Support NeoGAF

[rezuth]

I would like to see some new blood at the top to streamline their stuff.... it seems they have a ton of good ideas (probably more than any other company) but they never actually get anywhere with those good ideas until its too late because of all the levels you have to go though.

I'd be a fan of Allard taking over.... he seems like he could be the guy to get them going again.

The funny thing is if this happens whoever they choose will probably be viewed as a winner eventually because when jobs finally gets away from apple (and it will happen in the next few yrs) I bet we see apple have a similar downturn unless they find a new steve jobs.

I'm doubting this actually, you see unlike other companies Steve Jobs is Apple. He has spent the last few years infusing himself into Apple by hiring the best people he knows. On top of that he has created the "Apple University" managed by Joel Podolny, former dean of the Yale School of Management. To make sure his teachings are being collected, curated, and preserved so that future generations of Apple's leaders can consult and interpret them.

I believe that Apple is going to have the best chance of doing well without its original leader simply because they have experience from it and that has taught them a great deal of knowledge.

 

[jmdajr]

damn...

will miss that crazy motherfucker

 

[Interfectum]

I'm doubting this actually, you see unlike other companies Steve Jobs is Apple. He has spent the last few years infusing himself into Apple by hiring the best people he knows. On top of that he has created the "Apple University" managed by Joel Podolny, former dean of the Yale School of Management. To make sure his teachings are being collected, curated, and preserved so that future generations of Apple's leaders can consult and interpret them.

I believe that Apple is going to have the best chance of doing well without its original leader simply because they have experience from it and that has taught them a great deal of knowledge.

You're two main statements are at direct odds with each other. I agree that Steve Jobs is Apple, but in believing that I think they are very vulnerable after he steps down.

IMO it doesn't matter what knowledge he's left behind... Steve Jobs is Apple's fearless leader that the company would follow to hell for. When he speaks, the world listens. He can take the company in any direction he damn well pleases and everyone would respect his decision, no questions asked. You can't 'teach' that to someone else.

I foresee Apple retreading Steve Job's legacy over and over again until they eventually stagnate unless they are able to find another capable leader to carve a new path for the company.

 

[rezuth]

You're two main statements are at direct odds with each other. I agree that Steve Jobs is Apple, but in believing that I think they are very vulnerable after he steps down.

IMO it doesn't matter what knowledge he's left behind... Steve Jobs is Apple's fearless leader that the company would follow to hell for. When he speaks, the world listens. He can take the company in any direction he damn well pleases and everyone would respect his decision, no questions asked. You can't 'teach' that to someone else.

I foresee Apple retreading Steve Job's legacy over and over again until they eventually stagnate unless they are able to find another capable leader to carve a new path for the company.

I have no idea what you are talking about, they have the very best top a company can desire. Tim Cook, Bob Mansfield, Philip W. Schiller, Scott Forstall, Jonathan Ive, Jeff Williams, Ron Johnson. There is nothing that can match this and if you think these people are not ready to step it up you are incredibly wrong.

 

[Kosmo]

I'm doubting this actually, you see unlike other companies Steve Jobs is Apple. He has spent the last few years infusing himself into Apple by hiring the best people he knows. On top of that he has created the "Apple University" managed by Joel Podolny, former dean of the Yale School of Management. To make sure his teachings are being collected, curated, and preserved so that future generations of Apple's leaders can consult and interpret them.

I believe that Apple is going to have the best chance of doing well without its original leader simply because they have experience from it and that has taught them a great deal of knowledge.

I think he was referring to Jobs passing away (I could be wrong) - there's no telling with his health.

I think the best suggestion I have seen with MS is to break it into 3 spin-off companies:

-Windows/OS development
-Office/Software
-Xbox/Hardware

This will allow each to innovate without the monolithic structure of the current company.

I have no idea what you are talking about, they have the very best top a company can desire. Tim Cook, Bob Mansfield, Philip W. Schiller, Scott Forstall, Jonathan Ive, Jeff Williams, Ron Johnson. There is nothing that can match this and if you think these people are not ready to step it up you are incredibly wrong.

