12 months be abandoning a sinking ship.
If this follows the typical Microsoft timeline, that 12 months will translate to another 18 to 24 months of Ballmer goodness!
Now his left nut can finally get some quiet time to itself.
Yeah, he’ll return home next to his right nut.
I’m wondering if his tongue will be retiring as well.
Speaking of that particular piece of anatomy, I recall reading about some sort of uncommon neurological condition that causes those with it to unconsciously stick out their tongue.
I wonder if Ballmer has it as I’ve never seen anyone, ever, stick out their tongue like he has in so many photos.
Gene Simmons.
At least he has something to show off, lol.
*snort*
Every time I see BOD, I read Blue Screen of Death.
I like this news… I like it a LOT.
I don’t. Who are we going to make fun of? Time to bring Stephen Elop back into the fold.
Perhaps we can move into an era where all tech CEOs are worthy of respect, regardless of who they work for?
Nah, probably not.
Hate to see him go!
Ha, biggest boost to MSFT in years!.
+1
I don’t like this strategy, not a lot. Microsoft needs to keep Ballmer on for a decade more. 😈
OTOH, if they’re actually firing Ballmer T. Clown maybe it’s time to buy a few shares of MSFT.
Who could his replacement be?
Tim Cook.
FIRE Tim Cook!
Marissa Mayer, of course. 😀
Forstall
nothing is impossible, especially when there are hard feelings, a hard core personality and a score to even.
actually it would not surprise me.
Wow, that’s an unusual suggestion. That would be a nightmare scenario for Apple from a narrow PR perspective.
Did Gates have another room mate at Harvard?
I LIKE that reply… I like it a lot.
Bill wants to come back to revive MS so that he can mimic Steve’s second coming!!!!
No matter Bill, this STILL will not make you cool.
Me! I could use the money.
Will ruin Microsoft. Reasonable rates.
John Dvorak
The CEO at Microsoft will be pretty attractive to a lot of great leaders and innovators. Microsoft is a sinking ship but somebody out there wants to be the one to save it. Everyone wants to be the next Steve Jobs after all. It will be really interesting to see what happens. I hope they get the right person for the job. I love Apple but im getting pretty annoyed that they are the only ones innovating right now.
The CEO at Microsoft will be a pretty attractive position for a lot of great leaders and innovators. Microsoft is a sinking ship but somebody out there wants to be the one to save it. Everyone wants to be the next Steve Jobs after all. It will be really interesting to see what happens. I hope they get the right person for the job. I love Apple but im getting pretty annoyed that they are the only ones innovating right now.
You can say that again
Michael Spindler! Give the man a second chance to really drive a big company against a tree.
Lol! MSFT stock way up on this news.
FIRE Tim Cook. NOW!
Guess you want to impeach Obama too
Microsoft can be turned around. In fact, with a few tweaks, Windows 8 and its tablet can be refined into a worthy competitor to iOS/OSX. I mean, even if they had added these, things might not have been so had:
– start button
– visual indicator for key functions
The above two would not have solved everything, but would have gone a great way to avoided a total balls up.
I think the selection of the next Microsoft CEO could really turn things around. Things are not a total disaster for MS, yet.
Apple needs Microsoft to be clawing its heels to tighten its game. I feel sad for Microsoft, sympathy for Uncle Fester. He didn’t know any better. He’s kindly old sort of fellow.
Sure, anything’s possible. Apple was tanking until Steve Jobs came back and saved it.
Apple has never needed Microsoft to claw its heels to up its game. It’s like saying the Miami Heat need competition from the Washington Generals to up its game.
actually the Miami Heat always have their best games against the best teams in the league. If you watch a season they will always drop games to the wizards or bucks but blowout the knicks, pacers or just most .500 teams….so ya..theres some bball for you.
With the reorganization recently announced, the company is going to be in chaos. If the reorg is very far along, the new CEO is going to have to reorg the reorg given the taint of Ballmer’s thinking/strategy being infused in the recent reorg. This drama has years of life in it, just like the jcpenney story after the board did not give Ron Johnson the time he needed to turn that company around.
Still wont change the fact of how bloated the operating system is. Its gonna take alot of work to cull out all that bloat, maybe by version 16 it will be able to compete.
Microsoft has needed to throw out Windows and start over with a Unix based OS, like Apple did. If the new CEO takes them in that direction it will be 5 years before it’s ready for sale to the public. If the new CEO does anything else Microsoft will continue circling the bowl. The latter is the only possibility as long as Gates dominates the BOD. He will not allow Windows (based on DOS) to be thrown out.
