And Ballmer should be worried for the exact same reason...
Category Microsoft
From InformationWeek: Microsoft's Steve Ballmer Calls Rivals 'Pretenders'
This is a typical Ballmer analyst session... lots of bluster and little substance. But I *love* this exchange with a Gartner analyst...
Gartner analyst Yvonne Genovese stuck it to Ballmer about her problems with Windows Vista. She was an early adopter, buying and installing Vista after her daughter gave it two thumbs up. "I like your daughter already," Ballmer said. "You're not going to like her mom in about two minutes," Genovese snapped back. She re-installed Windows XP after only two days on Vista. Ballmer kept up. "Your daughter saw a lot of value," he responded. "She's 13," Genovese quipped. "She's a user, and you're going to hire her in about nine years," Ballmer said with the last word.
Think about those implications you just laid out there, Steve... It's the 13 year olds that are not tied to the last 20 years of operating systems. They're the ones who think that the Web 2.0 world is how it's always been. They're the ones who will be most comfortable with online software applications such as the type Google is making available. They don't need mom and dad to bring home a copy of Microsoft Office from work any more. And it's the 13 year old geeks who don't have a problem loading up an OS like Linux or who prefer Macs to PCs.
Yeah, Steve... they are users, we'll be hiring them in about nine years, and that should keep you awake at nights...
From InformationWeek: Microsoft's Steve Ballmer Calls Rivals 'Pretenders'
This is a typical Ballmer analyst session... lots of bluster and little substance. But I *love* this exchange with a Gartner analyst...
Gartner analyst Yvonne Genovese stuck it to Ballmer about her problems with Windows Vista. She was an early adopter, buying and installing Vista after her daughter gave it two thumbs up. "I like your daughter already," Ballmer said. "You're not going to like her mom in about two minutes," Genovese snapped back. She re-installed Windows XP after only two days on Vista. Ballmer kept up. "Your daughter saw a lot of value," he responded. "She's 13," Genovese quipped. "She's a user, and you're going to hire her in about nine years," Ballmer said with the last word.
Think about those implications you just laid out there, Steve... It's the 13 year olds that are not tied to the last 20 years of operating systems. They're the ones who think that the Web 2.0 world is how it's always been. They're the ones who will be most comfortable with online software applications such as the type Google is making available. They don't need mom and dad to bring home a copy of Microsoft Office from work any more. And it's the 13 year old geeks who don't have a problem loading up an OS like Linux or who prefer Macs to PCs.
Yeah, Steve... they are users, we'll be hiring them in about nine years, and that should keep you awake at nights...
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Posted by Nathan T. Freeman At 11:00:02 On 12/10/2007 | - Website - |