I'm a big Apple fan, but those guys mean nothing without Steve Jobs. Jobs is what drives that company and he's the only one with the balls to do things like delaying a product until it's absolutely ready, quarterly numbers be damned. We will only know how important Jobs if he passes away (and I hope he lives a long,long time). From talking with some buddies who do a lot of investing, the common thought is there there is a 15-25% "Steve Jobs" premium built into the current stock price.

 

[VariantX04]

I hope James Spader gets the job. Ray Romano was pretty bad.

 

[tycoonheart]

People are forgetting SQL Server and Sharepoint are pretty popular in the business world.

 

[SRG01]

What happened between March 2008 and March 2009?

... You're not seriously asking this question, are you?

 

[snoopeasystreet]

J Allard's glorious return incoming!

 

[Cuban Legend]

Developers!

Wrong version bro, here's the correct Developers.

edit: and... beaten.

 

[ProtoCents]

Microsoft's New CEO

 

[quaere]

I have no idea what you are talking about, they have the very best top a company can desire. Tim Cook, Bob Mansfield, Philip W. Schiller, Scott Forstall, Jonathan Ive, Jeff Williams, Ron Johnson. There is nothing that can match this and if you think these people are not ready to step it up you are incredibly wrong.

Unless you have personally worked with Apple's executive management you have no idea how good these guys are, other than that a few of them are capable enough public speakers and representatives for the company line.

 

[DECK'ARD]

Microsoft needs to create markets, not respond to them. It's a behemoth of a company that just can't respond quickly enough, so it's repeatedly getting to the market after the boat has sailed.

As other people said, they need someone with vision and I'm suprised Balmer has lasted this long.

 

[RJT]

People are forgetting SQL Server and Sharepoint are pretty popular in the business world.

This. PowerPivot is godsend and sure to blow up really soon.

 

[BeEatNU]

If he leaves does that mean that I can finally buy this?

please don't bring this up

it breaks my heart the very thought of this not being released

 

[Zzoram]

You know Ballmer is bad when MSFT is slower than even RIM to get out a Tablet OS.

 

[rezuth]

Unless you have personally worked with Apple's executive management you have no idea how good these guys are, other than that a few of them are capable enough public speakers and representatives for the company line.

I actually base it on what people that has worked with them say, I also have read extensive documentation about them. I'm not saying that I know them but from what has been told AND showcased from them, they are exceptional at their work.

There is a reason why Jobs is willing to trust Apple in the hands of Tim Cook.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

People are forgetting SQL Server and Sharepoint are pretty popular in the business world.

This. Thank god for Microsoft SQL Server, because otherwise enterprise-level database systems would be completely dominated by Oracle. Anyone who has dealt with Oracle (and their insance prices) knows how bad that would be...

 

[Mr. B Natural]

Do we really want a bigger company than microsoft represents? It's already dangerously large and empowering.

 

[Zaptruder]

What happened between March 2008 and March 2009?

The GFC...

 

[kehs]

Eric Schmidt to replace him, Google to buy Microsoft six months after that.

All according to google.

 

[quaere]

I actually base it on what people that has worked with them say, I also have read extensive documentation about them. I'm not saying that I know them but from what has been told AND showcased from them, they are exceptional at their work.

There is a reason why Jobs is willing to trust Apple in the hands of Tim Cook.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/09/technology/cook_apple.fortune/

Only members of the executive group in Apple can measure executive performance internally on an individual basis. Everyone else measures it in aggregate based on the performance of the company. And if the company is doing well, of course they are all brilliant.

If Microsoft was just as successful, there would be just as many puff pieces about every member of their exceptional executive bench, irrespective of who was actually pulling the weight.

 

[mclaren777]

He wears hoodies under his sports coats, the kids fucking love that.

I know I sure do!

 

[Mael]

This. Thank god for Microsoft SQL Server, because otherwise enterprise-level database systems would be completely dominated by Oracle. Anyone who has dealt with Oracle (and their insance prices) knows how bad that would be...

