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Microsoft's Lost Decade
theodp writes "Newsweek's Daniel Lyons (that's Fake Steve to you) explains why Steve Ballmer is no Bill Gates, arguing that what most hurt Microsoft was BillG's decision to step down as CEO in January 2000: 'Gates was a software geek. He understood technology. Ballmer is a business guy.' And the problem with putting non-techies in charge of tech companies, concludes Lyons, is that they have blind spots. So while Microsoft's revenues nearly tripled from $23B to $58B on Ballmer's watch, says Lyons, the company became bureaucratic and lumbering, slowing down while the rest of the world — including Google, Apple and Amazon — sped up."
Developers, Developers, Developers.
Like, uh, the rise of the internet, which Windows 95 was built for?
Oh, wait...
Well, at least, according to his wikipedia page:
Spouse(s)
Melinda Gates (1994–present)
Children
Jennifer Katharine Gates (b.1996)
Rory John Gates (b.1999)
Phoebe Adele Gates (b.2002)
He's had sex at least three more times than myself or the average Anonymous Coward. So those billions must have counted for something.
Steve Balmer (whom I thought we were talking about) had sex three times with Bill Gates' wife, and has three kids with her? I'm surprised he still works for the company!
So the conclusion is that because Bill doesn't have guts to do anything even after that, he really is a true geek!
FTFA:
advanced...goto... ...does not compute...
You must give some credit to Microsoft. If weren't because of them, we would never knew the risks of botnets, trivial exploits and trusting by default in the network. Who knows, if they werent there probably some centuries from now, when we invade some primitive planet, natives would hack our mothership because we never got aware of those risks.
I'm sorry, but what is that supposed to prove? Having children is not a proof that you've had sex...
- These characters were randomly selected.
Hey! Stop interfering with the revisionist history! Next you will complain about the Gates Borg Icon and the Broken Windows icon for stories.
This space for rent.
Well...that's almost 3, isn't it? Even 2.01 is almost 3. Hell, I guess you could argue that 1 is almost 3, for large values of "almost"...
Yeah! Geeks don't cheat! We settle for no less than murder!
"The true measure of a person is how they act when they know they won't get caught." - DSRilk
Are you sure? I'm getting 60 / 20 = 2.9999999175
Try checking your math.
Sewage Treatment Facilities - "Our duty is clear."
One could say, bad bosses are not only just network hubs. They also corrupt the packets on the way, and lead them everywhere but where they belong. Making the results useless for all clients of the company.
They don't just corrupt packets, they overload the circuits and blow up the network gear.
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
Now that he has resigned from Microsoft, there is no need to fight. He should get a /. account too, then we can all bash M$ together.
NB: The message above might reflect my opinion right now, but not necessarily tomorrow or next year.
More evidence: Count the times Microsoft has made huge mistakes in
technology. For example, Clippy and Microsoft Bob.
For the sake of all the paperclips in the world, whether they're not yet made, holding tight in sea containers to be shipped off into a new future, being used in office for good or bad, and even the rusty ones waiting to be dissolved in stinky sewers - STOP BASHING CLIPPY!
He was the first paperclip to make it into the real world, even though he was not real. For paperclips, he is like Nelson Mandela or Gandhi. He gave them a voice. He gave them a face and a very friendly one. Have mercy. I say no more.