Gizmodo Australia » steve ballmer

Apple Vs Microsoft Wars Reach MS Shareholder Meeting

Jesus Diaz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:40:00 +0000

This year’s Microsoft shareholder meeting wasn’t a lot of fun for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and Chairman Bill Gates, thanks to shareholders grilling him about Apple and the iPhone with questions like the above. Ballmer smacked him right back:

There’s certainly always opportunities for improvement. There is a group of people with whom our market share is less. You take any country, including this one, and you say, how are we doing? The truth of the matter is, we do quite well. Even among college students, we do quite well. Do we have an opportunity for improvement? We do. Some of that is marketing some of that is phase of life.

It is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows, that’s a good thing. Even in the toughest market, which would be the high end of the consumer market here in the US, 83 times out of 100 people choose a Windows PC over a Mac.

Ballmer also remarked that Apple has gained a few “couple of tenths of a per cent of market share”, but when the audience chuckled, he was prompted to correct them:

Every couple of tenths matter. They matter when we’re increasing our Bing market share, too.

Ooooooh, you are good, Mr Ballmer, you are good. There were many other piercing questions about the iPhone, Android. Check them out at: [Techflash]

Eric Schmidt Takes The Gloves Off With Microsoft

Adam Frucci — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:17:56 +0000

There’s no love lost between Google and Microsoft, at least based on a recent interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

I’ve learned not to respond to quotes by Steve Ballmer. Hopefully we won’t repeat the same mistakes that Microsoft did 10 years ago that ultimately led to all these things that have been happening with them.

Me-ow! Hit the link for video of the full interview, which is pretty interesting throughout. And not just for the catty comments about Microsoft. [Gigaom]

Steve Ballmer: The Uncut Interview

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:30:00 +0000

Most of you may not have 16 minutes to spare on this and probably don’t care anyway, but I promised to post the full video, if only so you can understand the context of our five highlighted segments.

Watch it, share it, do what you like. And if you just want the short and sweet, here again are our five featured bits (shot and edited by Mike Short):

Steve Ballmer Exclusive Interview Series:
Part 1: Ballmer Talks Natal, Says Blu-ray Add-On for Xbox Coming
Part 2: Ballmer on the Smartphone Race: “It Doesn’t Matter What the Critics Say”
Part 3: Ballmer on Zune: Sometimes You Get It Right The Third Time?
Part 4: Ballmer on Those Crazy Ballmer YouTube Videos
Part 5: Ballmer Optimistic About Win 7, But Says Vista Is “Very Popular”

The Today Show Helps Microsoft Launch Win 7 On A MacBook Pro

Sean Fallon — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Good thing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer didn’t turn around during his spot on The Today Show. Clearly, someone at NBC either really loves Macs or can’t tell the difference between a MacBook and a PC.

On the other hand, Maybe Ballmer noticed and didn’t care. In the spot he discusses hardware diversity and this sort of proves his point. After all, you can run Windows 7 on a Mac. It’s an amusing gaffe, but beyond that, the clip is interesting because it touches on Windows 7, the image battle between Apple and Microsoft and the issue of CEO pay all inside five minutes. [Crunchgear]

Ballmer Optimistic About Win 7, But Says Vista Is “Very Popular”

Wilson Rothman — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:00:00 +0000

As you know, I sat down with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to chat about all of his projects this year. Windows 7 was obviously the biggie, so we talked about it and its less beloved predecessor.

But unlike Bill Gates, who seemed like he wanted to admit Vista sucked, Ballmer sticks to his guns, calling it “very popular”. He says:

It’s much discussed but much used. Hundreds of millions of people are using Windows Vista…[Vista] has improved between service packs, compatibility upgrades that application vendors have done. Actually, the market environment for Vista is not anything like it was when it launched.

He contends that (poor) PC sales are “far more a function of the economy, right now” than any product, and uses that to express his continued caution about being too bullish on the Windows 7 launch.

Try as I might—and you can probably tell I was trying pretty hard—I could not get Ballmer to say or even hint that Vista sucked. It’s cool, though. To his point, although Windows 7 smokes it, Vista did get better. We are currently running Vista on a pair of totally stripped, brand-new Acer Timelines, and they’re actually doing fine (knock on wood). That had certainly not been the case when I interviewed Bill.

Stay tuned, because tomorrow we plan to run the full uncut interview video for your journalistically voyeuristic pleasure. Video by Mike Short

Microsoft Says No Xbox Blu-ray Drives Period

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:45:17 +0000

In a revised statement, Microsoft says it has “no plans” to introduce any Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360. But—despite the fact they watched the same video you did—they claim Ballmer was referring to the PC.

