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Steve Ballmer Reveals His Secret Twitter Account

alphadogg writes "'Quietly' is not a word that would usually describe any action performed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. But quietly is exactly how Ballmer has conducted himself on Twitter, a site he joined over a year ago unbeknownst to most of the technology world. Just a few days ago, Ballmer was speaking in Kiev, Ukraine, and according to a transcript on the Microsoft website, Ballmer responded to an audience member who asked 'when are you going to start tweeting?' Ballmer said: 'I have a Twitter account. I'm just very private about who I really am on Twitter.'"

10 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Inquiring minds want to know... by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    How many tweets has he sent out containing just the word "Developers!"???

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    1. Re:Inquiring minds want to know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Fortunately for us, he's limited to throwing 140 chars at a time.

    2. Re:Inquiring minds want to know... by CannonballHead · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'm not going to defend all of MS.

      But to say it's stagnated is an overstatement. Windows 7 was decent. Windows Live Essentials is pretty decent (and free). Windows Live Mesh is pretty nice. That new kinect thing seems to have gotten favorable first impressions. Even IE 9 seems like it's going to be a huge improvement (perfect? of course not, but huge improvement).

      Could they be better? Oh, definitely. Did they have rough years? Totally. Could they have done better? Of course. Are they actually "stagnated" right now? I don't really see that.

    3. Re:Inquiring minds want to know... by samkass · · Score: 4, Interesting

      to say it's stagnated is an overstatement.

      Windows 7 and Microsoft Office make up 95% of their profits, so the rest are-- to use an Apple phrase-- hobbies. They have subsidized XBox and Windows Phone 7 development with Windows/Office profits to the tune of billions of dollars. In 25 years they haven't created a new product line that's made more than a tiny fraction of their two big products. In comparison, Google didn't exist at all back then, and Apple gets 60% of its profits from products that didn't exist 4 years ago.

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    4. Re:Inquiring minds want to know... by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

      Please turn in your geek card, Slashdot ID, and stay 50 feet away from any electronic device.

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    5. Re:Inquiring minds want to know... by michelcolman · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, he's just very private about who he really is at Apple.

  2. Even more pointless by Hatta · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Isn't the entire point of twitter communicating with a large audience? If no one knows who you are, then what's the point?

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  3. Re:Who would want to follow... by Locke2005 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Is the number one tech loser the guy that can't spell "Business" in a URL?

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    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  4. Re:Actually twitter link by BadAnalogyGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    why is this on slashdot?

    Stockholm syndrome.

  5. Re:Who would want to follow... by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

    I really wish Slashdot would create a preview option.

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