4 ms·

Balmer doesn't get enough credit but he was exactly what was needed during that pretty long timeframe. But nadella taking it from there was an equally good dec

Balmer doesn't get enough credit but he was exactly what was needed during that pretty long timeframe. But nadella taking it from there was an equally good decision I think balmer got to be the fall guy for a lot of things and that was why he was put in as CEO

reducesuffering 5y ago
How do you explain Balmer deriding the iPhone and completely failing to pivot into mobile?
- missedthecue 5y ago
  You win some you lose some. It's perfectly possible that any Microsoft phone product would have been doomed, whether it was executed under Nadella, Gates, or anyone else. Ballmer did start Azure though, which is basically carrying Microsoft today. Their Surface product was also released under Ballmer's direction.
  - devnull3 5y ago
    > Ballmer did start Azure though This is analogous to Xerox experimenting with GUI and not really believing in it. No real drive, no zeal. Satya doubled down on it. Made it priority 1 and most importantly executed it well. Ballmer's world view was completely different which was more rooted in 90s and early 2000s. He was more of Windows guy and not really seeing the changing trends. That is why MSFT's foray into mobile looked like an after thought.
- short12 5y ago
  Of course he is going to belittle another company's achievement but Microsoft had zero chance in the mobile game in the first place and they knew it Saying the windows phone was half assed is being generous
  - to11mtm 5y ago
    > Saying the windows phone was half assed is being generous IDK if I'd go that far. I used my Windows phone right up to the bitter end of it's ability to function. The app ecosystem itself sucked, but the platform was IMO better from a sandboxing standpoint, and frankly every Windows Phone 8/10 device I had was better experience from a 'phone' standpoint. Things other than phone/email/music/navigation got bad quick. But I loved them as phones.
    - solarkraft 5y ago
      I passionately hate Windows on desktop along with most other pre-Nadella Microsoft products. I enjoyed using Windows phone. The UI isn’t even particularly pretty, but in most senses it’s pretty reasonably designed and, very importantly, extremely responsive.
  - ghaff 5y ago
    >Microsoft had zero chance in the mobile game I'm not sure I agree. They needed to get past a Windows-centric mindset just like Intel would have needed to get past an x86-centric one. But it's not clear to me why Microsoft couldn't have built off of a very large developer and user community--and enterprise buyers--to have at least played on a somewhat equal footing to Google and Apple.
  - jokethrowaway 5y ago
    They bought Nokia, they had the best mobile operative system ever created. Meego, Linux, Qt. Insanely good developing experience, a decade ahead what iOS or Android had. It could have been the efficient, user friendly open source rival to the Objective C and Java. They literally missed the opportunity to make a decent and open phone and it was all by design. They killed Nokia on purpose, right when the N9 was released.
    - pjmlp 5y ago
      Typing this on a Nokia phone, and former employee. The biggest blame lies on the Nokia management board and the bonus they promised Elop, when he managed to sell the Mobiles business unit. Fully agree with the development experience though, with C++/CX and .NET Native, with the current state better not even bother, though.
- PedroBatista 5y ago
  How do you explain Bill Gates completely missing the Web in the late 90's? How do you explain Intel completely missing mobile? Without 80's and 90s Ballmer, Microsoft would be a totally different thing and it's very possible there would not be a Microsoft today. And I don't care for any of these assholes, but he was very important for Microsoft and shaped the industry, like it or not.

reducesuffering 5y ago

How do you explain Balmer deriding the iPhone and completely failing to pivot into mobile?

missedthecue 5y ago
You win some you lose some. It's perfectly possible that any Microsoft phone product would have been doomed, whether it was executed under Nadella, Gates, or anyone else. Ballmer did start Azure though, which is basically carrying Microsoft today. Their Surface product was also released under Ballmer's direction.
- devnull3 5y ago
  > Ballmer did start Azure though This is analogous to Xerox experimenting with GUI and not really believing in it. No real drive, no zeal. Satya doubled down on it. Made it priority 1 and most importantly executed it well. Ballmer's world view was completely different which was more rooted in 90s and early 2000s. He was more of Windows guy and not really seeing the changing trends. That is why MSFT's foray into mobile looked like an after thought.
short12 5y ago
Of course he is going to belittle another company's achievement but Microsoft had zero chance in the mobile game in the first place and they knew it Saying the windows phone was half assed is being generous
- to11mtm 5y ago
  > Saying the windows phone was half assed is being generous IDK if I'd go that far. I used my Windows phone right up to the bitter end of it's ability to function. The app ecosystem itself sucked, but the platform was IMO better from a sandboxing standpoint, and frankly every Windows Phone 8/10 device I had was better experience from a 'phone' standpoint. Things other than phone/email/music/navigation got bad quick. But I loved them as phones.
  - solarkraft 5y ago
    I passionately hate Windows on desktop along with most other pre-Nadella Microsoft products. I enjoyed using Windows phone. The UI isn’t even particularly pretty, but in most senses it’s pretty reasonably designed and, very importantly, extremely responsive.
- ghaff 5y ago
  >Microsoft had zero chance in the mobile game I'm not sure I agree. They needed to get past a Windows-centric mindset just like Intel would have needed to get past an x86-centric one. But it's not clear to me why Microsoft couldn't have built off of a very large developer and user community--and enterprise buyers--to have at least played on a somewhat equal footing to Google and Apple.
- jokethrowaway 5y ago
  They bought Nokia, they had the best mobile operative system ever created. Meego, Linux, Qt. Insanely good developing experience, a decade ahead what iOS or Android had. It could have been the efficient, user friendly open source rival to the Objective C and Java. They literally missed the opportunity to make a decent and open phone and it was all by design. They killed Nokia on purpose, right when the N9 was released.
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    Typing this on a Nokia phone, and former employee. The biggest blame lies on the Nokia management board and the bonus they promised Elop, when he managed to sell the Mobiles business unit. Fully agree with the development experience though, with C++/CX and .NET Native, with the current state better not even bother, though.
PedroBatista 5y ago
How do you explain Bill Gates completely missing the Web in the late 90's? How do you explain Intel completely missing mobile? Without 80's and 90s Ballmer, Microsoft would be a totally different thing and it's very possible there would not be a Microsoft today. And I don't care for any of these assholes, but he was very important for Microsoft and shaped the industry, like it or not.