Comments on: Ballmer Is Wrong About Android

By: Microsoft Mobile vs. Android: Hostilities to Start Afresh May 11th

Microsoft Mobile vs. Android: Hostilities to Start Afresh May 11th — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:16:20 +0000

[...] comes with Windows Mobile 7.0), it is a vital upgrade that Microsoft needs to make in order to stay competitive in the smartphone OS business. In my opinion, Windows Mobile is the most likely victim of Google’s Android. Interestingly, [...]

By: On Digital Media » Blog Archive » On Digital Media Episode #75: Hiring Opportunity

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:38:40 +0000

[...] Ballmer Is Wrong About Android [...]

By: McGuire’s Law » Blog Archive » Business Observations: November 11, 2008 Edition

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:48:04 +0000

[...] Ballmer Is Wrong About Android [...]

By: Brent

Brent — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:25:35 +0000

Mr. Ballmer is not crazy or clueless. He is a businessman. Not a software developer. He has made a very rational decision to ride the Windows curve to its logical endpoint. Again, this is a decision based in economics, costs, revenue and market share. Mr Ballmer is extremely good at what he does, which however is not software development. Those who want innovation will continue to look elsewhere. Eventually, MS will move on to the next platform, but not one millisecond before the end of the Windows curve.

By: Why Steve Balmer is Wrong about Android « Marcus Beagley’s Blog

Why Steve Balmer is Wrong about Android « Marcus Beagley’s Blog — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:01:08 +0000

[...] over to GigaOM to see what Balmer has been saying about Android, and why he’s wrong. (like he was with the [...]

By: alex

alex — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:36:45 +0000

I think that Balmar is dead wrong, as he usually is…
This guy cannot see beyond his own companys products and strategies…
He missed on search, and he is already on track to miss on mobile search too…

Its only downhill from now on for MS, and no Azure can save it..

http://the-anti-google-baloney.blogspot.com/

By: Baby

Baby — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:34:48 +0000

As a Microsoft employee I can tell you that our CEO is arrogant and knows not what he is on about.

By: Todd

Todd — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:25:01 +0000

“Ballmer is wrong about Android”

Please name anything he gets RIGHT. After being at the same company for 30 years, I would expect him to have a very strong command of all competing technologies…

…but he just seems to be the “crazy cat lady” of software.

By: Alan Smith

Alan Smith — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:08:28 +0000

Windows Mobile, Culture of Excellence, Microsoft?? Oh, boy this has sure made me laugh. Since when does Steve Balmer have a clue? MS has had more mistakes, more misdirections, more poor judgments than any company should have and still be around. MS will be gone in 5-10 years, maybe even sooner. It is an old dinosaur. And the biggest dinosaur is Steve Balmer.

By: DoesWhat

DoesWhat — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 09:13:20 +0000

I seriously hope for Microsoft’s sake that Steve Ballmer is putting on a brave face. Behind the scenes they should either be working painstakingly on Windows Mobile to bring it up to the standard now required by consumers or throw the entire project in the bin and focus on something else. Windows Mobile is a sinking ship unless some dramatic action is taken. The mobile industry is more competitive than ever and Microsoft simply isn’t competing.

By: Ori Matalon

Ori Matalon — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:11:58 +0000

I think that “Culture of Excellence” can be reffered mostly to iPhone in the smartphone market today. Android looks imature today and I think the real test here is to see the rate of imrovement that Google shows. If I have to pick up a smartphone today I would still choose iPhone/BlackBerry. I wonder if that will be my answer in 6 months from now. MS? I don’t even think about it.

my comments at http://www.commentino.com/orim

By: Quickthink » Blog Archive » Android - A Poor Model??

Quickthink » Blog Archive » Android - A Poor Model?? — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:25:23 +0000

[...] – Interesting chit chat at Giga on Ballmer’s comments — generally agreeing that he is full of [...]

By: msftmicro

msftmicro — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 05:31:58 +0000

“Culture of Excellence” is not going to come back unless BillG comes back into the driving seat and Ballmer is out.
While Bill was leading, it was Developers who had the say and these days its marketing people. Devs just do what the requirements are and walk out @ 5. Remember, Great Tech companies thrive when Engineers strive for extreme innovations.

By: Partners in Grime

Partners in Grime — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:13:02 +0000

Or even culture of mediocrity like they’ve always been.

By: rom

rom — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:30:21 +0000

I agree with Om here that Balmer is off base thinking that Android is not a threat to Win Mo but the OS being free means nothing to the end consumer. In the smartphone market you don’t buy an OS, it’s just there on the phone whether it’s Win Mo, Android or whatever.

What sells the handsets is the key and long term viability of any platform is not the platform but the apps and utilities on it. Apple has always had a pretty stable OS but for the longest time didn’t see the love they see today. This had a lot to do with the fact that their OS had limited apps, utilities and above all, games that would work with it.

I’ve been using Win CE and Win Mo for over a decade on PDAs and now phones and have a pretty solid idea of the apps and utilities I use and expect from my device. Seen a myriad of fly by night apps and games and I have to say, these sell mostly to the newly initiated. iPhone didn’t do it so far. When you step back and do a really hard analysis of the device, iPhone’s shortcomings with basic PDA functionality (copy paste, app switching, synching and installing without iTunes) really overshadowed the really innovative features that Apple put in.

The open source nature of Android is why MS and Apple should be concerned. More so for Apple if you think of their restrictive nature with regard to what developers can and can’t do. I see a lot of potential from Android but I rely on my Win Mo device for personal and business use and it hasn’t shown itself as a suitable replacement so far. It’s new, give developers some time and I see myself trying it out. But only if they put it on a better looking handset. HTC puts it on their Touch Pro or Touch HD and we’re in business.

By: agent mulder lives

agent mulder lives — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:16:18 +0000

Of course, Steve is crapping on Android. Why would he endorse it (or any other competitive offering) under any circumstances unless there was some obviously huge benefit to M$FT?

M$FT continues to miss the mark in mobile. The majority of the value in mobile isn’t in the OS per se and AAPL and RIMM (and perhaps GOOG one day) are capitalizing on M$FT’s narrow focus on the mobile OS and its weakness in all other parts of the stack. And who knows how successful the Danger acquisition will be…too little, too late, methinks.

- agent mulder lives