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The iPhone & Steve Ballmer: It’s Time For Him To Eat Some Serious CrowWednesday, August 26, 2009 There are very few people in the tech world who annoy me quite like Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. It’s not just that he’s loud, dismissive and arrogant. It’s that he manages to be all these things while usually being spectacularly wrong, especially when it comes to Apple. Take for example his thoughts on the iPhone from a USAToday article in 2007: “There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance,” said Ballmer. “It’s a $500...

Ballmer expects Windows 7 to grab share from Apple In a bullish presentation to financial analysts today, Steve Ballmer promised Windows 7 PCs that would 'overturn the conventional wisdom that Apple has the coolest hardware'. He also described Apple's impact on Microsoft sales this year as 'a rounding error', saying that; "Apple's share globally costs us nothing." "Hopefully we will take share back from Apple," said Ballmer, "But they sell only about 10 million computers globally so it's a limited opportunity." Taking a bite out of AppleBallmer said that research data showed that Microsoft adverts targetting Apple's prices were working,...

Microsoft Corp's chief executive attempted to laugh off the challenge of Google Inc's planned computer operating system on Tuesday, conceding only that it was "interesting". "I will be respectful," Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said to laughs from the audience at a conference for the company's technology partners in New Orleans, which was broadcast over the Internet. Industry gets feverish after Google action ATF prices slashed, but will airfares drop? Are FII dealings outside market substantial? "Who knows what this thing is? To me, the Chrome OS thing is highly interesting," said Ballmer, choosing his words carefully and drawing more amusement...

It takes an incredibly powerful company to threaten the U.S. government in hopes of impacting a significant decision, but that's precisely what Microsoft is doing. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made headlines when he publicly attacked President Barack Obama's plan to cut tax breaks on U.S. companies' foreign profits, a plan which is currently awaiting Congressional approval.

"The unemployment rate has hit a 25 year high, now standing at 9.4 percent and since President Obama has taken office the U.S. has lost 2.2 million jobs. How does the Administration and tax-writers in Congress plan to remedy this? Well, by implementing policies that will ship more jobs and capital out of the U.S. and into foreign countries.

Obama's Billionaires Claire Obusan President-elect Barack Obama has had a slew of billionaire backers with him on his journey to the White House--plutocrats who provide economic and political advice and help to raise money. Lots of money. Obama's Billionaire Buddies Obama's national finance chairwoman during his presidential campaign was Penny Pritzker, one of 11 members of the famous Chicago family that appear on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans (combined net worth as of September: $21.6 billion). As of Nov. 24, 2008, Obama's campaign had raised a record-breaking $742 million during the election, according to the Center for...

Steve Ballmer must be on crack. Or something. In a fascinating interview with the Financial Times, Ballmer has the cheek to call Google a one-trick pony (this from the company that has only managed two break-out successes so far), can't seem to come to grips with the fact that he hasn't budged his stock price in eight years, and takes solace in the fact that the company only has "one way to go, and it's up, baby, up, up, up, up, up!" Please pass the vial, Ballmer. One place where he comes down to earth is in his admission that...

One of the most successful business partnerships in history was coming unraveled. It was early 2000, and Bill Gates had relinquished the chief executive's job at Microsoft Corp. to Steve Ballmer -- for the first time taking a back seat to his college pal and right-hand man of 20 years. Mr. Ballmer got the title. But Mr. Gates retained the power, triggering a yearlong struggle between the two men that until now has remained largely under wraps. Things became so bitter that, on one occasion, Mr. Gates stormed out of a meeting in a huff after a shouting match...

Excerpt - Speaking at the Hungarian University of Economy today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer got egg on his face and not in the figurative sense. Hungary's government spends millions on licenses to use Microsoft software at its universities and this market lockdown is apparently so upsetting to some Hungarians — how will they ever learn to use Linux? — that during today's speech, one attendee stood-up, yelled at Ballmer: "Give back the money of the taxpayers!" and then started chucking eggs. We disapprove, but only because we know Ballmer prefers bananas. A nice banana-cream pie-ing would have made a European...

