Ballmer Slams Android As Cheap and Overcomplicated

jfruhlinger writes "On the day Android Ice Cream Sandwich was released, Steve Ballmer livened up the Web 2.0 conference by lobbing potshots at Google's mobile OS, calling it the choice of 'cheap' phones and claiming 'the biggest advantage we have over Android is that you don't need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone.'"

Comments

He does have some good points

[TechLA]

Windows Phone 7 UI is really well done. It might come as a suprise, especially after Windows Mobiles, but it really is. It might even be better than iPhone's UI. Android is a copy of iPhone, but not that well done. On top of that it seems to change a lot between different manufacturers and versions. There's no unified look.

If you have looked at any of the Android tablets, they aren't really that well done either. iPad is a lot better and more polished product. And, Windows 8 tablets will have the advantage of being able to run standard Windows programs if they want to (.NET apps should work even without recompiling).

Like Ballmer says, they aren't even targeting the geek group. They are targeting both casual people and business people. They don't want to mess around with the system. iPhone is just for casual people, the artsy type and geeks who just want a good platform. However, to be fair, I find Windows Phone 7 to be a solid platform and Nokia should be able to make great hardware for it. On top of that it supports .NET and Visual Studio, which quite honestly is the best developing environment on the planet. So if you're an existing Windows developer, moving to Windows Phone 7 is piece of cake.

He does have good points, and others have said the same before. Even Steve Jobs said the same. Instead of hating Ballmer for stating the truth, maybe we should work on Android to make it better. But as years go by, I find that GPL and Linux geeks fall under that a lot - they completely ignore what people actually want, and the answer is usually something along the lines "do it yourself". Sure, that's fine for a hobbyist project, but you shouldn't be surprised if people choose other products instead or point out why they do so.

Re:He does have some good points

[denis-The-menace]

You nailed that astroturfer!

I guess TechLA will not be getting his free Windows gadget after this gaff.

Re:He does have some good points

[phonewebcam]

There is ample past evidence on Slashdot of the Seattle cut n pasters: an army of m$ shills paid to do no more than press F5 on Slashdots home page waiting to pounce with their trusty control-V's at the merest hint of criticism.

Re:He does have some good points

[h4rr4r]

Read all his comments, nothing but astroturf.

Re:He does have some good points

[TechLA]

No, they aren't. I have said Visual Studio is the best IDE because frankly that is my (and many others) opinion. And jeez, someone has the balls to have consistent opinions!

Re:He does have some good points

[MightyMartian]

There's no honor, let alone balls, in being a shill. I'll wager, however, you are doing it for free, which suggests on top of being a bit of a tool, you're a stupid tool.

Re:He does have some good points

[TechLA]

So what can you comment if saying anything about a product makes you a shill? If you say good things about it, you're obviously a shill. Nobody would say something is good. If you say bad things about it, you're obviously a shill for their competitor, depending on which one the reader likes more.

It's the same kind of ignorant bullshit. If it isn't Linux, it obviously can't be good. Anyone that points out flaws is obviously a shill.