This. It's pretty disheartening to see MSFT keep pushing things doomed to fail when they could have pushed SQL Server much more than the punny stuffs they pulled...
I mean it's not like all the businesses in the IT world even need a competent database service, amirite?

 

[venne]

You know Ballmer is bad when MSFT is slower than even RIM to get out a Tablet OS.

Because tablets are exploding the sales charts. . . .

The truth of the matter is that no tablet outside of the iPad has done anything of merit saleswise.

Microsoft is wise to wait until the hardware and their software is up to snuff than push out a device that will be out of date in one year and obsolete in two. It will be interesting to see what Windows 8 brings to the table(t).

 

[Mr.Squirrel]

What happened between March 2008 and March 2009?

Spoiler

something something economic collapse

 

[TheJollyCorner]

expected the .gif of Ballmer hopping around (E3?) stage angry to show up by now... :/

 

[krypt0nian]

I have no idea what you are talking about, they have the very best top a company can desire. Tim Cook, Bob Mansfield, Philip W. Schiller, Scott Forstall, Jonathan Ive, Jeff Williams, Ron Johnson. There is nothing that can match this and if you think these people are not ready to step it up you are incredibly wrong.

Exactly.

 

[Tampinha]

I'm surprised he lasted this long.I hope things get better.

 

[eastmen]

The sad thing is that MS products have often been great but they aren't finding a home with consumers.

Zune and windows phone 7 are both great products yet they aren't finding a place.


Xbox 360 did however.



Anyway i hope bill comes back

 

[quaere]

Because tablets are exploding the sales charts. . . .

The truth of the matter is that no tablet outside of the iPad has done anything of merit saleswise.

And neither had phone Android done anything of merit saleswise against the iPhone in an equivalent time frame after its introduction. And then look what happened.

It's far too early to make any sort of judgement about whether tablet Android will or will not be as successful as phone Android. But if it is, Microsoft is screwed, again.

 

[Guardian Bob]

I hear Balmer has a bad temper, to cudos to the people who are ousting him. Should have happened a while ago. Even this news boosts my opinion of the company. They need young, energetic people working for them.

 

[Vanillalite]

PREFACE: While I like Steve Ballmer as a guy, he sucks as a visionary, creates little excitement, sucks at selling MS, and quite frankly is over do as needing to go. I say it goes to the top in terms of MS being a cluster fuck of great ideas cock blocked by shitty middle management. I put the blame on the head dude here, and for that he must go.

Main Point: Ugh fuck that hedge fund guy. It's guys like him that put us in our current economic crisis. Not to mention the fact that in my own personal opinion this whole MS deals puts the spotlight in what I perceive to be a large cluster fuck of epic proportions in regards to the market. It's no longer about making money, but making mind share and growth. Win 7 is MS best selling version of Windows OF ALL TIME! Even with a few bombs like Kin, MS is making $$$ hand over fist. FFS the whole reason they are buying Skype is because they have sooo much fucking capital they don't know wtf to do with it all. All of this is under the Ballmer watch too.

None of that shit matters though because it's all about this fucking mind share of how mythical your product can be to consumer at large (be it another business, govt, personal etc... as the consumer), and growth potential. Who gives a fuck if your doing great if you aren't growing. Just look at how speculation/speculators has fucked with the markets over the past decade.

The whole shit is a fucking big con, and quite frankly a joke. To be it's out of control, the power is in the hands of the wealthy who are the same people either personally participating, propping up, benefiting, or looking the other way for their cronies on shit like this.

Ballmer needs to go, MS needs a visionary, and they need someone to fix the fragmentation of their teams and epic cluster fuck of middle management. Fuck that hedge fund guy though. He can shove it up his ass!

 

[subrock]

I wonder what Eric Schmidt is doing with his life right now.

 

[eastmen]

They need an OS that can run on ARM and that is flexible enough to put on tablets.