Comments by Steve Ballmer at a press conference in Europe today have led to speculation that Microsoft is reconsidering its June 30 deadline to stop selling most new Windows XP licenses. A spokeswoman from Microsoft's public relations firm said Thursday that there is no plan for a change in deadline, however. "Our plan for Windows XP availability is unchanged. We're confident that's the right thing to do based on the feedback we've heard from our customers and partners," the spokeswoman said, reading from a Microsoft statement. Ballmer's comments at a press conference at Louvain-la-Neuve University in Belgium led to a...

Microsoft Corp. marked the end of its annual giving campaign by hosting former President Bill Clinton for a campus visit. Clinton, joining Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to reveal the results of this year’s campaign, told a standing-room-only audience of more than 1,000 employees and thousands more watching via webcast that every individual, regardless of status or income, can help solve global challenges such as climate change and poverty.

USA Today interviewed Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer about his thoughts on the iPhone. While Ballmer gives credit to Apple's early move into the music arena, he doubts the iPhone will gain any significant marketshare: Now we'll get a chance to go through this again in phones and music players. There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60%...

Commentary -- At a recent news conference, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer sought to impugn the character of the free/open source world by implying that it had no respect for the intellectual property rights of others. It's not just the enormous ignorance embodied by this duplicitous braggadocio that caught my eye, it's the fact that the claim is coming from a man associated with Microsoft, which is far and away the most notorious IP thief of all time. One thing should be obvious. It's difficult for an open source project to steal code. After all, access to the code is offered...

Steve Ballmer has reissued Microsoft's patent threat against Linux, warning open-source vendors that they must respect his company's intellectual property. In a no-nonsense presentation to New York financial analysts last Thursday, Microsoft's chief executive said the company's partnership with Novell, which it signed in November 2006, "demonstrated clearly the value of intellectual property, even in the open-source world." Steve Ballmer Steve Ballmer The cross-selling partnership means that Microsoft will recommend Suse Linux for customers who want an environment mix of Microsoft and open-source software. It also involves a "patent cooperation agreement," under which Microsoft and Novell agreed not to sue...

In a question-and-answer session after his keynote speech at the Professional Association for SQL Server (PASS) conference in Seattle, Ballmer said Microsoft was motivated to sign a deal with SUSE Linux distributor Novell Inc. earlier this month because Linux "uses our intellectual property" and Microsoft wanted to "get the appropriate economic return for our shareholders from our innovation." The Nov. 2 deal involves an agreement by Novell and Microsoft to boost the interoperability of their competing software products. It also calls for Microsoft to pay Novell $440 million for coupons entitling users to a year's worth of maintenance and support...

Excerpt - Martin Taylor, a key adviser to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, has left the software maker. Taylor, a 13-year company veteran who led Microsoft's "Get the Facts" anti-Linux crusade for several years, was named in March as a corporate vice president overseeing the marketing push for Windows Live services. ~ snip ~ "We've made the difficult decision to part ways with Martin, but we don't comment on personnel matters," Microsoft said in a statement. "We appreciate Martin's contributions at Microsoft over the past 13 years." ~ snip ~

CNBC announcing - After July 2008, Bill Gates shall leave his daily role at Microsoft, but will remain as company chairman.

"The clip I used is several years old, but I only recently saw it for the first time and felt so inspired that I had to do this. It was too perfect not to try," Daphne writes in introducing her 3:42 minute video on YouTube. Daphne's video combines clips from "Young Frankenstein" and various appearance of Microsoft CEO Steve "Monkey Boy" Ballmer. "Young FrankenSteve" was added to YouTube on May 16, 2006, but, thanks to MacDailyNews reader "Frank," we only now stumbled upon it. As of this post, the video's only been viewed 4,900 times, so for those who haven't...

See for example this thread first. As Vista keeps slipping ship dates We wonder what's wrong with Bill Gates. So what's the big deal? Has he no code to steal? You can't trust what Microsoft creates!

