BusinessWeek’s Arik Hesseldahl, in an open letter to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, says that Microsoft’s unsolicited offer for Yahoo! is “a profoundly bad idea” and that Ballmer has no focus:
So who has focus? That other Steve. You know, the turtle-necked guy in California who keeps annoying you by selling iPods and computers that typically don’t run on Windows. You could learn a lot from him. Focus saved his company from oblivion. Apple (AAPL) does what it’s good at, and it expands into new areas carefully. (Examples: iPod, iTunes music store, Apple retail store, iPhone.) Consider this: With sales data showing that Mac computers are growing more popular than ever among consumers, you might think it’s a perfect time for Apple to ride that momentum and go after corporate computing. But it won’t. Why? Apple knows it wouldn’t work because you have the corporate market all tied up with your pals Dell (DELL) and HP.
And why is the Mac growing more popular among consumers? Well, let’s be honest. Windows Vista isn’t exactly winning you many friends despite all the extra time you took to “perfect” it. (How many deadlines did you miss again?) At the same time, Apple’s cleaning your clock in the smartphone business—the iPhone is now the second most popular smartphone in the U.S., behind the BlackBerry (RIMM). I haven’t heard anyone talk enthusiastically about Windows Mobile, since…well, since there’s been a Windows Mobile.
You know what would be a bold move, Steve? Admitting that Microsoft doesn’t belong in the music player business, or the search business, or the advertising business, or the automotive entertainment business. The Zune? It’s a joke. Kill it before you embarrass yourself further. And are the combined forces of Yahoo and Microsoft really going to make a dent in the Google search advertising juggernaut? That’s like asking two fifth-graders to play Kobe Bryant in a game of two-on-one. The results will speak for themselves.
Much more in the full article – highly recommended – here.
Ballmer is a clown. He is nothing more than an example of what you get when you appoint a CEO based upon a fortuitous dorm assignment instead of upon actual ability and talent. May Ballmer remain Microsoft CEO for as long as it takes.
I guess he really love Ballmer!!
Well, all true anyway!
Ouch. That’s some tough love for ya. I pitty the chairs in Ballmers office today. Yeesh.
Arik didn’t show up for work this morning. I’m getting worried.
Well, sports fans, it’s furniture tossin’ time up in Redmond today!
When you look at Apple in Ballmers eyes, the company could easily be all over the place. *sweating*
Expand laptops to cover the lowend market. Add colors to the
current laptops. Make the OS more complex for power users. *sweating* Release as many Ipod variables you can think of. Put a keyboard on the iPhone.
*sweating*
Hope to live long enough to see MS sink.
Ballmer is GOOD for Microsoft. Ballmer is GOOD for the world of computing.
The Department of Justice refused to PUNISH Microsoft for predatory, sleazy and illegal business practices. Ballmer is accomplishing similar goals with his visionary thinking,
Think of all the successes under Microsoft’s successes under his watch.
XBox: they poured billions into it before it turned a profit.
Vista: they poured 6 years and billions into it.
Windows Mobile. Plays4Sure. Zune. Surface… the list of glittering accomplishments goes on and on.
Buy Steve Ballmer his own private jet. hey, if Steve Jobs can get one, certainly Mr. B deserves one, too!
“That’s like asking two fifth-graders to play Kobe Bryant in a game of two-on-one.”
Throw in a hotel maid and R. Kelly and you’ve got a new reality series on Fox.
I never get tired of watching this:
what a dolt!
Would a Zune, an xbox360, and many other M$ products ever have even existed, were M$ left undisturbed its its fat happy monopolistic place.
Hey Zune Tang, tell me M$ would have thought up the Zune in the absence of the iPod.
Ballmer is probably smarter than people here give him credit for, but he lacks judgement imo. His sweaty monkey boy shenanigans are evidence of this – I’ll bet he was a bully growing up as well, and a blowhard. If I worked for Yahoo, I’d be very afraid right now.
