Comments on: Once Again, Steve Ballmer Is Wrong — This Time About Android

By: Jeff Dickey

Jeff Dickey — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:57:44 +0000

RickyB, thank you very much. It's been my observation that people who fail to see the consequences of unreliable tech getting an ever-increasing role in our lives either a) haven't been around and paying attention long enough to have seen it happen before; b) have a strong psychological/financial/career stake in that increase, or c) both of the above. Option 'c' is depressingly prevalent.

By: RickyB

RickyB — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:39:14 +0000

< "What will the reaction be when a major “cloud” service suddenly goes dark or, arguably worse, reveals long after the fact that it has been cracked and customer data and personal information has been compromised?" >

Thank you, thank you, thank you Jeff Dickey. It's great to hear that others are as concerned as I am about the fragility and vulnerability of the "cloud" infrastructure.

By: Cake

Cake — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:36:50 +0000

I agree with a previous comment. It is very depressing and surprising to see Ballmer continuing in the position as CEO. The list of his failures and long and unending…
a) Vista
b) MS Online
c) MS Windows Mobile
d) Surface (perhaps the first legit tablet)
e) Tablet
f) CRM (salesforce.com ate their lunch)

Misrosoft Board should be penalized for continuing to put up with such destruction of shareholder value.

By: Jeff Dickey

Jeff Dickey — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 06:06:14 +0000

I'd agree with that; or, another way to look at it is "mainframes." We tried to go that route in the mid-'90s with "thin clients;" outside a handful of niche markets, it didn't really take hold. Will we really shift everything to rented, shared corporate space (aka "the cloud") now that "very thick clients" (new-gen mobile devices) are the access point and visual sugarcoating? What will the reaction be when a major "cloud" service suddenly goes dark or, arguably worse, reveals long after the fact that it has been cracked and customer data and personal information has been compromised?

I don't think we're really mature enough, as a software industry, to have that kind of centralized, large-scale dependence by the public at large. Thirty years ago, I went around saying that we were twenty to 30 years away from having a proper engineering discipline for software, such that practitioners could develop reliable artifacts that the public at large could rely on and absorb into the infrastructure. At the rate things have been going, I think thirty years — from right now — would be a very optimistic timeframe, barring a software equivalent of the New London School fire in Texas (which gave rise to [civil] engineering as we know it today). I am of the firm opinion that we are setting ourselves up for just such a crisis today... with a society and regulatory structure far less able to deal with it effectively in the public interest.

By: Dogtown

Dogtown — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 18:48:16 +0000

Dell, Sony, and HP will all have available soon at Best Buy tablet devices running Android or WebOS. They will join Apple's already available selling like hot cakes iPad. What was lacking with the previous OEM attempts were 1) ARM processing power (SnapDragon / Cortex being relatively new) 2) Go to Market strategy 3) a fully baked Android OS or WebOS.

We are at an inflection point. It's like saying in 2007 that touch screen phones had yet to really take off based on past results. All signs are pointing to a major upheaval in the OS market for 2010-2011. This was a bad time for Microsoft to 'miss a cycle'. If I was them, I would get ahead on the TV OS market before it's too late.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 12:03:46 +0000

"Here’s Microsoft, a company that wouldn’t understand the concept of separating the OS from the browser"

Except they did three years ago. Do keep up.

By: FTM

FTM — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:11:52 +0000

Om, Ballmer is easy game. It doesn't take a genius to call him wrong. But in this case, he needs to be given credit for his unbiased view. He agrees that android on a phone rules. He is ambivalent about android elsewhere. Any why not? There is hardly a single non-mobile phone product in the market today. And that is after 3 years of launching the android.

Think about it - in spite of Google's credibility + technical manna (essentially free lunch) that android is, the world has not exactly minted android products!

Secondly, let me point out why Google should not place all its eggs in the android basket. Google makes zero money from android. Yes, I can say that again. Android will not drive traffic to Google properties as much as ChromeOS will do. In fact, I couldn't agree more with Ray Ozzie - Android is like windows all over again (only this time on linux)- it is about apps, apps and more apps. OK, this time they are delivered over the web, but they are a relic of microsoft's hey days in all other aspects. One fine day, the world will get over the app infatuation. And then what ?

ChromeOS is a bet on the future, app-free world. But will the world ever be app free? Given this, it makes a lot of sense for Google to spread their risks evenly. I can imagine a convergence - ChromeOS opening up to host a few apps. And the android app diarrhea coming to a stop.

By: HereAndNow

HereAndNow — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 07:57:06 +0000

Apple is clearly putting a lot of effort, into Safari & HTML5. I suspect they have all the pieces in place, to deliver a "SafariOS", if that's where the market goes.

By: Corey

Corey — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 02:34:44 +0000

Microsoft is just mad that they missed the boat and all they could come up with was a piece of shit Kin. Those phones are the most useless smartphones on the market.

By: Bob

Bob — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 01:59:05 +0000

Google is betting more on the chrome OS, android is just a way to stall the progress of IPhone. It is taking time to refine and deliver a near Apple like experience on the chrome OS.