Excerpt - The launch of the consumer version of Windows Vista, Microsoft’s new operating system, could be pushed back past the stated January launch date, Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said Wednesday. The operating system was due to be launched this year, but in March the company said it wouldn’t get broad release until January 2007. Ballmer said Wednesday that the planned January launch may slip further based on feedback from a beta release program and the product road maps of hardware vendors. "We think we are on track for shipping early in the year. We’ve talked about the...

Ballmer: iPod Will Meet Its Match Deutsche Presse-Agentur 04/26/06 7:20 AM PT Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer also maintains the future of Web searching is still wide open, despite the current dominance of Google, because "on every second search, we don't find what we are looking for." A new generation of mobile phones will outclass today's iPod as devices to play personal music, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) chief executive Steve Ballmer said Tuesday. A huge amount of innovation is coming to mobile devices, whether music players, phones or e-mail, Ballmer told a Berlin management forum. "Portable music is not just the iPod,"...

Clinton in Redmond..Is Ballmer Stepping Aside There are some rumors circulating that Steve Ballmer is about to step aside at Microsoft as its day to day operations head to make room for another president. Ken and I reported on this on KenRadio's World Technology Roundup earlier today. Bill Clinton. Here's what I know. Sources near Microsoft headquarters report that over the past few months the ex cigar smoking prexy has made trips to Microsoft headquarters and has been interviewing for the top slot as the company looks at ways to transform themselves for the future. Given the global implications...

Rumors are always abound all over the place. It could be your cousin is seeing someone a little older than they should be. Maybe your brother got a speeding ticket no one was supposed to know about. Or perhaps a former president of the United States might be considering a job at the top of a tech company.The blog, VoIP Watch, reported on the number of visits Bill Clinton has been making to Microsoft's facilities up in Redmond, Wa. According to their reporting, Clinton has been in talks with Microsoft for several months, interviewing him for the top slot. This...

Excerpt - Microsoft is on track to outsource more than 1,000 jobs a year to China, according to blistering evidence released yesterday in Microsoft's increasingly nasty spat with Google over an employee who jumped ship in July. In a revelation that highlights the complexity of China President Hu Jintao's visit to Seattle and Microsoft on Monday, legal filings detailed claims of how Microsoft had offended the Chinese government by not outsourcing as many jobs as promised to Chinese technology vendors. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer visited China in 2003 and promised to step up the pace, from $33 million worth of...

Microsoft Corp.'s clumsy triple lutz over gay-rights legislation has landed the company at center ice in the U.S.'s culture wars. As Procter & Gamble Co. already has learned, that is a very uncomfortable place to be. The problem began earlier this year, when Microsoft, under pressure from a conservative National Football League linebacker-turned-preacher, decided to stay neutral in the battle over a bill in its home state of Washington banning workplace discrimination against homosexuals. That seemed a reasonable decision. The company has been a leader in providing benefits to gays in its own work force. Why should it feel obliged...

In a turnaround Friday, Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer said the company will support gay rights legislation. Ballmer made the announcement in an e-mail to employees two weeks after gay rights activists accused the company of withdrawing its support for an anti-discrimination bill in its home state after an evangelical pastor threatened to launch a national boycott. The bill died by a single vote in the state Senate in late April. "After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included...

After weeks of controversy over the issue, Microsoft has decided to return to a position of legislative support for gay and lesbian rights, at both the state and federal level. In a letter to employees, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said on Friday that the company would support antidiscrimination legislation, after backing off support for a Washington state bill on the issue last month. "After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda," Ballmer wrote in the...

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050507/microsoft_gay_rights.html?.v=3Microsoft Will Back Gay Rights LegislationSaturday May 7, 5:29 am ET By Elizabeth M. Gillespie, Associated Press Writer Microsoft Changes Course on Gay Rights Legislation; CEO Says Company Will Support It SEATTLE (AP) -- After being criticized for quietly dropping support for a state gay rights bill, Microsoft Corp. chief executive Steve Ballmer told employees Friday that management would publicly back such legislation in the future.Ballmer's commitment came two weeks after activists accused the company of caving to pressure from an evangelical pastor who had threatened to launch a nationwide boycott of the software company. "After looking at the...