Here’s the full statement:

Steve was referring to Blu-ray accessories for the PC. As we have said in the past, we have no plans to introduce a Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360. In fact, the future of home entertainment starts this fall when Xbox 360 becomes the first and only console to offer instant-on 1080p streaming HD movies. With a library of thousands of TV shows and movies to choose from, Xbox 360 owners can instantly watch the movies they want, when they want, in the highest form of high definition.

This more clearly worded denial probably should have come last night, when we first asked for comment, instead of the more open-ended one provided at the time. Whatever…easy come, easy go. However, the idea that Ballmer was referring to the PC—which already has Blu-ray drives—rather than simply saying something that wasn’t true, that’s a little more questionable.

Ballmer On Those Crazy Ballmer YouTube Videos

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:45:24 +0000

This is the one you’ve waited for, where I get Steve to talk about his animalistic YouTube persona. But how do you ask calm collected Steve about crazy sweaty Steve? Very carefully.

As you can see in the video, he’s not going to stop being himself, just because Bill Gates is officially out of the picture and the public finally sees him as the big man up top. Does that mean more YouTube excitement? If it does, you’ll surely see it here.

Stay tuned for more exciting Ballmer moments (and facial expressions), and then the full uncut interview video later today.

And in the rare case you hadn’t seen the video I’m referring to:

Ballmer On Zune: Sometimes You Get It Right The Third Time?

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer defended notorious products like Windows Vista and Windows Mobile throughout our interview, but when it came to Zune, he did seem to admit that Zune HD nailed what previous Zunes simply couldn’t.

When I asked if he gave an order to make Zune better, he replied:

Sometimes you get it the first time you cook the soup, sometimes it takes till the second time you cook the soup…You get better every time.

However you interpret that, it’s the closest Ballmer comes to saying that product improvement was needed, that it wasn’t just revision for the sake of the sales cycle.

Live From The Windows 7 Launch

Matt Buchanan — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:43:17 +0000

We’re at the official Windows 7 launch. The Ballmer, of course, is going to be doing a WAHOO speech. We’re told there’ll some surprises, too. Updated live.

Jason’s favourite Asian child, Kylie from the Windows commercials, just brought out Steve, and he bribed her with a pink laptop.

Also, Steve is a Windows 7 PC, effectively immediately.

We’re still here, BTW — Microsoft’s just been walking through Windows 7 features you guys have seen a million years ago while I shoot tons of photos of Steve with awkward facial expressions.

New CBS streaming video integrated with Windows Media Center. No real details, but you don’t need a TV tuner. So I guess that’s CBS’s answer to Hulu?

Amazon multitouch Kindle app for Windows 7 — full colour photos, pinch zooming to enlarge text, looks awesome. Could be a much-needed killer app for Windows 7 tablets. Maybe.

Streaming to 16 different screens from one Windows 7 PC using Play-To feature is actually kind of impressive.

Oh my, so many kinds of PCs. So many.

Apparently, there are so many PCs, Steve needs somebody else to explain them all to him.

And, that’s it!

Ballmer On Smartphones: “It Doesn’t Matter What The Critics Say”

Wilson Rothman — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:00:00 +0000

In this segment of my exclusive interview series with Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer, I brought up the sore subject of Windows Mobile 6.5. After defending it, he cited another product that did well but suffers mounting criticism: Nokia smartphones.

As you can see in the video, Ballmer acknowledges that Windows Mobile 6.5 is receiving negative reviews, but I never get him to actually admit that the platform still needs work. He says, “reviews aside”, he’s happy with what Windows Phones (running 6.5) can do now.

And faced with competition from the iPhone, BlackBerry and others, he contends it’s currently “kind of a horse race”. The only clear leader, market-share wise, is Nokia, and they’re losing ground. When I said that Nokia was another developer currently lambasted by reviewers, Ballmer replied:

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what the critics say, it matters what the customers say.

Perhaps given the power of advertising (still mighty, even if it’s on the decline), there may still be a way for a product to get positive sales despite negative reviews. But the internet has changed that landscape, and the lines between critic and customer blur more every day. We all share knowledge in order to make better choices. So who, in the end, is this customer, who is so different from the critic? Not anyone who reads Gizmodo, that’s for sure.

Stay tuned for more exciting Ballmer moments (and facial expressions) over the next day, and then the full uncut interview video late Friday.