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Elop Favored By Gamblers As Microsoft's Next Chief Executive
PolygamousRanchKid writes "A gambling website's favorite as Microsoft Corp.'s next chief executive officer is Stephen Elop, the Nokia CEO who has presided over a 62 percent decline in market value. Elop, a former Microsoft executive, has 5-to-1 odds to be hired as Steve Ballmer's replacement, according to Ladbrokes, the U.K.-based gambling operator. He leads a pool including internal candidates Kevin Turner and Julie Larson-Green and outsiders like Apple CEO Tim Cook — a 100-to-1 dark horse."
Sounds like a publicity stunt to me. It's close enough to Elon Musk that they can cash in on some of the buzz around 'hyperloop' and "isn't he the Tesla guy?" and "doesn't he build rockets?" to make them sound new and edgy and relevant.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
An expert in tanking companies at the helm of Microsoft? I can't wait.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Reading is hard. It does say "100-to-1 dark horse" in TFS.
Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
Maybe he'd like a challenge? Maybe he's tired of everyone comparing him to Jobs and knows that being compared to Ballmer couldn't possibly be worse. Or maybe there's a reason why there are 100:1 odds against him...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
I put my money on that one just to screw with people's heads.
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
I can picture it now...
Elop gets in. He sits down, and writes a memo about how the company is sitting on a burning platform and needs to change or die. He'll then adopt a bold strategy of switching the entire company over to... what? QNX maybe?
Considering his track record, I find it hard to believe anybody thinks this is a good idea.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
H-1B1 only applies to Chilean and Singaporean nationals. Since he's Canadian, they can just list him as "computer analyst" and he can work in the US under TN status for a period of 1 year, renewable indefinitely.
I don't think you understand how gambling works, but knowing this, I'll happily offer you your requested million to one odds with a minimum bet of $1000. Good luck!
If you think someone isn't free to have a different definition of "freedom" you may be a tyrant.
Kevin Turner, Lisa Brummel, and Amy Hood are all despised within Microsoft... they are Ballmer yes-people and Lisa Brummel is directly responsible for destroying any shred of productive culture there. They all need to go.
The employees want Satya Nadella or maybe Tony Bates... although many say it has to come from the outside... Sinofsky ;-)
http://minimsft.blogspot.com/2013/08/steve-ballmer-is-going-to-frickin.html
[RIAA] says its concern is artists. That's true, in just the sense that a cattle rancher is concerned about its cattle.
Maybe Nokia was always supposed to be Elop's training company? You know, a company he can try stuff at and drive it into the ground before he gets his hands on the real thing? Maybe he was even supposed to run it into the ground the ground, kind of like Brewster's Millions but with a company?
Fanatically anti-fanatical
Ballmer left the company in shambles in terms of their standing and momentum in the industry. Whoever takes over is going to have to be very aggressive and will probably run head long into antitrust issues if they are too serious about rebuilding Microsoft's standing and momentum. What Microsoft needs at this point:
1. Release Windows 8.2 with the start menu fully restored, Metro apps able to run on the desktop mode and Metro only a primary UI option on touch screen PCs unless the user configures otherwise (either way should still be an option).
2. Release Windows RT 2 tablet in $200 and $300 32gb and 64gb options with full Microsoft Office. Microsoft needs to just flood the market with low cost, Kindle-like Windows tablets that'll run any traditional Windows app recompiled for ARM (another restriction that needs to go from Windows 8).
3. Attack the living room not just with the XBox One, but alternatives to protocols like AirPlay that are open, documented and patent-free for other vendors to implement. Microsoft can isolate Apple even more by returning to its roots of being of one of the most open big vendors in the industry.
Completely wrong. Apple is worth much more than it was when he took over.
Stock price doesn't mean diddley squat. GE is immense and their stock price isn't great but they do very well in their markets.
And this visionary thing is overrated, Apple isn't going to produce a groundbreaking device in a new market for them every three years. No company can does that.
1. Release Windows 8.2 with the start menu fully restored, Metro apps able to run on the desktop mode and Metro only a primary UI option on touch screen PCs unless the user configures otherwise (either way should still be an option).
2. Release Windows RT 2 tablet in $200 and $300 32gb and 64gb options with full Microsoft Office. Microsoft needs to just flood the market with low cost, Kindle-like Windows tablets that'll run any traditional Windows app recompiled for ARM (another restriction that needs to go from Windows 8).
3. Attack the living room not just with the XBox One, but alternatives to protocols like AirPlay that are open, documented and patent-free for other vendors to implement. Microsoft can isolate Apple even more by returning to its roots of being of one of the most open big vendors in the industry.