SEATTLE (AP)--After being criticized for dropping support for a state gay-rights bill, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told employees Friday that management would publicly support such legislation in the future.

Microsoft, faced with unrelenting criticism from employees and gay rights groups over its decision to abandon support of a gay rights bill in Washington state, reversed course again yesterday and announced that it was now in support of the bill. Steve Ballmer, the company's chief executive, announced the reversal in an e-mail message sent to 35,000 employees in the United States. "After looking at the question from all sides, I've concluded that diversity in the workplace is such an important issue for our business that it should be included in our legislative agenda," Mr. Ballmer said. He added: "I respect...

SEATTLE — After being criticized for quietly dropping support for a state gay rights bill, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) chief executive Steve Ballmer told employees Friday that management would publicly back such legislation in the future.

Text of Steve Ballmer E-Mail to U.S. Microsoft Employees Regarding Public Policy Engagement REDMOND, Wash. -- May 6, 2005 -- In response to widespread public interest in the company's position on anti-discrimination legislation, Microsoft Corp. today released the following text of an e-mail sent today from Steve Ballmer, CEO, to all Microsoft employees in the United States: Date: May 6, 2005 To: All Employees of Microsoft in Puget Sound; All Employees of Microsoft in MSUS Subject: Microsoft’s principles for public policy engagement During the past two weeks I’ve heard from many of you with a wide range of views on...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. Chief Operating Officer Steve Ballmer on Thursday warned Asian governments that they could face intellectual rights-infringement lawsuits for using rival open-source operating platforms such as Linux. Linux is open-code software that is freely available on the Internet and easily modified by users. Its growing popularity with companies and governments around the world, and particularly in Asia, is a threat to the global dominance of Microsoft's proprietary Windows platform. Ballmer, speaking in Singapore at Microsoft's Asian Government Leaders Forum, said that Linux violated more than 228 patents. He did not provide any detail on the alleged...

iPod users are music thieves says Ballmer October 04 2004 by Andy McCue 'Vested interest', say cynics... Speaking to an exclusive gathering of press in London on a number of issues, such as security, Steve Ballmer didn't pass up the opportunity to take several digs at his company's arch rival Apple. At the heart of the debate is Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology which will let content providers such as record labels and movie studios keep control of their intellectual property (IP) - or at least ensure all royalties are paid and copyright observed. Billing Microsoft as the good guys...

Excerpt - SAN FRANCISCO -- Determined to keep Microsoft Corp. from becoming a lumbering giant, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer sent out a 4,900-word memo to employees today, laying out a billion dollars in cost-cutting and stepping up innovation to drive revenue and profits higher. The memo, one in a series that Mr. Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates have used to rally employees, comes as Microsoft is believed to be contemplating radical action to address shareholder concerns about the company's stagnant stock price as it sits on a cash hoard that stood at $56.4 billion at the end of March. Some...

Microsoft has come a long way in its understanding of security over the last five years, but comments made last week by its chief executive Steve Ballmer go to show it needs to change not only its approach, but must recognize that it doesn't operate in a vacuum. In particular, his comment that he wishes security researchers would just shut their mouths is a sure sign that Ballmer just doesn't get it. His ambit scenario would see researchers only telling Microsoft about bugs they find. He actually cited the good of the world for his reasoning. At least he didn't...

Microsoft's taking a leaf out of Linux's book to fight off its open-source rival--it's calling its dedicated band of supporters to arms. Although the software company cannot compete against Linux on price, the company will use its community of professionals to outsmart the open-source movement, CEO Steve Ballmer told an audience of Microsoft Most Valued Professionals (MVPs) in London on Monday. "Linux is a serious competitor," said Ballmer. "We have to compete with free software on value, but in a smart way. We cannot price at zero, so we need to justify our posture and pricing. Linux isn't going...