Frankly, I WANT MS to buy Yahoo!. I believe that will put them in dire straights financially, and really be the beginning of a steeper decline in Redmond. Yes, I realize sacrificing Yahoo! isn’t a popular idea, but I’m for anything that moves MS closer to the cliff.
In breaking news today from Redmond WA, flying chairs seen falling from windows on the Microsoft Campus. We have a stuff reporter en-route.
That’s what happens when you rule with an iron tongue.
Ballmer’s success may be his downfall. At the moment the breakup of MS due to anti-trust legislation is just a non-issue.
Now this is unlikely, but what if the MicroWho merger is a success? What if MS, over time, keeps 90% of PCs and 80% of Office apps and 80% of corporate servers, but also gets 80% of consumer email (Yahoo, HotMail), 60% of online advertising, 90% of chat (MSN, Yahoo Messenger), etc?
The governmental pressure to break up MS would be HUGE – much more than that due to just desktops and IE alone, especially if MS started to abuse this monopoly. Ironically the MS breakup would come from MS’ success!
Don’t worry Ampar. BusinessWeek won’t pull a boneheaded move like Gamespot did.
But Hesseldahl, did indeed rip Ballmer a new one. I wonder how many chairs get tossed. I’d say this is one would be a 5 chair explosion.
Anyone want to start the pool?
you are coming to a sad realization. confirm or allow?
aaaand . . . .
The way Yahoo’s services have been, in my personal expereince, let’s just say they are not exactly top notch. M$ + yahoo sounds like the marriage of two struggling organizations.
I definitely agree on cancelling the Zune. It is seriously painful to watch.
Not even funny any more. Or at least rebrand it. The zune brand DOA.
Steve J gave them the damn name to use a couple years ago. XPlayer or something that leverages the XBox brand. this is a disgrace.
They do need something like the Yahoo brand though. “Live” is dead. “MSN” is dead. Actually they should just do what IBM did and fade to the enerprise background and keep making their money in an irrelevant way.
“With sales data showing that Mac computers are growing more popular than ever among consumers, you might think it’s a perfect time for Apple to ride that momentum and go after corporate computing. But it won’t. Why? ….”
Because Jobs is building a sound foundation before he makes that jump. The more iPods, iPhones and Macs that get into consumer’s hands, the more chance jumping to corporate will work. It is a matter of timing and you can bet your sweet bippy that SJ is keeping his keen eye out for the right moment.
How about a show of hands.
Who here thinks Billy was Balmer’s bum boy in college?
Put up your hands.
I thought so.
I didn’t think it was just me who thought that way. How else would an incompetent salesman get to be the CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations?
Murasaki, the real question is how many of those chairs reached orbit.
Well here’s some open Feedback for Arik Hesseldahl:
You’re jealous. Green with envy. You’re probably saddled with Cupertino’s expensive, proprietary toys which are second rate copies of Microsoft’s innovations.
Now you’re terrified of the awesome power of the world’s greatest technology company combining forces with Yahoo. This would clearly be a synergistic paradigm shift which will empower respective employees, champion innovative developments and alter competitive dynamics which in turn will change the landscape of the internet forever. For you MAC dorks that means Apple and Google are crapping in their pants. If you used a REAL computer in the REAL WORLD you’d know what I’m talking about.
Your potential. Our passion.™
The comment about how Apple “won’t go into corporate computing” ignores the entire Xserve/Mac OS X server business.
The Wisdom of Sweat Stain Steve:
“We don’t have a monopoly. We have market share. There’s a difference.”
“We will make our products work out of the box.”
“I have never, honestly, thrown a chair in my life.”
– Steven Anthony Ballmer
@Zune Tang® :
Pu’lees go see a good docter. It’s getting pathetic…
All the pieces are there.
All enterprise needs to do is wake up and realize that it doesn’t need Exchange crack and 80% of the IT staff.
