Microsoft Pri0
Welcome to Microsoft Pri0: That's Microspeak for top priority, and that's the news and observations you'll find here from Seattle Times reporter Sharon Chan.
SubscribeMarch 6, 2008 10:52 PM
Ballmer Q&A: Extended coverage
Posted by Benjamin J. Romano
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and former Apple evangelist Guy Kawasaki made a great combination on stage. Their hourlong Q&A at Mix, Microsoft's conference for Web developers Thursday, was filled with zingers, tough questions and some pleasantly frank answers -- especially once Kawasaki established early on that he was going to call Ballmer out on any "bull***t PR" answers. They also left enough time to take several questions from the audience.
I included some highlights in this story -- Ballmer's latest comments on the Yahoo bid, Google, online services, antitrust and the pending exit of Bill Gates -- but there was much more than I could fit in the print edition. Below you'll find expanded coverage of various topics from the talk.
For those with the time and the inclination, I suggest you watch the Q&A yourself. There are plenty of technical sections -- still interesting, but not for everyone. There are also several laugh-out-loud hilarious exchanges between the two tech veterans.
Is Apple 'this little Chihuahua you just kick away?'
Digg
Newsvine
UPDATE - 1:30 AM
Recently listed
Popular searches
Jul 1, 08 - 11:45 AM
Microsoft buying natural-language search company Powerset
Jun 30, 08 - 05:16 PM
Report: Microsoft to cut Xbox 360 price ahead of big industry event
Jun 27, 08 - 03:52 PM
Gates send-off: Gates has had Ballmer's back from the beginning
Jun 27, 08 - 01:09 PM
Gates send-off: Photos
Jun 27, 08 - 11:48 AM
Gates send-off: Two guys and 90,000 employees
general classifieds
Garage & estate salesFurniture & home furnishings
Electronics
just listed
More listings
POST A FREE LISTING
- In Person: Manure entrepreneur Kevin Maas turns dairy waste into green energy
- Mental patient's racial fear leads to lawsuit
- States must tackle medical-marijuana issue | Washington Voices
- No medical records? No problem. Got my pot card at Hempfest
- PNNL installs 850 border radiation monitors
- Recipes: Chile-Coffee Rub, Sesame-Spice Rub and more
- Is death knocking at your door? Check odds on the Web
- Lewis County plane-crash site found; all 3 aboard dead
- Seattle Times Food Critic divulges her 10 favorite new restaurants
- Most overdose deaths in King County don't involve illegal drugs
- Most Americans hate their jobs or have 'checked out,' Gallup says
- Wheat scare leaves farmers in limbo
- Temporary I-5 bridge opens to traffic
- Seattle jobless rate under 5% for the first time since 2008
- Microsoft retreats on rules for Xbox One after gamers complain
- ‘Wonderful theatrical experience’ key, says new Seattle Opera leader
- Seattle startup Tred delivers car test drives
- ‘I don’t want to be only person cured of HIV’
- Recipe: Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
- Fasting woman to end attempt to ‘live on light’
July
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | ||
| 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
| 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
| 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 |
Bill Gates, who last week ended his full-time involvement with Microsoft, was often right. He made a career, a company and an industry by looking over the horizon.
Posted by Olsonbw
10:28 AM, Mar 07, 2008
Microsoft and Steve Ballmer are flailing away looking to find some way to get back some of their relevance they used to have. Yes, used to have.
They are absolutely not the company they were five years ago. The main reason for this is that are not ALLOWED to be the same company anymore. The cases in court finally - 20 years late - took care of this.
Without their power to block distribution channels with OEMs (HP, Dell, etc.) or the internet, they no longer can block other companies from getting their OSs (operating systems) on computers.
Not much might appear to have taken place as far as seeing Linux and other operating systems on computes in retail stores yet, but that is coming.
Also, with Apple stores up and running around the country and the world, people are able to walk in and actually get help selecting an Apple computer without being steered by non-Apple loving people to other computers. New computer market share is way up for Apple.
Part of this is compatibility, security, and stability.
With Windows XP and yes, Vista, Microsoft is failed and increasingly irritated its customers and people are getting fed up and are finding they have options. Options that work and are easy for them to learn and options that are actually better and not just the same problems repackaged.
Spastic, bombastic, monkey boy Steve Ballmer isn't helping Microsoft at all. Everything that Microsoft is was setup a long time ago. And what it falling apart is beyond his capability to fix.
Leadership is sorely lacking at Microsoft. There is no person with a vision other than someone that appears to be a raving lunatic screaming at/with developers in a bizarre on-stage performance. His chair throwing behind closed doors is even more note worthy.
Until someone replaces Steve Ballmer Microsoft will not be able to turn things around **if** that is still possible.
Flailing their arms with things like Yahoo might fool some people but not everyone. Microsoft is desperately trying to right things but first they need to get a clue and they don't appear to have one. Yahoo isn't the answer. The problem is Microsoft and its lack of leadership.