Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#361

Post by nl » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:23 PM UTC

umsm wrote: post #347

nl wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard to disagree with sarcasm on the internet. But in this case you are absolutely correct. Microsoft used to control the future of computing. Now they are yet another enterprise software company with no apparent mission except to make money. The lay somewhere on a continuum with IBM, Oracle, SAP all the way through to companies like CA. At one end of that spectrum they do research and produce software that peop…

We tend to forget that Microsoft ALREADY did what these "startups" did. MSFT already pushed the envelope and changed the way we use technology in our day to day lives. There is (probably) only so much change one company / person can do. Even if there is additional potential, in the end companies will seek profit and stability.

This may well be true. That doesn't make it any less sad.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#362

Post by mathattack » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:25 PM UTC

nl wrote: post #328

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that he will probably not be remembered for having more than doubled revenue and almost tripled profits. He will not be remembered for transforming Microsoft into one of the most important enterprise software companies. Not for introducing .NET, C# or Kinect either. All of that will be forgotten. He will be remembered for missing mobile. He will also be remembered for caring a lot about developers and about d…

It's hard to disagree with sarcasm on the internet. But in this case you are absolutely correct. Microsoft used to control the future of computing. Now they are yet another enterprise software company with no apparent mission except to make money. The lay somewhere on a continuum with IBM, Oracle, SAP all the way through to companies like CA. At one end of that spectrum they do research and produce software that peop…

Is it looking to the future, or having a consumer focus versus enterprise?

Consumers are fickle, and you have to be on top of the latest trends in GUI, service, products, business models.

Corporate customers tend to be stickier, and more resistant to change.

The A/G/A/F foursome are geared for consumers, and are suitably nimble. The others you listed aren't. The worst thing a company can do is try to be perfect for both types of customers.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#363

Post by axelf » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:25 PM UTC

potatolicious wrote: post #334

eykanal wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And for missing search. And for missing social. And for insulting OEMs. And for his failed Windows Vista launch, and Windows 7, and Windows 8. For one man, he sure has a lot of failures on his plate.

I'm no fan of Ballmer, but I think "insulting OEMs" is one of the good things he did. The OEMs carry a great deal of blame for the collapse of Windows. While Apple was shipping beautiful metal enclosures with great convenient features like MagSafe and magnetic latches, OEMs like Dell were shitting all over the Windows brand with plasticky (and still expensive!), heavy, unreliable, loud-as-shit laptops with terrible s…

not to mention loading up the OS with a ton of crapware and free trials.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#364

Post by jaredmcateer » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:26 PM UTC

localhost wrote: post #289

LarryMade2 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the bad pat about windows 7 is that they put out Windows 8 way too quickly. There are a lot of people that would be OK with being dragged into upgrading if Windows 7 was an easily available option. Bu now, MS is pushing manufacturers into pre-installing 8, which is NOT a good transition path from XP as Windows 7 was.

Windows 8 shipped 3 years after Windows 7. That's a very typical upgrade cycle.

The problem was that it was a complete pivot on an operating system people finally saw as the true successor to Windows XP. It's what Vista should have been, a nice polished and professional OS that generally was out of your face, yet extremely useful. Then there was windows 8, not horrible, there were some under the hood improvements but the horrible hybrid metro/desktop interaction alienated the desktop market and no clear incentive to upgrade.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#365

Post by kunai » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:27 PM UTC

Ballmer's Microsoft really did have some intensely great research and development going under the hood, but the management was completely unacceptable for such a large company. There needed to be individual units so each team could work at their best, but unfortunately, the piss-poor management that Ballmer headed didn't allow this, and resulted in the up-down nature of Microsoft's product releases.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#366

Post by incongruity » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:27 PM UTC

at-fates-hands wrote: post #321

shawkinaw wrote: post #297

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on market share Windows Phone is a disaster, so yeah that's a miss.

