The article doesn't mention Xbox or its more enterprise solutions at all instead focusing more on Apple.
The Ballmer Days Are Over
211–218 of 218 posts
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#212>> In fact, the acquisition by most accounts sounded more like a move by Ballmer to buy something that others may have wanted to own — just for the sake of others not owning it. This struck me because I'm presently reading Stephen Levy's In the Plex , in which he reports at great lengths about why Google decided not to purchase Skype when eBay had it up for sale: mainly owing to Skype's peer-to-peer technology not be…
If you look at Microsoft's words and actions in regards to their competitors, they are clearly completely clueless. In fact, "Microsoft people" are often completely blind to everything not made by Microsoft. Reading HN you may never know, but if you've met actual .NET stack developers, or MSCE's or anyone else similar, and you'll find people who make websites and don't know what apache is. Or they'll dismiss open sou…
Well Skype is built on Linux and Postgres, so they might have to look at that stuff. Will be interesting if they try to do a Hotmail and rebuild it in Windows...
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#213If Windows 8 is a success, I would be quite surprised if Steven Sinofsky didn't become the CEO.
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#214One thing I never see considered in comparisons to younger or more nimble and retooled competitors is that by 2000, Microsoft was already a convicted monopolist!
For the first few years of the decade, the company was still dealing with governments on two continents on what and how they could compete in the software business.
As others have mentioned, in this time frame they have also paid billions in dividends.
It may well be time for Ballmer to go, but the comparisons in stock price to Apple and Google over these short time frames don't reflect all the context and dynamics of the share prices.
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
...but they're not a fair basis of comparison in terms of stock value. How have Oracle and SAP done? Let's compare with a whole platoon of major tech companies that were big a decade ago: ADBE: +73.40% HPQ: +47.36% IBM: +48.65% MSFT: -27.03% ORCL: +109.06% SAP: +70.15% YHOO: +70.57% You'll note that MSFT sticks out like a sore thumb. In their defense, MSFT also has been paying dividends, which some of the comparison…
You forgot Sun. And probably a few other dead behemoths.
You're right. I made the list out of MSFT, ORCL, and SAP, then every company that it suggested as being related to those which I remembered being fairly large a decade ago.
I don't think it was his list didn't include Sun. Or AOL. Or Compaq. Or Dell. Or Sony. But the comparison list was not generated with an eye towards being unfair, and I think that the point made is still valid. Microsoft could have done better than it did.
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually, I think it is that whether bad memories can get institutionalised. If Balmer leaves, that body of bad memories will be gone, and people more willing to take risks again. We need to remember the software landscape has changed considerably. What might not be permissible of Microsoft in the 90s may now be fair game.
Hmm.. haven't Microsoft been forced to introduce the browser ballot not so long ago?
Yes, and I believe that includes email client etc. There is no reason why they can't do that with VOIP.
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Enterprise IT is being slowly but surely replaced by online services. The desktop OS ecosystem lock-in that Microsoft enjoyed for so long is definitely on its way out. It will take a long time, since every big company painted itself into a corner with vendor lock-in solutions like Windows, Blackberry, SAP, Oracle, etc, and there are a LOT of people whose job is entirely devoted to maintaining that lock-in. I think we…
> unless you're the CIO, you'll be the last to know. Maybe I've been unfortunate, but I haven't found people at the CIO level to be particularly forward-looking.
I can't argue with that! I meant that they typically know when staff is being let go/outsourced/etc. before their team does.
Re: The Ballmer Days Are Over
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
XServe and WebObjects.
They were making on XServe and specifically said they were only discontinuing it to focus on their core products--ie consumer products. WebObjects, meh, if that's the biggest fault you can point out in Apple then they're doing fine.
I am not saying Apple isn't doing well, just that they are great at consumer products but "meh" at business products. That is not a problem though. They are great a consumer products and I admire their ability to release a product without what would be essential features to others because they are not satisfied with it. For example, cut and paste was missing from the iPhone until v3.0.
Apple is great a certain things and at deciding to focus on those areas, such as dropping XServe and WebObjects.