Steve Ballmer hatin’ on Google Android
Steve Ballmer needs to slow his roll! While on tour in the U.K. for the Professional Developers Conference, Ballmer saw it fit to take a little jab at Android and reaffirm Microsoft’s status in the mobile world. One would think that he learned his lesson when he laughed at the iPhone when it was first announced and said he wasn’t worried about it one bit — that it wouldn’t do well because the lack of a physical keyboard was just stupid and it was “most expensive phone ever.” Now he’s taking that wonderful insight to make an analysis of Android, or more specifically why it’s not going to be a threat to Microsoft.
First, Ballmer says that Android is unattractive for handset makers because it’s version one and looks like a version one. Wow, someone promote this guy from Lieutenant to Captain Obvious! Second, he says that Google isn’t going anywhere any time soon stating “they’ve got one handset maker, we’ve got 55. They’re available through one operator, we’ve got 175.” Perhaps he missed the news about Motorola and other handset makers who are wanting bang out Android faster than a fat girl can… we’ll spare you. Or perhaps he’s thinking Google isn’t really known for blowing up and pretty much making a huge presence in nearly everything it touches. Steve Ballmer perspires like no one we’ve seen before, but apparently he ain’t sweatin’ this one.
Haha what a retard, I’m going to love it when Android gets 5x the developer support of WM (like iPhone did within a year) :O
Everything not Microsoft is muck strategy. It sounds every time the same somehow.
On Oct. 22 I will be the proud owner of the Google phone! Can’t wait to prove Steve wrong!
…Still waiting on the part where he lied. Android is in stage one and it looks rightfully so, as you noted, that’s a FACT. Windows Mobile does have 55 handset makers with 175 operators and Android has one, another FACT. He did not sit there and say, “Oh, they will remain at one and will never get more operators and it will never leave stage one of its OS.” He just simply stated the facts as it is right now and because of those facts if I was Microsoft I wouldn’t be worried either. Android is no threat until it grows and gains more makers and operators and developers. As you said Motorola and others are working on it but they are not out yet so don’t say he’s hating because he stated the facts as it is as the moment. He’s not looking into the future as you’re doing trying to say Android is going to take over the world when no one knows how well it shall do yet so at the present moment it is not a threat. I bet if Steve Jobs had came out and said that this post would’ve treated it as a good thing and a fact.
When Ballmer commented on the iPhone he did not lie either. Windows Mobile still has a bigger market with more developers. There will always be only one iPhone maker and thus one look everytime a new one comes out. That has been the problem with Palm and that is why it is becoming extinct. RIM would be in that boat as well were it not for its great business support. The iPhone’s success is because of its appeal and for it being a consumer device. When that market becomes saturated look for Apple’s smartphone market share to be as well. I swear BGR just can’t give Microsoft a break…it’s like a witch hunt to look for the next thing to destroy them with.
His opinion doesn’t even matter, this whole ordeal is like a couple breaking up and he’s the female with the book telling it all. He just wants his five minutes of fame he got it now move on.
^^^And in a free country yours matters because…..
And likeabite, you and everyone else turn everything into BGR bias. There can be one post without someone wanting to start an argument. This article doesn’t even come across as bias, just a person on a blog given out some info and his opinion. Stop getting so defensive.
More rants from the echo chamber.
What’s new?
Yes Steve Ballmer is correct in that android is still in stage one, and they only have one manufacturer for their product.
Here comes the ulterior motive.
He is obviously trying to counteract the positive attention android and the G1 are generating as a new and completely OPEN platform that directly competes, and in reality is a better “idea” as an operating system which could lose Microsoft quite a few dollars in the long run. He’s just trying to downplay the potential of the android OS to make microseizure look like the better alternative.
I get it, it’s business. But most of us are too smart to be swayed by this kind of schtick.
that dudes not dead yet?
Bill Gates should have skipped the Bershire Hathaway board of directors and kept this nut job out off the executive offices. In fact he is dead wrong. Android (while unoffically) is running just fine on my Sprint Mogul. I have a friend on Alltel running it on a touch. While I can only reference one brand of phones, it will be coming for the others soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone hasn’t flashed it to an iphone yet or developing it. The whole linux porting thing started because people got tired of the old Windows Mobile look and feel. This started well before smartphones were popular. HP 2215 had familiar running on it and it was great. Windows Mobile is great for corporate people and those new to the smartphone area as the UI does respond very much like Windows 98/XP in my opinion. Things will most likely shake up next year if Palm releases their new OS, Blackberry adds some more consumer based functionality and work on their web browser, Microsoft releases WinMo, and the rest keep trucking along. I think all of the different OS choices are also only going to help the consumer by adding in competition in the marketplace. Keep up all of the good work and let’s see how you can try to out do each other. I’d love for a wow type experience from my phone in the next year or so (not my current Mogul/8330 obviously).
Devin I’m not stirring up anything or saying that he can’t have an opinion. However, just as he does so does Ballmer and I myself. I just think he took Ballmer’s comment to heart as if he was completely dismissing Android and that is not the case. It is more like what he said, which is that they are not a threat at the moment, thus he is not worried about them.
Tiredofbs you’re right in that Android is heading in the direction of Linux but then again that’s not the best direction to be headed in if one looks as the success of linux, those who use it and how pervasive or lucrative it has been.