My prediction is that Gates will continue to veto dumping DOS based Windows, a new CEO will be chosen that accepts that decision, and Microsoft is still doomed.
“… as long as Gates dominates the BOD.”
Well, Gates let them let go of Ballmer. Gates may not have as much power as you think.
That said – I still think that MS is doomed.
Well this is certainly shitty news to wake up to.
Agreed.
I’m sure Ballmer had a tap on the shoulder and told his days were numbered. Sure, he may have made the decision to retire, but I’m damn sure it wasn’t only his burning desire to retire that has prompted this announcement.
He’s a salesman, he would never quit selling on his own. He got Da Boot.
A dark day indeed. We here in the Apple camp will seriously miss his incompetence. I doubt they could pick a stupider CEO (but here’s hoping!).
Goodbye Monkey-boy. It’s been great…
We need to start a petition to keep Ballmer at MS!! This is our duty! MDN, lead the charge!
Now where are they going to find a replacement with the same sterling qualities as Stevie B? Maybe Stevie B will have to serve as CEO for a good long time yet! 🙂
Is it Christmas already?
If only Steve was alive to see this….
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I hope his golden parachute is not operated by windows. It could be a rough landing.
maybe, just maybe the bs I have to go through using windows at work will decrease. doubt it, but i’m hopeful, please new ceo at microsoft, please cut the bs out of windows and office and the way you have to manage files, and the screwball way you have to deal with a network connection in a hotel room and “security updates” and installing software and licensing requirements and backing up and document version control and installing new hardware and changing from one computer to another and a vpn and password management and finding something on your hardrive or thumbdrive and inaccurate battery life indications and inaccurate file transfer or copy times and and and and i’ve lost hope doesn’t matter who the ceo is using windows/office and “legacy” programs sucks.
“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition” …
Actually there is and Mr. Ballmer missed it by about 13 years and 7 months.
The world thanks Mr. Ballmer for his utterly selfish and entirely unintentional service to the human race as a whole.
On the list of the first Microsoft CEO Job Interview questions: “Stick out your tongue please…”
I concur with MM in thinking that Apple really does need a more effective competitor out there, and hopefully this will create an opportunity for Microsoft to at least get back into the game. With the right leadership I’m sure it can happen..
Hopefully MS will hire a competent leader who can empty the trash and get things going there again.
It’s interesting to me that the market is up on this news as it should be.
Emptying the trash at MS would be expensive and painful up front.
That place is crawling with B and C players.
Nooooo!!!! Say it isn’t so!!!!!
NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!
12 months isn’t enough time for the dancing monkey to finish running M$ into the ground. The guy is good but not that good.
So who’s next? If they are smart they hire from outside the company.
Dark Horse pick: Scott Forestall.
My dark horse pick. Cheryl Sandberg from FB.
John Skulley is a good choice.
Steven Sinofsky. Riding back on a white horse to save his former company, just as Steven Jobs did 16 years ago
Sinofsky was responsible for Windows 8 – he can’t save MS. lol
I’m guessing Punky Brewster.
May Gil Amelio is available.
MayBE. Learn to spell, Mikey.
Hey Mikey don’t be so hard on yourself. I just assumed you had autocorrect issues….
Sure. He couldn’t do much worse than he did with Apple. 😉
Too late to do any good for Microsoft. He should have been dropped five years ago. The guy has less vision then a bat. Microsoft has way too much catching up to do to remain a viable player. How much longer can they ride the MS Office bandwagon? With desktop sales waning, the profits from selling the MS Windows operating system will become a smaller revenue generator over time. They’ve already lost in the tablet and smart phone sector. With their inability to innovate, they’re a dead man walking. Ballmer’s lucky, he won’t be there when the company finally falls.
Dead company walking.
Dead Company Sweating
Oh no, Apple’s secret weapon, finally revealed and removed.
He initiates a massive reorganization and then hits the road. Nice. What a loser. My grandma could have run Microsoft as well as Mr. B did over the past decade, and by that I mean not at all.
Here’s a tip to the Microsoft Board: Technology is no longer an appliance; it is poetry, it is creativity, it is life. You need a CEO whose vitality is unequaled, whose compassion for the world is eclipsed only by their focus on condensing pure Beauty and Joy into gloriously functioning forms. You need a spiritual alchemist, a guru, a genius.
Ballmer was none of these. WIthout some of these in your next CEO you are sunk. In fact, you may be sunk already in this round. But the next round will be your chance. If you’re ready.
12 months is still a lot of time to do more damage. I’ve shopped for houses that were foreclosed and the previous owners often trashed the place. Though I can’t imagine Ballmer doing any worse than what he’s done in the last 10 years behind the wheel.