A disaster that was released in 2012? In the fourth quarter of 2012 Windows 8 phones had sold around 6 million handsets. http://www.neowin.net/news/gartner-windows-phone-sales-incre... I'm sure you must have been saying the same thing about Android then huh? By comparison they only sold around 640K handsets in 2008 (their first year of release) then sold around 6 million in 2009. http://digithoughts.com/post/21428797…

Not a valid comparison - the smartphone market was much smaller in 2008. The percentages would be more interesting/valid, but that's exactly the problem - the market is getting closer to saturation/more mature now and so Windows Phone has more trouble getting elbow room because of it.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#367

Post by nailer » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:27 PM UTC

kaolinite wrote: post #258

prawks wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also don't forget Apple has had it's share of failures under Jobs (MobileMe, arguably AppleTV, their desktop peripherals always sucked, plenty of failed products, etc.).

How on earth is Apple TV a failure? It's a product they don't really seem to care about and they have the majority marketshare[1] (in 2012) and have been selling millions of the things each year. They have had failures though, of course. Ping was another, for example. [1] http://9to5mac.com/2013/07/16/report-at-56-apple-tv-takes-ma...

Apple TV should be replacing cable set top boxes, the same way iTunes replaced music stores. It has yet to do that (Netflix has gotten closer than Apple has though).

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#368

Post by selter01 » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:30 PM UTC

tuananh wrote: post #305

publicfig wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Siri flop?

yes it did. I tried Google Now the other day. It blew my mind. Google Now understands every single words I said (Asian accent); As for Siri, 50% is kinda optimistic.

Is that what determines a flop, though? Siri is definitely known, and added value to the iphone and the apple brand overall. While I use Google Now and think it is superior, I'm not sure if performance would be enough to label Siri as a flop.

Bing on the other hand, not so much.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#369

Post by deveac » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:31 PM UTC

rahoulb wrote: post #322

deveac wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Microsoft very publically bumbles their consumer products, but their enterprise division is doing well AFAIK. MS is surprisingly well rounded regarding where its revenue comes from. More so than I had assumed reading a lot of the reporting. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/microsoft-apple-and-google-wh... >AAPL is one bad iPhone away from getting beaten by Samsung. Look at how much of Apple's revenue is just iOS. Craz…

This is Horace Dideu's take on Apple's revenue: http://www.asymco.com/2013/08/22/the-revenue-table-imperial-... Profit-wise, Apple claim that their digital stores only break-even, but revenue-wise, the stores dwarf the Macintosh line, with music alone matching Macs.

I've read that their digital stores run near break even before. In 2010 CFO Oppenheimer stated that it was near break even.

In 2011 it was estimated near 300 million. Now in 2013 it is alleged to be making over a billion:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/1470121-apple-app-store-now-...

Still small potatoes profit-wise, but if the share of actual revenue is that significant, than this is definitely a nice little trend for Apple. To be clear, I think the iTunes and the App store are more of an advantage/differentiator over Samsung in terms of potential (especially in the context of Apple's willingness to make bold steps in new directions). I think I came off as a little too glowing when I described Apple's digital offerings above.

Re: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

#370

Post by djspin80 » Fri, Aug 23, 2013, 4:32 PM UTC

leetrout wrote: post #303

ant512 wrote: post #266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that's one of Microsoft's main failings. "Google are making baked beans? Why aren't we in the baked bean market? Let's make beans!" "What? Now Facebook are making Facebook Soda? We need to make Microsoft Soda!" Every time a tech company produces something new MS have to muscle in on the market, despite having a) no prior experience, b) no aptitude, c) existing products that could use their attention.

It does feel like MS just shows up like that. Azure did (and does) give that impression; Zune, as well. And Surface tablets are also a clear response to the iPad (whether MS ever had anything in R&D previously or not, they certainly didn't ship). But I think Google is much more prone to jump in to a market with force, they just seem to execute "better" (I leave that open to interpretation). FB comes out and MS buys i…

Azure wasn't so much "Amazon has EC2? We should have our EC2 as well!", Azure was one of the few products Microsoft actually succeeded in launching. Otherwise, Ballmer greeted Microsoft with a series of failures...only when Ballmer has no control does the company actually succeed.