Slashdot Mirror
Ballmer Calls Android a "Press Release"
Bergkamp10 writes "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tried to shoot down Google's new mobile platform at a press conference in Tokyo. Ballmer called Android a mere 'press release' at present, and said the mobile platform market is 'Microsoft's world.' Ballmer dodged requests to comment on specifics of the Android software platform, preferring instead to highlight the successes of the Windows Mobile platform which he said is on 150 different handsets and is available from over 100 different mobile operators. 'Well of course their efforts are just some words on paper right now, it's hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile],' Ballmer said. 'Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they're welcome in our world,' he added."
Ballmer called Android a mere 'press release' at present
That's rich, coming from one of the greatest producers of vaporware in the world.
This is the same guy who at one point ran around a COMDEX crashing OS/2 systems with a custom made application to put the lie to IBM's touting of its "crashproof" nature. He's been Microsoft's attack dog for the last 20 years and that's pretty much been his only role in the industry. What is the reason that I, or anyone else, should care what this professional troll thinks?
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
Please don't use "umm" or "err" or "erm".
I've been sorely disappointed by each version of Windows CE/CE.net/Mobile. I've got many gripes including battery life, locking up when the battery runs down, losing everything when the battery runs down, wifi issues, inability to play video despite 400 MHz ARM processors, no upgrades to the OS are available to consumers, features are tied to OS upgrades... Windows PDAs stink for all those reasons!
...when the 'press release' takes as much market share from Microsoft as, say, Google's search engine has? Investors try to plan ahead - customers now aren't as important as customers tomorrow. Honestly, if I had my choice I'd picka Google-run mobile simply because I trust them more to be innovative and customer-centered. I think vista has shown us that simply 'owning the market' so-to-speak isn't going to get you incredibly far anymore.
Quiz: True or False -- On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your middle name?
Like when he faked laughter at the iPhone. What can you do? The guy has to try to sell his cruft, and when his competitors get a lot of attention, he has to do something.
He obviously can't upstage them with functionality or stability (I have a Windows Mobile lying on a shelf, gathering dust), so he'll have to try name-calling.
First Symbian now Microsoft. It sure has the two competitors in a uproar.
You want to know the really funny thing, although I heard about the google phone, it is through this press release by MS and Symbian I learned that it is called Android and that it was officially announced. Thanks to these nice companies for helping me spot that I missed the original press-release by google itself (surely the world ain't so ironic that the original story never made slashdot?).
Okay, enough fun, on with a serious comment.
Taking bets, when a MS employee leaves to work on the google phone, what will Steve Ballmer throw, shouting "I will fucking bury Google, I failed to do so once, and I will fail to do so again."
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I am not a huge fan of google these days (various reasons) but I was there for an interview and I was not allowed to 'see' things in certain buildings or offices. they all told me there was some hardware being worked on and that if I even saw it, I'd 'know' what they were working on. this was a few months ago.
I now 'get it'. its the phone they were working on.
I think its real. and they seem to be putting a LOT of energy into this project, too.
I doubt its vaporware.
--
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
LOOK OUT!!!
(grabs advocate_one and pushes him to the floor as a chair whooshes overhead)
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Yes it's a press release, made 7 days before the SDK is released on Monday. How long was Vista a press release for?
When I first heard the form that Google's entry into the mobile phone market would take, I was disappointed. But after seeing this reaction, and to a much lesser extent Symbian's, I'm all of a sudden thinking there must be something to Android.
Right now they have a press release
TRANSLATION: so here is one my own. Their contains dates and promises with a history to back it up. Mine contains nothing.
we have many, many millions of customers
TRANSLATION: we got less then 10% of the market, we are so small Apple might overtake us with just one phone.
great software
TRANSLATION: Oh come one, am I trying to kid. It is the sucks and the only people that use Windows Mobile are those who absolutly have too. If it was so great we wouldn't be such a small player. Really, go to a european or japanese mobile phone dealer and try to find a MS phone. Thank god for our lock on the desktop or we would really be nothing. Curse you blackberry!
many hardware devices
TRANSLATION: we just can't shift them so we keep trying with lots of new devices hoping one day to get it right. Curse you steve jobs for doing it in one!
they're welcome in our world
TRANSLATION: and in our world the sky is pink with polka dots Wheee! I am not crazy, I am an airplane!
So no, nothing he says is actually a lie, it is just... man it is hard to remain serious about this. The symbian one was laughable enough, this is just, it is almost sad.
I have to keep telling myself it is his job to say that and that he probably knows that it is all a big lie, because if he really believes what he says he really needs to seek proffesional help.
Some people point out that he has no choice but to say this, he needs to reasue stockholders. That is true. Up to a point. But if you are a MS stockholder, does this reassure you? Because it just sends up a huge red flag to me that this guy has no clue how to deal with the fact that MS Windows Mobile just ain't doing that well and is now facing two new competitors (Apple and Google) who seem to have a very big clue, wrapper around a stick and are paddling his flabby ass.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
I know how you feel. I also didn't get an offer.
In the course of every project, it will become necessary to shoot the scientists and begin production.
he is correct. Microsoft has a great share of the mobile market and their software is actually quite good nowadays. And yes, Google's announcement is sort of a press release at the moment.
Have a look at the market share figures:
http://x.msmobiles.com/portal/images/other/symbian-market-share.jpg
Microsoft's worldwide presence is a joke. In fact, Linux is already far more widely used worldwide than Microsoft, Palm, and RIM combined.
And yes, Google's announcement is sort of a press release at the moment.
It's a press release for something that is going to be available in less than a week for developers, with a dozen industry heavyweights behind it. That's not just a press release.