Re: Steve Jobs Dies
Posted: 08 Oct 2011 14:31
I've only seen two interviews with Ballmer, and both were interesting. The first was right after the first iPhone launch, and he was openly skeptical about anyone buying a $600 phone that was not aimed at the business market. That, I think, was not an unreasonable position, given where the phone market was at that time.
What he failed to appreciate was that the phone would get cheaper through AT&T subsidizing the cost, and, more importantly, that people weren't buying a phone so much as a web access device and applications platform with a very user-friendly UI. That's easy to see in hindsight, but at the time, the iPhone did seem expensive for what it was - particularly when a lot of people were expecting the iPhone to be an iPod with a phone.
The second interview was just after the launch of the iPad, and it was more telling. Ballmer was again openly skeptical about the iPad, and said that "everyone will still want a PC" even if the tablet market takes off. This was incredibly short-sighted, I think; tablets like the iPad give people pretty much all the non-business features of a laptop, and are easier to use. A huge segment of the non-business PC market could well shift to tablet-only use, just as many PC gamers shifted to consoles a few years back.
Microsoft has done well in the gaming console space, but have failed to take hold in the three major product spaces that Apple dominate - music players, phones, and tablets.Ballmer's role in Microsoft may not be the same as Jobs' was in Apple, but having him display such a lack of vision in interviews does not make Microsoft look innovative.
HBJ
What he failed to appreciate was that the phone would get cheaper through AT&T subsidizing the cost, and, more importantly, that people weren't buying a phone so much as a web access device and applications platform with a very user-friendly UI. That's easy to see in hindsight, but at the time, the iPhone did seem expensive for what it was - particularly when a lot of people were expecting the iPhone to be an iPod with a phone.
The second interview was just after the launch of the iPad, and it was more telling. Ballmer was again openly skeptical about the iPad, and said that "everyone will still want a PC" even if the tablet market takes off. This was incredibly short-sighted, I think; tablets like the iPad give people pretty much all the non-business features of a laptop, and are easier to use. A huge segment of the non-business PC market could well shift to tablet-only use, just as many PC gamers shifted to consoles a few years back.
Microsoft has done well in the gaming console space, but have failed to take hold in the three major product spaces that Apple dominate - music players, phones, and tablets.Ballmer's role in Microsoft may not be the same as Jobs' was in Apple, but having him display such a lack of vision in interviews does not make Microsoft look innovative.
HBJ