There are no internal candidates to replace him, as he has run any of the really competent people out of the company over the past several years.
This may take a while.
I hear John Browett is available if they want to make a retail push.
Personally, I think that the BOD should have given Tongue-boy the boot, just for running a company the size of MS, without having a plan of succession already in place.
But there are oh, so many things wrong with MS. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
He can’t leave! All the plants will die!
Scott Forstall could turn that place around.
He’s already run a division of Apple whose products make more revenue than all of MSFT, and he’s an actual engineer himself.
-jcr
Microsoft stock immediately went up 7%. The market has spoken.
Maybe Ballmer can get a job as the new spokesman for Men’s Warehouse, to replace George Zimmer. Ballmer has a certain sartorial splendor about it. He could launch a new line of sweat ring blue shirts . . . .
Would be a real pisser, too, if Scott Forstall took the reigns as CEO of Microsoft. Doesn’t his brother work there or something?
I’m mentally visualizing the movie scene where Anakin is resurrected by the Dark Side.
R.I.P. (Retire in Peace)
That sucks.
Who the Hell woke up the MS Board?
How about The Woz for MS CEO?
One can only hope that the Board, in it’s cash fattened wisdom, will allow Balmer to pick his own successor. Better yet, they can get Browett!
Oh come now this guy is a genius, the greatest secret agent we have ever seen, integral to the destruction of the evil Empire that no normal virus could possibly have matched in its thoroughness. Have a wonderful retirement Agent Ballmer.
Oh, the good times. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8M6S8EKbnU
♫♫♫♫♫♫ Ballie, I love (NOT!) you so
I want you to know
that I’m going to miss your love (NOT!)
the minute you walk out that door
♫♫♫♫♫♫
so please don’t go
don’t go, don’t go away
please don’t go
don’t go, I’m begging you to stay ♫♫♫♫♫♫
I know a lot of us feel sad at this announcement but I guess there are is a silver lining to it all, Bill Gates is on the selection committee so that’s a bit of relief.
The other good thing is that Mrs. Ballmer has announced that Steve will be learning how to clean the windows at home. It gives you some insight as to why Steve stuck his tongue out so much out in public.
I understand the former CEOs of RIMM are available…
The third Friday in August is known in the news business as the slowest news day of the year. If you want to sneak out a story on a day when most people will miss it, this is the day. That tells me that this announcement has been planned for months.
The Board of Directors had to know that it would bump the value of their shares
The market has spoken…
Anyone but Balmer
That’s an awfully big sweat-stained blue oxford-cloth shirt for someone to fill.
My guess is that Dad has quietly taken the car keys, and might even end up as interim CEO.
Meanwhile, chez Ballmer: “No… Steve… not the tongue…”
Shit (Mr. Steve Ballmer) already dried in the pant (MSFT) , no matter how hard you try to scrub it off, the pant (MSFT) still stink!!
I feel like staring out a window on a rainy day with a sappy ’70s song playing in the background, thinking about all the good times I have had laughing at Monkey Ballsmer.
Seriously. I want him to stay for another 30 years! He has a lot more stupid ass ideas in the pipeline and they need to come out!
pffffft buh bye Ballmer and yes do hire Scottie as his replacement, he can join his older brother Bruce who is a senior software design engineer at Microsoft.
Forstall will fit in nicely with the culture of MS, let’s look at his CV:
– had such a poor relationship with Ive and Mansfield that he could not be in a meeting with them unless Cook mediated; reportedly, Forstall and Ive did not cooperate at any level
– was referred to by Fortune as the CEO-in-waiting, a profile that made him unpopular at Apple
– Forstall was responsible for the departure of Tony Fadell (SVP of hardware engineering) and Jean-Marie Hullot (CTO of applications) in 2005. Then-iPod chief Jon Rubinstein also had a strained relationship with Forstall.
– After Jobs’ death in 2011, Forstall was trying to gather power to challenge Cook
..SF as CEO in MS – a match made in heaven =)
He’s not done!!
Dusting off the Scrapbook of Shame, this face-blanching article fell out. From Microsoft’s halcyon days, in 2007, just before everything started to cave in for Steve and Bill, and their offspring.
http://gizmodo.com/310740/ballmer-describes-relationship-with-gates-as-husband+wife-brings-wrong-images-to-our-minds
It took until today …
I hear that John Scully is available.
Say it ain’t so!
BEST tech news of THIS CENTURY !!!
YAA HOO !!!
How many people can screw up at their job as bad as Ballmer and walk away with an estimated 12 billion dollars in the bank ?