I love quick fixes. The problem with Microsoft is the the company. We are asking why an army of clever; highly qualified and paid individuals could release so many failures...obvious failures before release.
Lets look at your fixes(Lipstick on a Pig) you address the unpopular Metro Interface failure, by having it there as a kludge; It was never about a start menu it was about creating an ecosystem with a consistent interface so they could force themselves into the mobile market(They use the word "ecosystem"), and cash in on the lockdown (store and hardware) to Microsoft product and services. The answer wasn't to use the advantages over mobile (10x power and screen real estate, good input, massive storage) they simply dumbed down a computer to a poor tablet. How about Microsoft accept its in competition and compete by producing the Best Desktop ever.
Then you bring up cost. Microsoft walk around with 70% gross margins while its partners do with 10%-20%, and not only is office unwanted they also charge for that too. Traditional Windows Apps do not work on a tablet. No wonder the devices are considered overprices and its partners are turning away. How about Microsoft change their business stratergy?
Bill Gates might have got into the living room with the console, but seriously its a $500, £430 in the UK and 500 Euros console (ignoring its anti-gamer launch) it is going against a $35 Device Chromecast. that already has an alternative to Airplay and works for iOS and Android. How about Microsoft stop selling hardware but sell software...hold on did Andriod just get another 6 Consoles.
The bottom line is a few quick fixes...and these aren't are not going to fix the problem.
Let's face it, Microsoft has recently seen a huge amount of innovation.
- a completely new UI for Windows
- gambling a couple billion dollars on Windows RT
- locking down the XBox with draconian DRM
These were HUGE gambles, Ballmer had HUGE stones. They were really betting the company on this dynamic new strategic path.
It just so happens that this is innovation that really fscking sucked. They need a CEO who recognizes that Microsoft cannot innovate. It is not something that the company does well.
Cook's been in charge...what...about 2 years? Apple was destined to have reduced marketshare ever since Samsung and their fellow travelers decided to ape them at just about every turn. That had nothing to do with Jobs and/or Cook. In fact, you could argue that Jobs saw it coming by throwing sueballs around. Let's give Cook a bit more time. It takes years to develop a new product, and if Jobs had so much in the pipeline, Apple would have coughed up a new one by now. Maybe it was the iWatch, but as soon as the rumor started, Samsung was right there saying Me Too, Me Too...and they are supposed to punt their iWatch Sept. 4 if memory serves.
Being a visionary is good thing, but it isn't always apparent. Jobs is recognized now as one, but he wasn't when he retook Apple, or rather NeXT took Apple. In fact, he was derided a lot. It took him a good 10 years before Apple started generating really good new products. Up until that time, he spent his time refurbishing old products.
And I don't mean for "waah waah antitrust" reasons, I mean because I honestly think we'd see a hell of a lot more innovation in more productive directions. A parent company might hold majority shareholdings in the subsidiaries, but daily operations (including pretty much all strategic thinking) should come from the individual companies Microsoft would be split into, not from the big hulking brute that is Microsoft today.
The idea being that
Off the top of my head, you'd wind up with:
- Home Entertainment. Gets the XBox. Without the "mustn't play nicely with others" mentality coming from the top, they could license DAAP and integrate with Apple, maybe use the xbox as some sort of media centre that can stream to devices around the house.
- Operating systems. Gets Windows - both client and server. Because it's now effectively a separate company, they can build stronger relationships with others - the concern that there's a conflict of interest somewhere mostly evaporates.
- Enterprise Software. Gets SQL Server, Exchange, Sharepoint, maybe IIS. Without the "must integrate everything 15 ways from Sunday and run only on Windows" push coming from HQ, there's scope to openly publish integration mechanisms.
- Productivity Software: Gets Office, Visio etc. Opens the door for publishing an API that allows third party companies wanting to build a Sharepoint-alike and integrate just as seamlessly as Sharepoint does. (Or does Sharepoint just use WebDAV?)
Ultimately under Jobs it was on an upwards trend, and whilst no one expected Cook to be able to keep up the pace (no one could) one would at least expect him not to oversee a 50% decline from that peak.
It wouldn't be hard to argue that Apple was 50% overvalued at its peak. Furthermore the stock right now is sitting right in the middle of its 52 week range and the long term trend puts it right about where it currently sits. Take 2012 out of the mix and the stock price is right on the trajectory it was on between 2009-2011.
But if Cook was doing a good job then it would've kept increasing, or plateaued or declined slightly.
CEO performance and stock price are only loosely correlated, particularly in the short term.