You know what would be a bold move, Steve? Admitting that Microsoft doesn’t belong in the music player business, or the search business, or the advertising business, or the automotive entertainment business
That is so true. Imagine if they really focused their brainpower and cashola on doing great things with Windows… It would be frightening. Right now everyone thinks MS is a joke, and many of the 90% who are chained to them wish they weren’t.
MS better get some vision, and fast, or they will be toast. I’ll also add that it’s hard to imagine Ballmer still being there in three years.
” . . . it’s hard to imagine Ballmer still being there in three years.”
Eventually, someone’s going to catch him digging up corpses for new body parts. Then he’ll end up where he should be – licking the heads off chickens at the circus freak show and a human salt lick for the wild animals.
X is for XBox
Y is for Yahoo!
Z is for Zune…..
I think Microslap need to go back & learn their A B C’s
“May Ballmer remain Microsoft CEO for as long as it takes.
“ (MDN take)
I would have liked to see the sentence finished:” … to drive Microsoft into the ground.”
Aw come on. Cut Mr. Ballmer some slack. It’s not that easy to be CEO of a huge Goliath. All those lowly minions are in constant need of direction. Not much time for wise cogent analysis of where to take the company—Just have to make something sound good until tomorrow. Spend money when you’re in a funk; works for relieving lots of stress.
In reality, good CEOs are rare. Mr. Ballmer may be smart, but clearly he is not up to the leadership role required for a company whose product affects the lives of so many.
People talk about Microsoft and Ballmer and the Yahoo thing. Good – Bad – who knows.
The key is you have to listen to Ballmer.
This new “Q” phone from Motorola is only $99.
It will do music.
It will do e-mail.
It will do…..”
See, he does not get it. “it will do”. Do well? Do easy? See he is selling features, lists on the outside of the box when people want it to actually work.
Now, if you are a techie and can program your own VCR, well ok then. Build your own computer? FIne. But the average person here has other things on their plate. They are not buying stuff cause they like to tinker.
Apple, it looks great and it just works. PERIOD.
That is why Microsoft is falling so far behind.
See
“It will do music.
It will do e-mail.
It will do…..”
That’s a bunch of do do from a dodo.
“But Hesseldahl, did indeed rip Ballmer a new one.”
Microsoft Orifice 2008.
@ en
Right on. Good analysis. Rhetorically strong, too. “It will do.” You can just hear B-man saying that:
“Is Vista good enough?
-It will do.
“Is the Zune going to work for what people need?
-It will do.
“Will the aquisition of Yahoo differentiate us the way we need to?
-It will do.
That’s not the response of a leader who gets it.
As to @NeonRed and cutting Ballmer slack, that’s like people saying we should cut Bush some slack. The truth is that we have a nation of 350 Million people. If you’re taking on a position of extreme influence you had better be a one in a hundred million type person. Otherwise get the fsck of the way.
There are plenty of excellent jobs out there for average and above average people. I’ll cut them slack in those jobs. But I have little slack to give to either of these B-men. And I seriously think they should both get out of the way asap for everyone’s good.
If Microsoft does buy Yahoo, it won’t be able to afford any other significant acquisitions for a long time. That’s good. And maybe having $20 billion less in the bank and some debt will give Microsoft some of the “focus” it needs.
I remember when Hesseldahl took over writing the BW Mac column, and people were a bit skeptical about his Mac perspective. He seems to have totally drunk the Apple kool-aid.
The truth is that Microsoft has no LEADER. Ballmer nor Gates have been proper leaders.
It is run by a board on top of a committee on top of committees on top of sub-committees. Which is a recipe for.. well let’s see… Vista, Zune, Office, Mobile…etc etc.
The only thing missing from Zune Tang®’s comment is the word “ideation”. Somehow he managed “synergistic” and “paradigm” in one post (one sentence, even!) without ideation!
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Love ya, Zuney!