Damn. Microsoft was a scam on so many levels.
It’s obvious I need to screw up more, I’m underpaid!
MONOPOLY.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Micro$oft needs you Ballmer!!!!
The stock spiked on news of his leaving ?
I wonder if he’ll get a bonus for bringing the stock up. haha
Hi future new CEO of Microsoft!
* Make Office for iPad. Quit trying to charge for Office 365 like it’s a rental. Make Office 365 free.
* Kill Metro.
* Make Windows 9 (sans Metro) in parallel with Windows X. Windows X should be built fresh from the ground up. Avoid the tile interface completely.
* Try one-upping the competition instead of just copying them failingly.
* Listen to your employees.
* Allow Ballmer to keep a chair or two for aerobic activities.
Maybe they can get Jim Balsillie, since he’s no longer busy being co-ceo of Blackberry.
Gonna miss that flying chair GIF. 😆
Gonna miss that flying chairs GIF. 😆
Sorry for the double post, guys. Mobile MDN does not paginate to show all comments, so I didn’t think my comment got posted.
Oh ye of little faith!
With his billions of dollars, I’m sure he’ll be just fine.
Will a movie be made about Ballmer? I would love to see that. Who would star?
Ballmer played by: ( Insert Actor or Actress )
Peter Boyle in Young Frankenstein
LOL… perfect!
Where on earth is M$ going to find a CEO candidate as delusional as Stevie B? Who will they find lead M$ the rest of way down the drain? As for Stevie B retiring; he can always be a Tech Pundit! He can’t do any worse at making predilections then the current Pundits! 🙂
It’s the end of an error…
Regarding Forstall being mentioned as a possible replacement, a non-compete clause would likely preclude that from happening.
Scott was fired so I wonder if there would be a non-compete.
M$ hasn’t been competing since Stevie B became CEO; M$ has been heading down the drain. Hiring Forstall would complete the job. 🙂
Wow. I can’t believe I’m saying this but this is like a Victory Parade (not to be confused with the iPhone funeral) for MDN. Wow. You banged the drum for years on this doughboy and now he’s finally on his way out. This is awesome. Looking forward to a new era for Microsoft.
What took them so long?
Obviously, Chairman Bill Gates, Ballmer’s buddy, stalled as long as possible, hoping that Windows 8 and Surface sales would pick up, redeeming his friend. But he lost the final BOD vote when the walls of the room they meet in started collapsing, snapping the lot of them out of their sheltered view of reality.
I feel a sense of sadness because when SteveB is gone (in a year), whom we can make fun of at MSFT?!
It would be interesting if they replaced him with … Scott Forestall.
Tonight, NPR’s Marketplace ran a piece on Steve Ballmer’s retirement, calling him well-known for his enthusiasm in rallying the troops—and they cited the popularity of a certain YouTube video, even playing the “Developers! Developers! Developers!” sound bite. That man actually had his captive audience gasping and cheering along with him, like a charismatic tent preacher in River City. His antics will be sorely missed.
Not really.
The great irony is – although Steve Ballmer looks and acts like a buffoon, he is actually more intelligent than Bill Gates.
Ballmer will go unappreciated for a few more years. He will be missed someday.
The only people that are going to miss him are the owners of Sunrise Donuts, Blazing Bagels and ACME chairs.
I heard a rumor that Dovwhorehack and Endrlnutts are in the running for CEO. The mud wrestling in speedos tie breaker will decide the winner!
Scott Forstall, curtains in Windows, haha!
He could go to
Microsoft…his brother works there too.
Keeping this at the top for sol long makes MDN look petty. If you want to be taken seriously at all, this isn’t the way to do it.
You know he should go, but not really for the reasons MDN crows about or I guess sort of of. His mistake was simply not recognizing he was the master of a solid if mature industry and what he needed to do was deliver rock solid product at an affordable price. rather than tying out Apple Apple or out Google Google.
I mean back in the day MDN used to compare Apple to BMW and that is apt. You don’t have to be the biggest Auto Company to successful (as both VW and Toyota have found in rushing to that end).
I mean really why does MS need a tablet OS? there are only so many tablets you can have and Apple and Amazon have a huge advantage so why bother why not just deliver a solid upgrade to Win 7 and secure a happy profitable area where you are king.
Microsoft had enough vision to see mobile computing eroding their bottom line. They wanted to enter that growing market, not just stick with a dwindling desktop market, so they introduced a mobile OS. Their OEMs were not making competitive mobile hardware, so they came up with their own.
They did what they had to, but poor timing and execution hurt them, and once their soft underbelly was exposed their minions evaporated and their former thralls came for them.