Windows 7 is not that OS.

they don't need arm. They just need to fix some problems with the current os and they will be fine.


Arm is extremely limited in processing power currently and we can see from ios and andriod that they wont replace x86 for a long time.

I much rather them tweak windows 8 to run well on a amd c-50 (dual core 1ghz with radeon 6250 ) than to get it to run well on a 1ghz dual core arm.

The acer iconia w500 is already getting 4hr 30 minutes of 720p playback on the device and can actually run full crysis (not very well mind you but it can)

 

[ghostmind]

Ray Ozzie was supposed to be he visionary to follow Bill Gates, but it seemed like that soured after Gates left (perhaps due to Ballmer - same reason that Allard left???).

If Ballmer gets the boot, they should give Ozzie another chance - and bring back Allard as head of entertainment.

 

[tycoonheart]

This. Thank god for Microsoft SQL Server, because otherwise enterprise-level database systems would be completely dominated by Oracle. Anyone who has dealt with Oracle (and their insance prices) knows how bad that would be...

I worked for Oracle for 5 years and now I work with them as a customer.

Oracle has a lot of shitty products but I have to say their DB is rock solid. Are they overpriced? Maybe.

And as a customer now, I can say that their customer service department is solid as well.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I can't, for a second, pretend I know what Microsoft should do with their money.

Make more money through growth.

How is the question.

 

[venne]

And neither had phone Android done anything of merit saleswise against the iPhone in an equivalent time frame after its introduction. And then look what happened.

It's far too early to make any sort of judgement about whether tablet Android will or will not be as successful as phone Android. But if it is, Microsoft is screwed, again.

What's going to push these devices over the edge?

You'd figure the Xoom was the Motorola Droid equivalent for Android tablets. Yet it has thus far shit the bed in sales.

 

[quaere]

they don't need arm. They just need to fix some problems with the current os and they will be fine.

iPad 2 - 1.35lb
Xoom - 1.6lb
Iconia Tab W500 - 2.2lb

You might be impressed by Crysis, but I think the rest of the market wants ARM, right now, and not in some indeterminate point in the future when Intel pushes through 3 more process shrinks.

What's going to push these devices over the edge?

You'd figure the Xoom was the Motorola Droid equivalent for Android tablets. Yet it has thus far shit the bed in sales.

I have no idea why you'd think the Xoom was the Droid of tablets, other than that it's made by Motorola. Everything about that product screams "for early adopting tech geeks" just like the G1.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

they don't need arm. They just need to fix some problems with the current os and they will be fine.


Arm is extremely limited in processing power currently and we can see from ios and andriod that they wont replace x86 for a long time.

I much rather them tweak windows 8 to run well on a amd c-50 (dual core 1ghz with radeon 6250 ) than to get it to run well on a 1ghz dual core arm.

The acer iconia w500 is already getting 4hr 30 minutes of 720p playback on the device and can actually run full crysis (not very well mind you but it can)

SMH

They need ARM. To not secure a future that incorporates it is the same kind of "old thinking" that has people calling for Ballmer's resignation now. Think about it. You're suggesting the utter disregard of the fastest growing mobile platform in the interest of a legacy, fading one. How does that make sense for a company that wants to be in the middle of the action in 2016? 2020? Who is looking for a way into a tablet market that is actively eroding market share?

No, they need to support it. The decision in support of ARM for Windows 8 is probably the most forward-thinking thing they've done in a decade.

 

[venne]

The support of ARM is probably the most forward-thinking thing they've done in a decade.

I'd say that Kinect is the most forward thinking.

 

[eastmen]

And neither had phone Android done anything of merit saleswise against the iPhone in an equivalent time frame after its introduction. And then look what happened.

It's far too early to make any sort of judgement about whether tablet Android will or will not be as successful as phone Android. But if it is, Microsoft is screwed, again.

You have to remember that the first andriod phone came out oct of 2008 . The first windows 7 phone product came out in nov of 2010. So it was a full 2 years late to the market.