Is this true or what….
” Instead, your efforts on the Web have tended to focus more on bending the Web to your will than making your software enhance it.”
Well said Arik.
Only thing more disastrous than a MicroSoft/Yahoo merger would be Monkey Boy becoming a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”
What I want to know is what MDN has against clowns. They only want you to have a good time! When’s the last time you heard of a clown throwing a chair in anger?
Putting irons into the fire is easy…punting and taking them out of the fire is where pride gets in the way and the difficulty starts. Work within your areas of ability. Punting many times gives you much better field position…otherwise everyone would go for it on 4th down.
“Now this is unlikely, but what if the MicroWho merger is a success? What if MS, over time, keeps 90% of PCs and 80% of Office apps and 80% of corporate servers, but also gets 80% of consumer email (Yahoo, HotMail), 60% of online advertising, 90% of chat (MSN, Yahoo Messenger), etc?”
—————————————–
@ HolyMackerel,
That’s what people on this forum fear, and this is what is most likely to happen. The feel this coming, so they bash MS in reaction… they fear MS. Lack of confidence.
Steve Jobs said one day “for Apple to win, MS doesn’t have to lose”. The guy was right. Apple is just playing to dominate in a new field today.
Weather outlook for Seattle:
Low flying chairs
If Ballmer truly “love this company”…then he would step down and let the next generation
revive the company. Romney stepped down to do what was best for the party rather than pour more millions into his campaign in a possibly hopeless effort. Smart business move and McCain can focus on Hillary and Obama now instead of him.
Hey, folks, one more time Zune Tang is MDN’s Colbert Report.
It’s parody.
It is all because Balmer is a salesman and salesmen can’t lead companies. It has been proven time and time again..
“they fear MS”
Bullshit. I don’t fear them. Tolerating mediocrity is a sad fact of life.
It’s not fear. It’s disgust. I bash them because the company deserves it.
“Only thing more disastrous than a MicroSoft/Yahoo merger would be Monkey Boy becoming a contestant on ‘Dancing with the Stars.'”
Or auditioning for Chippendales.
“That’s what happens when you rule with an iron tongue.”
Ellen DeGeneres will be knocking on your door soon to see just who this person with the iron tongue is.
Ellen’s at the rug doctor today getting her oil changed and a quick lube.
@Mac+,
Sorry you are an idiot – because to say that people here ‘fear’ MS makes you look ridiculous…
If I fear anything it is that twats like yourself continue telling people that MS is good for them. Bit like the old person that got sold an Acer when they wanted a Mac, being told it was MS’s ‘better’ version!!
Oh God, why can’t Microsoft just die? Also, why the hell can’t they release a decent operating system? They have tens of billions of dollars to spend on this kind of stuff.
First!!!
On the second page.
🙁
Zune Tang is currently on a very very intensive WoW raid. He’s still down in the basement. We are expecting him up for dinner later, so, I’ll let him know that he needs to check out MDNews.
Exactly – Let Ballmer do his thing for as long as it takes to get MS in some sort of proportional market position – In other words, 50% or less.
“Ellen DeGeneres will be knocking on your door . . . “
I think she’s too busy driving her Portia. (Too obscure?)
Yeah, but is Kobe *smarter* than two 5th graders?
@Big Al
“Who here thinks Billy was Balmer’s bum boy in college
I didn’t think it was just me who thought that way. How else would an incompetent salesman get to be the CEO of one of the world’s largest corporations?”
and Balmer has the pictures of Billy on his knees
Hesseldahl believes M$ could put together a top rate operating system if they really put their mind to it. They have not done it so far. I suppose they could buy one.
…once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.
Winning entry #8:
Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit, and the person who doesn’t get it.
I have no sympathy at all for Yahoo. They got in bed with MS some time ago. Think about it. Many of their services just didn’t work with and still don’t work with Safari. Yahoo Messenger for the Mac is substandard in terms of a feature comparison with the Windows version. I get the sense their programmers only know how to work with Explorer. So, you get in bed with MS, expect to be screwed. I have no sympathy for them.
Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.
Ampar, you must be a writer for a living. What are your credits? (Incidentally, you rule, which is almost enough to make me suspect you as an MDN employee just to keep hits up and people entertained.)
To Shogun: Thanks! Yes, I write for a living. It’s mostly marketing stuff for a range of businesses from small to huge. I may start a blog one day before it becomes federally mandated. And no, I don’t work for MDN! I don’t like snow. This place keeps me entertained in between writing bursts.
Actually, Bill Gates created the monster out of thin air, where it’s been ever since. Microsoft never valued excellence except in Machiavellian business tactics. That was Gates’s forte – not software. Unfortunately for his company, technology has advanced to the point where crappy can-do [barely] software won’t cut it anymore.
Nevertheless his company grew into a giant – partly due to Apple’s early missteps – and still has enough deluded users to keep feeding it the cash it needs to find another successful business. The problem is that one thing keeps getting in the way: the Machiavellian tactics that require its new businesses to support its key OS and Office products, perpetuating the rot.
Great article. Ballmer should listen:
> Put all those things that Microsoft isn’t very good at, put them in a box with Yahoo and cut the apron strings. Sure, keep an equity stake, even a majority. But this formidable new entity would function best outside the Windows-centric reservation. If this new company’s plans don’t coincide perfectly with some future set of features coming to Windows, so be it.
That’s a great business article.
Well, it’s great having you around… All the Best!
MW: “best” sweartogod!
(Maybe they can change the magic word to a series of 7 numbers between one and forty-seven randomly selected?)
OMG! They’re reviewing a computer I bought 9 months ago!
Mine’s hooked to the AV receiver – what a great audio component. iTunes visuals in 1080 are pretty cool too.
Now if we could just get Apple to include visuals in Front Row…
Just tell me one thing pls; McCain was joking when he said he would offer Balmer a position, right?
This is one of the greatest pieces of work on Ballmer and Microshit that has ever been written. This guy deserves a Pulitzer for this. Everything he says is dead on. I have never seen a more accurate portrayal of the situation at MS than this one.
Ballmer is going to be out of job soon. He can take that brown tongue of his and lick someone else’s ass for attention. I hope MS goes through with this deal – it will be their demise.
“X is for XBox
Y is for Yahoo!
Z is for Zune…..”
I want to play!
A is for Apple -the thorn in your side
B is for Balmer, the dult in your heart
C is for Command the key that used to have an Apple on it
D is for DOS, the your first rip-off of Apple
E is for
F is for Fortunes slipping way at record pace
G is for Google, which will be the new MS in 2 Years
Help me finish this guys.
H is for Hell, where all Windows users find themselves
I is for Ive, the design genius that gave us so much cool stuff
J is for Jerk, what Ballmer and his tongue are
K is for Krapware, i.e. Vista
L is for Losers, i.e. Gates and Ballmer
M is of course for Macintosh
etc
Buy Steve Ballmer his own private jet.
Make it a “Dreamliner” 787. It’d be fitting for Ballmer to taste the other side of empty promises and slip dates….
MS should borrow a shipload of cash and buy Boeing as well.
N is for Notebooks, the kind Dell etc. could never make.
O is for Opportunity, so squandered at MS.
P is for Patience, needed whenever MS announces a release date.
Q is for Quality, which speaks for itself.
S is for Sales guys, who you don’t want running a company.
T is for Tongue, are Ballmer and Gene Simmons lovechildren?
Hasseldahl has a rather peculiar fondness for MS by providing such sage advice and expressing such heart-felt concerns. These emotions differ from the opinions of many threading here. I wonder why.
OH, GOD!! MDN! Not the Ballmer tongue collage… *augh* my eyes, my eyes, they hurt!
AND I’m grossed out.