Marc Google does generate a lot of excitement in everything it does but blowing up? Aside from search and its maps where has it really gone and become the IT or go-to platform or software? gmail is good but it is not the most popular or most widely used. The same can be said about google chat, google docs and a whole host of other. They are great alternatives in terms of products and software but not the go-to products for the mainstream, which typically is Microsoft. That is not to say that Android won’t become huge, however. It has great potential.
Steve Ballmer really should be replaced.
Lucrative and Linux are not used in the same sentence unless your speaking of enterprise versions which are used by major corporations. Tealeaf utilizes Red Hat Enterprise edition, Oracle is releasing their own version of linux, HP has been talking about releasing their own distribution of Linux, and Android is a version of linux as well. The Openmoko phones and Sharp Zaraus devices haven’t taken off, but take a look at Dell and their Ubuntu offerings. The operating system is moving out of the “computer nerd” os of choice and is slowly moving mainstream. If you asked me if I favor one OS over another, I will be honest and tell you it is Linux. I still have a need for Windows, but Linux has proven to me for years that it is more secure, has increased stability, and can use system resources more efficiently. Example, Dell XPS M140 has an Intel 915 GPU chipset. Vista doesn’t support Aero, but Beryl/Compiz flys with the same hardware. This is one example. I can also say I had one hell of a time getting a lot of my devices to work under Linux. I have newer hardware now and since most companies will not release information related to their drivers (Intel….) A lot of work goes into reverse engineering to make them work. Even Microsoft was developing tools for Linux as they were not a fear a few years ago. Now back to the topic at hand.
It seems that no matter how much education one has there is never a substitute for intelligence. In his case, Steve Ballmer is among the world’s greatest examples of a person who has fooled some of the people all of the time into thinking he is fit to lead. The evidence on the other hand shows clearly that this man regardless of other credentials lacks the intelligence to lead anything. His reputation among those who have worked at Microsoft as well as others who have witnessed his tirades, know only too well his temper and lack of self-control all of which are indicators of his inept and corrupt philosophy. It is people like this who cause much of the chaos in the world. Of course, he was hand picked by none other than Bill Gates, a true tyrant by any definition.
It is fit therefore to examine the Microsoft position and practices as a global business because of the leadership and philosophies of these two individuals. Both Ballmer and Gates espouse the philosophy of corrupt and deceitful business practices, much the same of what we have seen recently in the financial markets of the world. These two individuals are of the belief that the end justifies the means – any means, and that as long as they can get away with anything they do through their political and power brokering connections, that it is what they will always do to get their way.
Competing fairly for example has never been a belief of Bill Gates, as well as Steve Ballmer. Rather, these two people have always espoused the use of any means to win. Since its inception, Gates has led Microsoft with the mandate to destroy the competition by any means and to crush anything that Microsoft cannot control. All the while through this practice they have been introducing products that have not been anywhere near ready for customer use, just so Microsoft could beat the competition to the market, crush the innovation of others, and as a result causing customers untold wasted dollars and time while struggling with Microsoft schlock.
Gates and Ballmer both, along with their Board and senior management team have supported this mode of operation at Microsoft. They simply yet wrongly justify this method by forcing the customers to find the problems and failures of Microsoft’s products as they struggle to use them regardless of the cost of both time and money to the customer, thereby saving Microsoft immense amounts of money and time to otherwise properly prepare their products for the market.
In addition, through their smug attitudes they frequently ignore government regulation, even court judgments, in order to get their way. They have defied court rulings on many occasions and used their political ties along with payoffs to escape criminal prosecution and continue with any means that achieves their own selfish goals. The continued integration of Microsoft’s insidious browser Internet Explorer within Windows is a clear example of such defiance and corruption and a complete mockery of the laws of our nation. Microsoft defied the law until they corralled enough political support to escape the law and achieve a reversal in their favor, all to the detriment of customers around the world. They went on to coerce and strong arm other businesses to use their products including Internet Explorer and to use methods to thwart the use of competitive products to once again achieve their goals. No elements of fairness along with what is best for the customer have ever entered into any decisions of Microsoft in following the Gates and Ballmer philosophies of both corrupt and criminal business practices. In most any other case, such activities have resulted in the guilty leaders ending up behind prison bars. Microsoft and its leadership have escaped justice through the use of power and money along with their political connections.
Remember, Ballmer vowed to “kill Google” – not compete and win fairly against another business, but rather to “kill” them! There are innumerable examples of Microsoft’s philosophy and of such behavior.
Without a doubt, Microsoft has done more damage to the computer industry and the internet than virtually all other businesses by destroying competition and crushing innovation so that Microsoft could be the dominant player. The evidence is clear. The juries of users around the world have reached the same verdict – Microsoft and their ilk are the epitome of corruption and criminal business leadership throughout the world. Once again, the failures of political leaders and the criminal ties between governments and businesses is demonstrated in the case of Microsoft all too well through such results. The debacle of the current Wall Street situation is clearly another example of this same type of corruption and deceit, and Microsoft follows these same political and corrupt practices as a means to their remaining the dominant player in the market.
Of course there will be those who disagree. Let them. They are few in number. The great majority of customers around the world, although forced into using Microsoft products and being victimized by other businesses that have been coerced into integrating Microsoft products in their own, overwhelmingly recognize these destructive results of Microsoft practices. The real evidence witnessed by the majority of users around the world speaks for itself. Microsoft all inclusive is guilty!