When looking at Andriod for tablets , Google claims andriod 3.0 as the first tablet OS from them. Was the xoom in febuary of 2011.

MS is set to launch windows 8 for tablets in Qtr 1 of 2012 with some rumors saying it will be out for holiday 2011.

If this is true they will only be a year behind and have a much smaller market share disadvantage as so far sales of andriod tablets are lack luster.


Hopefully MS is smart and has a x86 -64 build with metro ui and alot of people will flock to it since it will run all their legacy programs

 

[Suburban_Nooblet]

Awesome move for Microsoft. I truly believe they can make some shit happen with guidance.

 

[eastmen]

SMH

They need ARM. To not secure a future that incorporates it is the same kind of "old thinking" that has people calling for Ballmer's resignation now. Think about it. You're suggesting the utter disregard of the fastest growing mobile platform in the interest of a legacy, fading one. How does that make sense for a company that wants to be in the middle of the action in 2016? 2020? Who is looking for a way into a tablet market that is actively eroding market share?

No, they need to support it. The decision in support of ARM for Windows 8 is probably the most forward-thinking thing they've done in a decade.

Oh please , ARM is extremely over hyped.

x86-64 still has a huge advantage clock for clock and the gpus added in fusion products utterly trump ARM.


IF MS wants to stand out of the crowd and set apart continued support of x86-64 in new markets is the way to go. People have tons of legacy applications (yes they are called applications or programs) that people still use daily.

While its cute to use andriod photoshop , if you want to actually get something done you will want ot use the osx or windows version of photoshop and that wont be changing for a very long time if ever

ARM is splintered with tons of manufactuers and are not investing the money in fabs like intel and others.

As micron shrinks become harder arm will continue to fall further behind.

 

[alphaNoid]

You know Ballmer is bad when MSFT is slower than even RIM to get out a Tablet OS.

I didn't know RIM was waiting to sync the release with 2 brand new OS's? Because MS is on record saying that tablets are not coming until Windows/Phone 8 are launched in tandem. Believe it or not the mobile market, including phones has decades of massive growth left.. we are skimming the tip of the iceberg these days.

Companies like Apple or Google having good market share will most certainly change in the coming years. Look at how quickly RIM and Palm took a dump. Microsoft is playing it smart by waiting to release a tablet, right now just about every single one on the market is a fluff device, a gizmo that isn't fleshed out in design at all.

1 to 2 years from now tablets and mobile devices are going to take on a new form and what we use today will be old concepts, relics.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I'd say that Kinect is the most forward thinking.

Well that remains to be seen. IMO, it really depends on what grows out of that project over time. From a business growth standpoint, I'd point to ARM until further notice.

In fact, I'd submit to you that what they did with Live over the last 7 or 8 years has been far more significant and influential. It's influence literally changed an entire market.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Oh please , ARM is extremely over hyped.

x86-64 still has a huge advantage clock for clock and the gpus added in fusion products utterly trump ARM.


IF MS wants to stand out of the crowd and set apart continued support of x86-64 in new markets is the way to go. People have tons of legacy applications (yes they are called applications or programs) that people still use daily.

While its cute to use andriod photoshop , if you want to actually get something done you will want ot use the osx or windows version of photoshop and that wont be changing for a very long time if ever

ARM is splintered with tons of manufactuers and are not investing the money in fabs like intel and others.

As micron shrinks become harder arm will continue to fall further behind.

SMH.

Glad you're not running Microsoft.

 

[bill0527]

He was one of the main brains and visionaries behind the Xbox 360. Probably their only really successful commercial product outside of Windows.

Allard was also the main brain and visionary for Zune.

Allard isn't the answer.

I think it'll take someone outside the company who is results-oriented, and more of a get-the-job done kind of guy, instead of a hippie visionary.

They absolutely cannot go to anyone who has been ingrained into the current company culture. It has to be outside the box.

 

[Evlar]

I wonder what Eric Schmidt is doing with his life right now.

I wonder if he signed a no-compete clause with Google.